Healthy Korean Fare Part 2

Oh, here comes the 2nd part of my Korean food tasting experience. I've realised that even though i ate like crazy over there, i didn't gain any weight. I think this has to do with the fact that Koreans eat healthily. They eat everything in small portions and their meals comprise of mainly green vegetables. I would say that their eating habit is similar to their counterparts in Japan, only difference being Japanese food emphasises more on presentation.

I'm sure many of us have been to a Korean BBQ restaurant. It is some sort of a fad over here in South East Asia, and i wasn't sure if it was authentic Korean food. Take a look at the photo above, it is actually similar to what we can find in a Korean BBQ restaurant over here. We grilled marinated meat over the hot stove and when it's done, a pair of scissors was used to cut the meat into bitesize. There were also a lot of side dishes available to go with the rice.

I spent on of my days in Korea in a leading theme park there. The tour guide gave us freedom to choose whatever we would like to eat for the day. After 4-5 days of Korean food, i opted for something more familiar, so i had pasta. After the first bite, i realised it was Italian food, Korean-style..haha.... the tomato soup and the salad was too sour. So, after the entire meal, i was feeling somewhat sore in the stomach, felt like all the acid was corroding my stomach linings while i was enjoying a thrill ride in the park...hohoho....

Hey! Would you look at that? I was very priveleged to be able to enjoy a feast fit for a king! Normally in restaurants, u get the waitresses to serve you the food in a tray. This was a change for me, where the waitresses actually carried the whole table to where we were sitting. There were so much choices spread on a tiny table, and we couldn't finish everything in sight. It was really a rare experience, and i'm glad i stuffed myself silly!! haha!

On one of my days in Seoul, the weather dropped to as cold as 6 deg Celcius. The bad news was that almost the entire day was spent outdoors. The wind was blowing and the cold numbed my hands, it was a miracle i escaped unscathed, without even the slightest sign of flu. That night, our dinner was the heart-warming Ginseng Chicken. You could almost hear all of us breathed a sigh of relief at the dinner table. The hot soup served in a ceramic bowl was what we needed, it was really yummy.

On this same night, we went street shopping in Myung Dong, a well-known shopping street in Seoul. My boyfriend and I spotted a long queue at an ice-cream hut and we just had to try it, despite the weather !~ I must say the yogurt-mango combo soft serve was one of the best cones i've had. It was my first time having a cone in a freezing weather, and it was actually enjoyable.

A-hah! I couldn't believe we had Chinese food in Korea. It tasted a little odd, but overall pretty pleasant. The dishes were a little overly-salty. Perhaps this was due to the fact that i had been eating many days of Korean bland food prior to this meal. Even if i had not stated that this was a chinese lunch, i guess you could've guessed from the tea, the round table and the chopsticks ( Koreans use metal chopsticks).

Look closely, but don't be surprised if you see raw chicken meat in this. This has nothing to do with the photo 2 posts back! haha...just that this photo was taken before the stove was warmed up. This meal was similar to the Korean BBQ earlier. One extra ingredient was added, making this dish more special. Notice the cylindrical stuff? That is the korean 'Nian Gao', a famous roadside snack. It has this bouncy and chewy texture which i couldn't get enough of. This was one of the best meals i had over there. And with this nice meal, i conclude my food coverage during my brief 8 days visit to Korea =)