I have tried many Korean dishes since I’ve been in Seoul, but sometimes you can’t really appreciate a dish until you order it yourself, as opposed to having it ordered for you by your Korean friend or professor. This was the case for me with doenjang jjigae. I have tasted this delicious soybean paste stew a number of times as an accompaniment to a barbeque dinner, but I hadn’t ordered it on my own (or known quite what was in it) until last week. It is basically a spicy soybean paste broth with tofu, veggies, and small shellfish, served in a stone hotpot. It has the kind of savory flavor that makes your mouth water just thinking about it.
Since ordering doenjang jjigae early last week I’ve had jjigae on the brain, so on Saturday I went to Hongdae to try a different variety. I went to a place called Nolboo (놀부) that specializes in budae jjigae. I ordered it with beef, which consists of sliced beef, sausage (sliced hot dogs), ham (spam), tofu, rice cakes (pressed rice dumplings), baked beans, macaroni, udon noodles, and veggies. All of these ingredients were cooked in a stainless steel wok at my table and served with rice and side dishes. I have to say that this was a little more unusual than the doenjang jjigae, but no less delicious. The portion was enormous for one person, and for the price of 7,000 krw, but I gladly ate it all.
Another meal I had this week that is worth mentioning was a dinner of pig’s feet with some friends. The restaurant we went to is supposed to be one of the best places for it, a little ways south of Dongdaemun Stadium.
LEARN KOREAN – That was delicious!
맛있었어요! (ma·shiss·ŏss·ŏ·yo!)
