• Be an Authentic Korean Cuisine Lover

        • 12/26/2023

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  • Be an Authentic Korean Cuisine Lover

    Have You Tried This? A Step Closer to Being a Korean Cuisine Master

    Live octopus on yukhoe

    You may love the taste of Korean cuisine but shy away from some strange-looking dishes. Have you ever taken a step back in shock? To be a true lover of Korean cuisine, sometimes you must take a bold leap of faith. Some of these foods that will be introduced in this column are hardcore-level Korean cuisine that even some Koreans find hard to eat. If you conquer these, you might as well be recognized as a Korean. Let’s begin with an intermediate-level food.

    Start the Challenge with Intermediate-Level Foods
    ① Be Charmed by the Wonderfully Chewy Texture, Braised Pigs' Feet
    Jokbal with a chewy texture
    Photo of lifting Jokbal with chopsticks
    Jokbal eatting with vegetables

    Braised Pigs' Feet often surprises foreign travelers with its main ingredient; a pig’s trotters. But once you try it, you will find its flavors pleasing to your palate, unlike its strange look. The chewy pork skin and soft meat are a match made in heaven, and only those brave enough to try them will know their true tastes.

    Braised Pigs' Feet is a dish that originates from a region in North Korea. Refugees who fled their homes during the Korean War settled in Jangchung-dong, Seoul, and began to sell Braised Pigs' Feet to make a living. With that, South Koreans began to develop a taste for the dish.

    Braised Pigs' Feet is initially boiled with ginger, garlic, bay leaves, green tea powder, beer, coffee powder, and more, to remove the gamey odor of pork. Then, it is sunk in cold water to remove any impurities and boiled until it is completely cooked. Pig’s trotters get slightly different flavors depending on the ingredients added in the boiling process, time, and the cool-down process. Salted Shrimp is a perfect match for pork, so Braised Pigs' Feet is usually enjoyed with a Salted Shrimp dip. For a companion dish, there are Spicy Buckwheat Noodles. Enjoy a piece of Braised Pigs' Feet wrapped in Spicy Buckwheat Noodles for a unique combination of flavors.

    Jokbal with spicy noodles
    Soft yet Chewy Braised Pigs' Feet
    • Ttungttungyi Halmeonijip
    • 174-1, Jangchungdan-ro, Jung-gu, Seoul
    • +82-507-1333-2714
    • 10:00-23:00 / Closes early when ingredients run out / Closed Tuesdays
    • Braised Pigs’ Feet (Small) KRW 30,000
      Braised Pigs’ Feet (Medium) KRW 40,000
      Braised Pigs’ Feet (Large) KRW 50,000
    • Manjok Ohyangjokbal City Hall Branch
    • 134-7, Seosomun-ro, Jung-gu, Seoul
    • +82-2-753-4755
    • 11:30-21:50 (Saturday-Sunday 12:00-21:50) /
      Closed during Seollal (Lunar New Year's Day) & Chuseok (Korean Thanksgiving Day) holidays
    • Braised Pigs’ Feet (Medium) KRW 36,000
      Braised Pigs’ Feet (Large) KRW 41,000
      Braised Pigs’ Feet (Extra Large) KRW 57,000
    • Suhyangga
    • 2121-3 1, Nambusunhwan-ro, Seocho-gu, Seoul
    • +82-2-523-8799
    • 16:00-23:00 / Open all year round
    • Braise Pigs’ Front Feet Set KRW 43,000
      Braised Pigs’ Hind Feet Set KRW 38,000
      Spicy Braised Pigs’ Feet KRW 37,000
    ② Spicy but Moreish, Spicy Grilled Chicken’s Feet
    Charming chicken feet with spicy and sweet taste and chewy texture
    Chicken feet lifted with chopsticks
    Chicken feet cooked in various ways

    Foreign travelers who encounter Spicy Grilled Chicken’s Feet for the first time are often startled by its look that resembles a human hand. However, Spicy Grilled Chicken’s Feet has loyal fans thanks to its moist and chewy texture and delicious seasoning. Especially, with the invention of Grilled Boneless Chicken Feet, its fandom is ever-growing.

    “Cheongjanggwanjeonseo,” a late Joseon dynasty text, includes a few delicacies, such as bear’s paw, chicken feet, swallow’s thigh, etc. Chicken feet have been considered a delicacy ever since it was written by a person named Jang Hyeop of the West Jin dynasty, China, who lived in the late 3rd century. In pre-3rd century China, chicken feet were considered a luxury food ingredient.

    Recently, there have been two types of Grilled Chicken Feet dishes; one with brothy sauce and one stir-fried. Braised Chicken Feet in Sauce is made with spicy chili paste sauce and various vegetables, while Stir-fried Chicken Feet is made with chili paste and sugar-added seasoned sauce.

    Chicken feet in soup lifted with chopsticks
    Grilled Chicken Feet, a Perfect Chewy Companion of Soju
    • Geumhodong Maeundakbal
    • B1F, 11-3, Wausan-ro 29ba-gil, Mapo-gu, Seoul
    • +82-507-1461-7630
    • 16:00-02:00 / Closed Sundays
    • Stir-fried Chicken’s Feet KRW 23,000
      Spicy Grilled Chicken's Feet KRW 26,000
      Seafood and Green Onion Pancake KRW 11,000
    • Sugine Dakbal
    • 47, Usadan-ro 10-gil, Yongsan-gu, Seoul
    • +82-2-798-0838
    • 16:00-02:00 / Closed Sundays
    • Braised Chicken's Feet in Sauce KRW 17,000
      Stir-fried Boneless Chicken's Feet KRW 20,000
      Grilled Chicken Cartilage and Riceball KRW 18,000
    • Hongmi Dakbal Shinsa Main Branch
    • 1F, 6, Dosan-daero 1-gil, Gangnam-gu, Seoul
    • +82-2-545-2119
    • 12:00-03:00 / Open all year round
    • Whole Grilled Chicken's Feet KRW 16,000
      Grilled Boneless Chicken's Feet KRW 18,000
      Braised Chicken's Feet in Sauce KRW 21,000
    Advanced-Level Korean Dishes
    ① The Surprising Taste of a Scary-Looking Raw Dish,
    Chopped Live Octopus and Beef Tartare
    Yukhoe with live octopus and side dishes
    Live octopus yukhoe with egg yolk
    Live octopus yukhoe mixed with yolk

    Like its name suggests, chopped Live Octopus and Beef Tartare is a dish made by putting chopped live octopus on top of beef tartare. The name tells you how it is made, quite literally – live octopus is chopped into small pieces with a knife on a cutting board. Thinly sliced pear, tangy radish sprouts, and an egg yolk are also served with the dish as garnishes. Mix them together to enjoy the fresh and nutty flavors of Beef Tartare and Chopped Live Octopus and garnishes.

    Chopped Live Octopus and Beef Tartare may look very strange to foreign travelers as all its ingredients are served uncooked. However, in a 2018 online survey by the Korea Tourism Organization that was carried out with 944 foreign social media members, Live Octopus was the no.1 “authentic Korean dish to try” showing that it is a fearful yet intriguing dish to international gourmets.

    Gwangjang Market is a good place in Seoul to taste Chopped Live Octopus and Beef Tartare. True to its fame of being the food heaven, Gwangjang Market hosts many famous Beef Tartare shops. You can say you have an authentic Korean palate if you acquired a taste for the nutty and savory flavor of Chopped Live Octopus and Beef Tartare.

    A combination of beef raw beef and radish
    Chopped Live Octopus and Beef Tartare, a Mix of Live Octopus with Raw Beef
    • Uga Yukhoe Bulgogi
    • 198-2, Jong-ro, Jongno-gu, Seoul
    • +82-2-2268-6656
    • 11:00-22:30 (Closes at 20:50 on Sundays)
    • Chopped Live Octopus and Beef Tartare KRW 32,000
      Sliced Raw Beef KRW 32,000
      Korean Beef Tartare Bibimbap KRW 13,000
    • Yukhoe Jamaejip
    • 200-4, Jong-ro, Jongno-gu, Seoul
    • +82-2-2272-3069
    • 09:00-21:40 / Closed Sundays
    • Chopped Live Octopus and Beef Tartare KRW 33,000
      Beef Tartare KRW 19,000
      Live Octopus KRW 16,000
    • Changshin Yukhoe Main Branch
    • 200-8, Jong-ro, Jongno-gu, Seoul
    • +82-2-2266-6727
    • 09:30-21:50 / Closed Tuesdays
    • Chopped Live Octopus and Beef Tartare KRW 32,000
      Beef Tartare KRW 19,000
      Sliced Raw Beef KRW 32,000
    ② Chewy Texture with Savory Flavors, Grilled Sea Eel
    Grilled seasoned eel on an iron plate
    A photo of an eel being lifted with chopsticks
    Grilled eel eatting with vegetables

    The look of spasming sea eels on a grill is indeed a startling scene, even to those who are used to having Korean dishes that are more on the “strange” side, like Braised Pig’s Feet and chicken feet. But, as soon as you put a well-grilled piece of sea eel in your mouth and drink a glass of soju, you will forget how it spasmed on fire and lose yourself in its chewy texture and savory flavor. It is the best company to soju that only brave gourmets can enjoy.

    There are two types of Grilled Sea Eel; salt-seasoned and and sauce-marinated. Salt-seasoned Grilled Sea Eel is a dish made by slicing sea eels into bite-sized pieces and seasoning them with salt before grilling. The sauce-marinated version soaks sea eels in a seasoned sauce of onion, minced garlic, green onion, sesame oil, and chili powder before grilling them. Choose Grilled Salted Sea Eel for a savory taste, and Grilled Marinated Sea Eel for a sweet and spicy taste.

    Busan is the home of Grilled Sea Eel. Around Jagalchi Market and Oncheonjang area is Gomjangeo Alley, where Grilled Sea Eel restaurants line up the street. During the Japanese Occupation of Korea, the Japanese used leather of sea eel to make wallets and shoes. Merchants in the market got the flesh of sea eel and began to put sauce on it and cook it over briquette fire. Hence, the dish Grilled Sea Eel came to be in Busan.

    • Jagalchi Gomjangeo Alley in Busan developed during the Korean War, when merchants installed street stalls and grilled sea eels on briquette fire by the passenger ferry wharf near Jagalchi Market, as war refugees poured into the region. In the mid-1950s, it is said to have 7 grilled sea eel stalls, and later, about 30 restaurants created an alleyway, which later became the present-day Jagalchi Gomjangeo Alley.
    • Nampo-dong 5-ga, Jung-gu, Busan

    • Operating hours vary by store; Check before visiting.

    Grilled eel with various ingredients
    Grilled Sea Eel Tastes Great with Seasoning or Salt

    Braised Pig’s Feet, Spicy Grilled Chicken’s Feet, Chopped Live Octopus and Beef Tartare, and Grilled Sea Eel are dishes that even some Koreans find difficult to consume, but they have amazing tastes. If you want to conquer the local cuisines of Korea, all you need to do is muster up a little bit of courage and curiosity. When you begin to enjoy these, there will be very few (apart from a tiny pool of dishes) dishes that you cannot enjoy in Korea.

    * This column was written in September 2023. Please check with the restaurants before visiting, as changes could have been made.

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