Jjajjangmyun

Have you ever had Jjajjangmyun?  Well if you ever watch Korean dramas, you will inevitably see them order delivery noodles.  Then you watch as they stuff their faces with shiny glossy black noodles into their mouth.  I’m a huge fan of noodles so it really piqued my interest.  I learned that it was considered a Northern Chinese dish and there was this whole Chinese cuisine in Korea!  Well I didn’t know where to get these noodles in a restaurant so I found a recipe online and made it myself at home before and I thought it was delicious.  They have instant cup noodles of it now and I also learned there are Korean restaurants in Hawaii that are Korean Chinese restaurants and serve these dishes.  Is that confusing?  I’ll bet it is.  Anyhow, one place I go to get this is Eastern Paradise Restaurant.  As far as I can tell, this is a Chinese restaurant owned by Chinese people that serves Korean style Northern Chinese food.  I’m probably blabbing nothing but wrong information so here’s a picture of what I ate…lol.

130911-01Jjajjangmyun – just pour the thick black gravy over the noodles…mix and eat!  Delish!

Park Ga Budae – Seoul

One of the dishes I most looked forward to when I traveled to Korea was Budae Jigae.  I know it’s not considered special by any means, but I am a fan of sausages and luncheon meat so this dish really appealed to me.  If you don’t know the history of this dish, check out this page.  Luckily there was a restaurant in the IFC Mall that specialized in it and I was able to try this dish out!

Before the stove was fired up...

Before the stove was fired up…

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Japchae Hotteok

Just wanted to share a quick update with one my favorite things from my trip to Korea.  I saw many pictures of the original hotteok which I wasn’t interested in, I’m a fan of savory over sweet.  When we visited Namdaemun, our wonderful guide led us to a very popular hotteok stand which sold AMAZING japchae hotteok.  I am drooling just thinking about it.  They fry it up fresh, stick it in a cup and pour some special sauce over it.  The sauce was like a sweet marinade, looked like the type of marinade you would use for kalbi.  You must try this if you go to Korea!

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Soondae

130609-1Can you tell what that is in the picture?  Well I sort of gave it away in the title of this post but for those who don’t know Korean, this is Korean blood sausage.  When I talk about blood sausage, I get the inevitable “ewww” from people.  That’s okay with me because all that means is…more for me!  I don’t know when I tried this first, but I love it.  If you look closely, you will see that it is filled with various innards and noodles!  Yum yum yum.  This sausage is usually served alongside a seasoning salt.  Even more yum…hehe.

Fishcake Kimbap

Fishcake Kimbap

Here is some delicious Fishcake Kimbap.  Both I got from Keeaumoku Supermarket.  The way they roll this kimbap is so beautiful.  So simple yet you know it takes so much preparation of different ingredients to create this one roll.  Totally worth the $4 in my opinion!