Favorite Korean dishes

[jplato]

If you've never been out to a Korean BBQ place, you've got to try it. They have a hibachi built into the table where they cook thin slices of beef (marinated or not). You take a piece of "galbi" right off the grill with your chopsticks, wrap it in a cold lettuce leaf (with a bit of kimchi, roasted garlic, or whatever, and pop it in your mouth. It's delicious!

The place we go to (Zen Zen, near Ft. Lee NJ) also serves naeng myun, a real treat, and a dish that is somewhat difficult to find in the US. It literally means "cold noodles" and it is a thin noodle soup served in ice cold broth and topped with slices of brisket, Asian pear, and half a hard-boiled egg. We have it after the main course, almost like dessert. It's really good. If you go out for galbi, bring your soju-drinking shoes because you'll be doing quite a bit of that as well.

Another great dish to try is sun du bu chiggae - soft tofu soup. It's a thick soup that contains pork, kimchi, soft tofu (of course) and your choice of oysters, shrimp, mushrooms, etc. It's not only spicy hot but it comes to the table still boiling in a heavy stone bowl. You then take a raw egg from a bowl on the table, crack it into the soup and mix it around while it cooks and thickens the soup. I love the stuff.

If your in Atlanta (where I live) and looking for Korean groceries and recipe ingredients, there's only one place to go: the Buford Highway Farmers Market (I kid you not). It's in Doraville, right in the heart of Atlanta's Korean community and it's about the size of a Wal Mart, stocked full of every Asian food you can imagine, plus a produce section that's the size of a small grocery store itself. They have an entire Kimchi section of the store. I go there every other weekend.

[holdfast]

atlanta, huh? im about 4 hours from you! i've been meaning to come check out the korean town down there, but it just hasn't happened yet. can you tell me where the korean town is? like, an intersection name or an address or something so i can mapquest how to get there? or is it easy to find from the interstate?

my favorite korean food is 깁치찌개 whether it be 순두부찌개 or just 김치.

i have had 냉면 as well, but it was 비빔냉면 not 물냉면 (it had spicy paste instead of water, and we put liquid wasabi on it - it was great!).

[James]

Hi jplato. Welcome to the forums.

I've tried 물냉면. The broth was delicious but as a whole, never again! Where is the 'puke' emoticon? Sure, your descriptions sounds appetizing but you left out the part about the slimy, gummy, worms-like texture of the brown noodles.

[usakorjb03]

아이구...냉면은 맛있어요. 나는 냉면이 좋아해요. 제임스는 비빔밥을 먹어봐요?

have you tried 비빔밥?

비빔밥이 맛있어요!!

[James]

네, 비빔밥 좋아요.
i make it often. with a new ingredient each time. This pic's taken 2 weeks ago:

Last week I found the best place for 비빔밥 downtown. It was heavenly. (tears of joy, hehe)

[usakorjb03]

awesome...that pic...makes wanna take a bite out of this computer. yesterday I had me some and it was the first time i had it in a loooong time. made me feel good. WOOT

[manyakumi]

If I were on my way abroad, I'll miss these foods so much.

떡볶이, 냉면, 수제비, (한국식)자장면

[jplato]

holdfast, the Korean area I'm referring to is in Doraville, on Buford Highway, just north of the I-285 perimeter (a few miles north of downtown Atlanta). The big Korean market is there as well as some restaurants, 노래방, etc. I also love 깁치찌개.

James, I can't believe you didn't like the buckwheat noodles! That's the best part. They're supposed to be kind of chewy, but if yours were slimy they were probably either overdone or not rinsed thoroughly after cooking. I made 냉면at home and getting the noodles right is tricky -- you can only cook them for about 2 1/2 minutes, then you have to get them into ice water quickly.

usacor, I've had 비빔밥 once - on a flight to Korean Air flight to Seoul. It was OK. Other people have told me I really should try it in a good restaurant.

[holdfast]

to pose another question: is there any korean food that you've tried that you really didn't like?

james does not like 냉면 (which is what made me think of this question).

a few weeks ago i had 된장찌개 and i only ate it to be polite..... i don't think i would eat that on purpose again. perhaps i will get used to it? but i am not sure... it has a very strong taste. everything else i have tried has been good! i even like the side dish made of tiny little dried fish! but 된장 is not for me, i think.

[austinfd]

to pose another question: is there any korean food that you've tried that you really didn't like?

james does not like 냉면 (which is what made me think of this question).

a few weeks ago i had 된장찌개 and i only ate it to be polite..... i don't think i would eat that on purpose again. perhaps i will get used to it? but i am not sure... it has a very strong taste. everything else i have tried has been good! i even like the side dish made of tiny little dried fish! but 된장 is not for me, i think.

I love 된장찌개. It is my favorite 찌개. If you really want a fun experiment get your friends to make you some 청국장...I won't say any more. You should give it a try.

I don't enjoy eating 떡국. I find it to be much too bland.

[jplato]

to pose another question: is there any korean food that you've tried that you really didn't like?

There's a side dish that was served with Korean barbeque that I didn't care for. It was peanuts with these little tiny silver 물고기, about the size of guppies. The peanuts were OK, but eating the tiny fish was like chewing on little pieces of wood. I'm still not even sure I was supposed to be eating them.

Other than that, I haven't had anything I don't like. Of course, I love pepper and garlic, so Korean food is right up my alley. I'm hooked on 고추장. I put it on everything; my wife thinks I'm crazy. It's great on scrambled eggs.

[Bouks]

There's a side dish that was served with Korean barbeque that I didn't care for. It was peanuts with these little tiny silver 물고기, about the size of guppies. The peanuts were OK, but eating the tiny fish was like chewing on little pieces of wood. I'm still not even sure I was supposed to be eating them.

Up 'til now, I was reading the posts thinking, "Oh, you sissies!" But this one....ugh!

[holdfast]

i can eat the little fish just fine. but there's just something about the smell of 된장 that makes me feel like it should not be eaten. i can't explain it. i can even eat the little spicy octopus side dish!

austin, i don't think i'd like 청국장 either, but i will certainly try it anyway! i'll try anything, really. ^^

[usakorjb03]

hopefully tomorrow where i live will be warm enough to eat some 냉면, i've been craving it for a while but the weather lately sucks. it's been raining here since last night, starting to clear up. 냉면 will be soon for me

[javiskefka]

i can eat the little fish just fine. but there's just something about the smell of 된장 that makes me feel like it should not be eaten. i can't explain it. i can even eat the little spicy octopus side dish!

austin, i don't think i'd like 청국장 either, but i will certainly try it anyway! i'll try anything, really. ^^

Here's a pro tip: If you hate the smell of 된장, you'll definitely hate 청국장 . 청국장 is a more potent variety of bean paste than 된장.

I for one love them both, though .