Saturday David and I went out to dinner with our friends Jennifer and KC to this awesome little bistro in Gangnam near Maebong Station.*
Star Chef serves a mix of Western dishes and fusion Western/pan Asian cuisine.
From what we could tell, it’s all tasty. But, I have to say that it’s only a slight exaggeration to say that the fried whole fish is so good you’ll think you’ve seen God.
Unfortunately, D and I were so stunned by the opportunity to actually go *out to dinner* that we forgot to bring the camera. And, since we did spent a good chunk of dinner passing the baby back and forth (and across, thanks Jen!) we probably wouldn’t have taken very many decent shots anyway.
Also, shoveling food with one hand and bouncing baby with the other does not lend itself to taking detailed notes. So, basically I’m just blogging about it to remind myself of what I need to do next time—which will be Friday, when we go check out the lunch specials and report back.
*No, this is not a April Fool’s post. I don’t have the functioning brain cells for that.
Tags: food, Seoul
This post at the group blog Kimchi Mamas reminded me of a conversation I had with Mrs. H about the difference between Korean and American meals.
“I think American food is very simple compared to Korean food,” Mrs. H remarked one afternoon as we were both munching on my choice of prepared lunch for the day - salami and cheese sandwiches, salad, and fruit. “You eat a lot of food that is not cooked [nod toward salad]. In Korea, we cook everything, even the banchan (side dishes), with a lot of seasonings and [here she mimes various preparation methods].”
This is true.
Bibimbap toddler style from the blog Bento and Babies.
Tags: culture, food, Korean
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by Cat on February 26, 2008
In my Korean language classes, I was always taught that the word hobak (호박) translates to pumpkin, which I have always thought of as a very specific vegetable normally used (by me) to make jack ‘o lanterns at Halloween or as an ingredient in pie. (Mmmmm….pie…)
I’ve since learned that hobak (and use of the English word, pumpkin) actually refers to the entire class of vegetables Americans call squash. Most common in the stores here are probably the dan hobak (단 호박), what we think of as acorn squash—and which is in season right now—and 조선호박 (believe this is the correct name) which is Korean zucchini (different from the Mediterranean variety, with a more buttery taste and texture). The zucchini is used in lots of dishes and is sold packaged in almost every grocery store, small and large. Dan hobak tends to be more seasonal and is used mostly, I think, to make hobak jook* (호박죽 ‘pumpkin’ porridge).
I like jook as much as the next person, maybe even the next Korean person. But, for me, it falls into that class of Korean cuisine that is best purchased in a restaurant rather than attempted at home. There are so many restaurants out there that specialize in 죽. And, what they serve is so good and so cheap, it doesn’t make sense for me to go to all that expense and effort to produce a substandard product at home (see also, gimbap).
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