Gimme some Kimchi!

We were all about expanding our Korean pallet today! Jaclyn booked us on a food tour in Insadong through a company called O'ngo. When we got there, a chef showed us how to make Korean pancakes "Jeon" that they like to eat as appitizers. It was a pancake full of shrimp, squid, green onions and mushrooms. We also got a really good sauce to dip it in (half soya sauce, half rice vinegar and red chili peppers). I am not a huge seafood fan as most of you know, but I tried it! The pancake and sauce were good, mom got my extra shrimps. ;)

After the cooking demonstration, our tour guide, an adorable Korean-Japanaese girl, showed us a food market. Pointing out different kinds of soya sauce, how they make red pepper paste, and loads of squids and fish! We also saw pig heads..... I was NOT impressed... And kept thinking of the film "Contagion".

Our first food stop was to try some rice cakes. They are Korean desserts that... aren't sweet at all! Mom and Jac seemed to tolerate them, but I was not a fan. Desserts are supposed to be sweet, not bland! Wierd cultural differences for sure!

Then we went to a restaurant where we sat by a hot flame and cooked a seafood stew (what was with all the seafood bleah!). Inside the stew were squid, fish cakes, glass noodles, thick rice noodles, mussels and it was not tooooo spicey (mom could handle it!)

Next stop was a dumpling steet vendor! We ordered them deep fried (you could also steam them but come on, who would choose that!). This was the first thing I really liked so I devoured it in like 30 seconds. As well as half of Jaclyns.

Korea has a lot of street vendors selling crazy foods. We also tried this dessert made out of honey that they mix with corn starch and stretch it so it turns into little strands. They then wrap the strands around some almonds. They were tasty but I didn't like the almonds! We bought some to bring home for my Dad.



Next stop on our food tour was a place that had a million side plates (including a delicious tofu hot pot and of course Kimchi). We ordered a beef stew called "Bulgogi" that was very tasty and because I wanted to try Bibimbap, they made some for me. Jaclyn says it wasn't a "real" bibimbap because there was no egg in it, but it was still tasty. Loads of rice, veggies and red pepper taste.

Our final stop on the food tour was to have these delicious Korean style donughts from another street vendor. Inside the fried dough were sugar and honey and some sort of seed. It was AMAZING. :)



After we were full of food, we walked through Insadong where we window shopped and bought souveniers for friends back home. We stopped off at the "Beautiful Tea Museum" to have some tea. I tried a traditional boring Black tea (I was craving some regularilty), Jaclyn got a "5 taste tea" and Mom got something that tasted Apple Cider. It was a cute little cafe and the tea hit the spot.

The tour was definitly an eye opener and something daring for plain old Chicken lover Susan. But, that's what experiencing new cultures is all about!!!