Bi-Bomb-Bap - The Best of Korea's National Dish

Quick Facts:
Name: 한국집 (Hanguk Jib)
Location: Joenju, Jeolla buk-do
How to Find: Go to Hotel Davin, it is on the side street behind the hotel.
Map Location

A beautiful bibimbap. Before mixing.

This is my long and ridiculous history with what is Korea's national dish: Bi-Bim-Bap. I'll tell you how I found it, where it came form, how it's made and perhaps most importantly, where to find the best one. So here we go!

Let's go back 10 years. If somebody said they were going to Korea, they'd be asked something like"Isn't that dangerous?" or "Isn't that where the crazy guy is?" or "Isn't there a war there?" or
"Do you know that they just eat dogs?" I know, I was asked such questions when I announced my intention to visit the Korean peninsular in September 2009. These questions were strange to me. Seoul had very successfully hosted and even saved the Olympic games in 1988. Korea had co-hosted the 2002 football/soccer world cup with Japan and had even reaches the semi-finals of that tournament. So why on earth would I visit Korea?

An Accidental Trip

I'm not going to say that I knew an awful lot about Korea before booking my first flight. I'm not even going to pretend that it was a well planned cultural experience. It wasn't the plan at all. My plan was to go to Atlanta. Yes! Atlanta, Georgia! The city in the USA! Not only is that nowhere near Korea, it's not even Asia. It is in fact completely the opposite direction from the UK. 

The story starts with some wine in a disused old folks home in Coventry, the home of Tony Carter. Somebody, maybe even myself, came up with the idea of going to watch some American Egg chasing (or American Football if you insist). After some more wine, a computer was turned on and a good deal was found to a city with an NFL franchise. Atlanta had become the definite destination of our next trip. 2 more friends were informed and they jumped at the idea. There was going to be a  Barge Boyz (Michael, Tony Carter, Johnny Burga and myself) trip to the US of A! So each of us went to our various employers (except for the then vagrant Tony Carter) to ask for days off and all of our requests were successful. It was time to buy our tickets. But disaster! The plane tickets had nearly doubled in price and an alternative deal within our budgets was impossible to find. Our USA adventure was over before it even began. It was time to drink beer. As you know, beer fosters creativity. We all had time of work, we had all sorted out our budgets. We might as well go somewhere. It was time to hit the "Everywhere" option on skyscanner and see what would come up within our budget. One option leaped out form the list, Seoul, the capital of South Korea. Spurred on by our memories of 2002 and our fondness for Guus Hiddink, it was decided there and then that The Barge Boyz, were going to Seoul. 

First Encounter with Korean Food

Korean food, at that time was not very well known. Even today, you would still struggle to find a Korean restaurant in the UK, outside of London. We knew the square-root of nothing. We hadn't even tried Kimchi! 

Since we were on a budget, our flights would not be direct. We ended up with a great deal from Turkish airlines. A connection in Istanbul and some good Turkish food was what we expected. However, we (except for Tony Carter who had ordered a Hindu menu for some strange reason) were about to be given a rude awakening. When the flight attendant came with the meal choices, the chicken and the beef were finished. The only choice was something called Bimbimbap? "What the hell is a bi-bi-m-bap?" exclaimed Johnny Burga. Tony, at that time looked extremely proud of his choice of curried industrial waste. His smugness would be short lived!

As we received our in-flight meals, the first reaction was immense confusion. A tub of rice and leaves was accompanied by other little tubs and tubes of things. What should we do? Word was finally given to us that we should mix everything together. We did as we were told and we were very happy with the results. In your face Tony Carter! It was better than the Hindu menu. It was, in fact, pretty good.

We liked BI-BI-M-BAP as we came to call it. It was even fun to say, it was like roadrunner speak.

The End of Ignorance

Fast-forward two years. We had a great trip to Seoul in 2009. It is now 2011, a coworker named Tom tells me of his plan to go and teach in Korea. I'd been there. I liked it. But why would he want to move there? He told me that a teacher could live like a king. This planted an idea in my mind. I was already toying with the idea of a gap year or a working holiday. But Korea seemed to offer a more realistic, more interesting option. I researched, I liked what I read. I applied for a job, had an interview and was offered a contract. 2 months after the conversation, I was on my way back to Korea. 

I wanted me some of the Bi-Bi-M-Bap stuff. So, I asked my coworkers where I could get a good one. They looked at me as though I had 2 heads. You see it isn't Bi-Bi-M-Bap. You don't speak like road runner. You should say Bi-Bim-Bap. In Korean, words are spelled out syllable by syllable. Bibimbap is 비빔밥 in Hangul, Korean alphabet. 비 = Bi, 빔 = Bim, 밥 = Bap. 비빔 or Bibim means mix. 밥 is the Korean word for rice. The name literally means mixed rice.

A glorious mixed bimbimbap. Ready to eat.

Sounds Simple - A Complicated History

The origins of bibimbap are actually unclear.  There are many different versions of many fundamentally different theories.

Theory 1: Rights to the Gods
Some people think that the dish was created when ancestors used to climb mountains to give rights to  gods. Korean food traditionally comprises of rice and banchan or side dishes made of vegetables. There can be many side dishes, sometimes in excess of 20. This was simply too much for people to carry up a mountain for a picnic. The result was to throw them all into one bowl and mix it all up.

Theory 2: Food for Farmers
It has equally been argued that it's origins are similar to those of the British pasty. Hungry workers without the time, space or maybe even the chopsticks to eat food in the traditional manner, chucked all of the side dishes into their own bowl to eat from instead of all dipping into communal side dishes.

Theory 3: Breakfast of Leftovers

Maybe there is no elaborate story. Maybe it is as simple as parents, who were short of time, trying to prepare breakfast. There would be leftover side dishes from the night before so they'd put them in a bowl with rice and mix. Off you go kids!

What is increasingly agreed upon is that Bibimbap originated somewhere in or around the town of Jeonju in the South West of South Korea. 

What to mix?

Good question. There is no single correct answer. Obviously, there will be rice. But the vegetables can vary quite a bit. You could find a bibimbap with any 5 or 6 of the following; carrots, cucumber, mushrooms, lettuce, raddish, beansprouts, broad beans, sesame seeds, seaweed, mustard leaves, spinach, spring onion or cabbage. You will probably also find some beef. Sometimes cooked, sometimes raw. On most occasions, you will also be served an egg. Again, sometimes cooked (fried) but often raw. 

These days, you will find something Called 고추장. Korean red pepper paste. Although, in the past this wasn't always true. Some say that it masked the taste of poorly prepared vegetables. But nowadays it is a part of 99% of bibimbaps.

As simple as it sounds, a good bibimbap is hard to nail. The vegetables have to be prepared individually. The ingredients have to be fresh and added in perfect balance. There is a sweet spot where the flavors and textures combine to make a divine dish. It is actually easy to notice when the balance is wrong. 

Look at how hard it was for the chefs to do make a bibimbap on Masterchef USA. (Jump to 19 minutes for explanation followed by the challenge.

The Best Spot

Each person has their best spot for a bibimbap. Personally, I've never really had a bad one. Food critics though are unanimous in their belief that one place stands head and shoulders above them all.

Outside the Hanguk Jib

This place is the Michelin guided 한국집 or Hanguk Jib. This translates to Korean House. The Korean House has a wide range of Korean classics on its menu. But make no mistake, everybody else is here for 1 of 2 dishes. The bibimbap! There are 2 main choices of bibimbap. A Jeonju bibimbap with cooked eggs and cooked beef or my preference the 육회 or Yukhoe/Yuk-hwe bibimbap with raw beef.

The expensive but worth it menu.

Inside the restaurant.

Honestly, I have to agree with the critics. Hanguk Jib does really elevate this dish. The balance of ingredients is on another level. The quality of their sauce is top notch. And the beef? Well it is the finest Korean Hanwoo available. I am a big fan. It was the best bimbimbap of my life. It was certainly a long way ahead of the Turkish Airlines attempt. The downside is that this bibimbap costs 13,000 Korean wons or $13. Usually a bibimbap costs around 5 or 6,000 won. For a one-off treat though, I have to say it is worth the experience. It's bomb!

I would recommend anybody to visit the historic city of Jeonju and its traditional Korean village. Make a stop at the Hanguk Jib for lunch and you will have a great day. Just be aware that this place is extremely popular and as a result it has a waiting list. People are known to gather outside more than an hour before opening time. However, if you just rock-up, you are very likely to be served, as long as you are patient. The staff are helpful, polite and very professional. It is everything that you would expect from a Michelin rated restaurant. 

Moral of the Story

You needn't bother reserving yourself a hindu meal on a flight to Korea. A bibimbap will be a great choice if you ever see it on a menu. Don't waste your time with curried industrial waste and get a healthy and delicious taste of Korean food!

Perfectly accompanied by local Makgeoli, Korean rice wine. 

Absolutely Budaeful - The Origin of Budae Jjigae

Budae Jjigae - Brilliance with SPAM and Beans in Uijeongbu

Fast Facts

Name: Jeong Soon Ok Budae Jjigae

Food: Odeng Tang Budae Jjigae

Cost: $9 or 9000W

How to get there: 

Exit 1 of Jungang Station of the Uijeongbu U line, walk straight down the Budae Jjigae road until you get to the crossroads. On your right. 

War, Exile and Alan Alda

Uijeongbu City. To Koreans a kind of Siberia. An exile for those who have struggled to succeed in Seoul. To the outside world, it may be known as the setting if M*A*S*H, the US military comedy series. Owing to its geographical situation, Uijeongbu was a significant base for allied forces for the decades following the Korean war.

When the Korean public school system gave me a posting in Uijeongbu, it was very hard to hear any positive words words from any Koreans. It was very hard to find any non military westerners to offer too much insight too. I wasn't sure what I was getting myself into. One thing that I kept hearing about, was that Uijeongbu was the home of the Budae Jjigae. The birth place of one of my favorite foods on this planet. 

However, being made up of former military personnel and the Seoul working class has had significant blessings for Uijeongbu. Necessity fosters creativity. Make do with what you have.

The people of Uijeongbu, often looked down on by their country-mates actually had more to make do with. The proximity to the US bases meant access to such exotic (wait for the explanation) foods as spam and baked beans. Now, to me nor most of my friends from Western countries, would SPAM nor baked beans be considered anything near exotic. You might, even see these things as poverty food. You definitely would not find these ingredients on a menu in any Michelin starred establishment. You probably would struggle to see these items available in a back alley greasy spoon sort of place. You may be tempted to judge the people of Korea. But don't! In a war ravaged country that had previously been invaded and pillaged for centuries, meat was not easy to come by in 50's Korea. Even if you were to find some, it would probably cost a fair chunk of change. So when the US military bought SPAM to the peninsular, you bet it is was snapped up! Especially by a people as meat loving as the Koreans! 

Making Something Special

It took some work to shoe horn these ingredients into regular Korean cuisine. If you have ever had the privilege to feast on a Bibimbap (mixed rice with vegetables), a guksu (a noodle dish) or had Korean barbeque, you would know that salty, canned ham nor beans mixed with tomato sauce and industrial waste don't exactly fit easily into the recipes. The SPAM, and beans, were, after much experimentation, added to something called Odeng Tang. This is a soup that is made with unnatural looking fish cakes. I happen to enjoy Odeng and the salty broth that they produce when boiled. There is nothing better on a cold winter night in Korea where temperatures can drop as low as -25C. It is a real heart warming, morale boosting, delicious nectar that is often served in tents late a night. Very useful while waiting for a bus having consumed a healthy amount of beer or soju. 

Boiling the SPAM with the Odeng Tang worked well and enhanced the broth. But the soup wasn't red yet. Korean meals tend to be red. The meal is also lacking a vegetable. You know what else is red, and could be considered a vegetable? Baked beans! This was a great chance to get those cans out of the cupboards. Throw in some Kimchi, because this is is Korea after all, and you almost have a buddagechiggae.  

About the same time in the kitchens and factories of Korea's old foe, Japan, another instant food was becoming a sensation. Dehydrated Ramen (dried cup noodles). Ramen is as an important and respected facet of Japanese cuisine as Sushi is. Ramen, in its original, handmade form, is Japanese cuisine at its finest. Making the noodles was a problem. For working households, still busy rebuilding Japan after WW2, the labor and time intensive work of making noodles at home was becoming increasingly impossible. Step forward the inventors of the instant noodle. A great addition to any soup! And you've guessed it. A great addition to a Budae Jjigae too!

Over time more ingredients were added to the Budae Jjigae and nowadays you will find ground pork, sausage, dumpling, cheese and even bacon added to this king of comfort foods. As you know, it is a scientific fact that bacon improves any meal by 63.25% and cheese can enhance a meal by as much as 54.39%. But joking aside, YOU KNOW that the Budae Jjigae has got better with time!

Budae Jjigae was a resounding success. Proof that if you know what to do with it, SPAM can be delicious! You know what the problem with SPAM is? Snobbery! Just because you got a pay rise, it doesn't men that a food gets any less delicious. In the west, most of us look down on SPAM without having ever really tried it. If we have, we haven't been creative with it. We just think that if you're buying your meat in tins then something must be going wrong in your life. 

The SPAM and Beans City

A testament to the success of this experiment is the Buddaechiggae district in central Uijeongbu. Tourists will come from all over the country to sample the real recipe for this stunning soup. Budae Jjigae has spread all over Korea with every neighborhood boasting some place that can avail you of this magnificent concoction. The late Anthony Bourdain proclaimed Budae Jjigae as the best hangover food in the world. Watch: Bourdain shows Anderson Cooper how to make Budae Jjigae

A key perk of the home that I bought earlier this year, is that it is within walking distance of the Budae Jjigae district. I have now sampled many of these venues. As with every traditional food district in Korea, multiple restaurants lay claim to being the first ever Budae Jjigae restaurant. Some of these claims seem wildly spurious as the joint seems to have only been open for about 3 or 4 years. Everybody has their own story that they believe. This is a very passionate discussion in these parts. A discussion that can see people storm away from the dinner table. I have decided not to pick a side in this debate, instead choosing to think about my favorite establishment regardless of its back story.

The Place To Go - Jeong Soon Ok Budae Jjigae

So where should you go? It won't surprise you to hear me tell you that you should avoid any building with marketing guys stood outside. Don't be tempted by any place with a long line outside, they're not better, they're just boosted by power bloggers. Go to the smallest, thinnest, least likely establishment. Go and meet the adorable ajumma and talented chef that is Jeong Soon Ok. For older locals, there is a lot of love for this lady and her buddaechiggae.

Soon Ok has owned this establishment since the 1970's. She still works there on a day to day basis. She still greets customers with the biggest smile in town. Within moments of arriving, you just get a good feeling about this place. You feel welcome. Very welcome. The smell is very alluring. You can pick out all of that boiled pig based goodness. You can smell that fantastic heart warming broth of the odeng tang. You can also smell her unique Kimchi. And then you see that Kimchi, it's bright yellow, not the usual red. Soon Ok makes her kimchi with Jasmine flowers instead the usual spice that usually gives Kimchi it's red hue. And you know what? It's pretty damn good. Some guys were coming to this place just to eat this kimchi. One man even proclaimed it the best Kimchi in town!

The soup arrives in its hotpot and it doesn't disappoint. It is absolutely loaded with pig meat. Of course there is SPAM. There's bacon, sausages and copious amounts of ground pork too. The broth is as good as it smells but there is something else. More added goodness. Soon Ok says that these are Odeng Mandu. Dumplings made of fish cake instead of pastry, stuffed with more pig meat. Absolute joy! These things are special and add to the already amazing Budae Jjigae.

A Bright Future

Things have changed a lot. Korea is no longer a war ravaged third world country that eats to live. It is now a developed and prosperous country that lives to eat. Koreans take great pride in their food, rightfully so. The fact that Budae Jjigae has managed to not only survive to this day but become a celebrated national dish shows its quality credentials. Even with greater family finances and improved access to foreign ingredients, Budae Jjigae is still seen as a right old treat across this country.

As for Uijeongbu, it has moved on too. The US military bases have long since closed. The city is finally starting to pull itself up and is starting to see itself with a bright future. It's image is picking up. A vibrant hiphop scene is developing. Construction is apace to modernize the city and realtors are tipping it as the next big thing in Korea. With the army gone, a new debate has started to gain traction. The army may have bought the SPAM and beans but it was the people of Uijeongbu that made this great recipe. The name Budae Jjigae translates as Army Base Stew and doesn't necessarily credit the great innovation made in the town's kitchens. It also has connotations of a dark past for the town. It is proposed that we now refer to the soup as UijeongbuJjigae. Uijeongbu Stew. I don't see why not. This town deserves more credit than it gets.

After 4 months living in Uijeongbu, I am glad that I made the move. This town might not be Seoul but it has a soul. The people are nice and the food is great. As with any city with soul, the outcome is usually good soul food. If food is anything to go by, Budae Jjigae shows that Uijeongbu has a hell of a lot of soul. Who would have thought you could achieve so much with SPAM and baked beans?

Why Anthony Bourdain Meant So Much to Me... and Probably You!

Just over 5 years ago my life changed. It is April 2013 and I am living in Gwangju , South Korea and I have barely watched any English language TV in nearly 2 years. My diet had been CNN news reports, mostly about stuff that I had no interest in. The one show that I actually made an effort to follow was Anderson Cooper 360. Suddenly, one day my attention was peaked by an advertising break during 360. It was nothing special, it was just some old dude walking around in the middle of nowhere talking about a forgotten toothbrush. But it made my mind race. I started to think that something such as a travel show might be coming my way. I like travel shows.

A week later I remember asking my friend Jesse Laudino about this dude. I'd kinda heard of the name Anthony Bourdain but didn't really know anything about him. Jesse suggested that it might be worth watching. And watch we did.

The first episode was like no other travel show I had seen before. It was in Myanmar for God's sake, who made travel shows from there? Who else gave frank insights into national histories and sensitive but accurate descriptions of domestic issues in this way. This man was clearly going to forgotten parts of the world, talking to people that we have never thought about while drinking beer and gorging on some damn seductive food.  How could I not love this cocktail of beautiful scenery, amazing tales, beer and pig meat. Oh man... lots of pig meat.

Tuning into Bourdain weekly for 8 more weeks had a profound impact upon me. I'm serious.

Bourdain rocked my world in 3 ways. Firstly, he changed the way I eat. Secondly, he helped me build some of the best friendships a man could ever have. Thirdly, he definitely changed the way I travel.

People who know me these days will see me as somebody who will eat anything. Last night's dinner was dog. Get over it! 10 years ago, I would never have even thought to try dog. In fact, when I first came to Korea, I could barely stand Kimchi. I was not the biggest fan of Korean food. This was because my mind was simply closed. If I didn't know the core ingredients, it was out. Greens, no chance. Picked cabbage? Why would you eat that shit. Cook your own food at a table? What am I paying for? Soups were for the sick and elderly during the winter.

This all changed as I first watched Parts Unknown and then delved into Bourdain's old No Reservations episodes. One episode stuck with me. From Namibia of all places. Bourdain was served a pooshoot freshly plucked from a living wild boar, NOT CLEANED and then cooked on hot coals. Bourdain clearly had reservations! But he pointed out that if somebody gives you their own food and takes the time to prepare it, no matter what it is, you should try it, say thank you, smile and tell them that it is delicious. Right now, there has never been a statement that I subscribe to more wholeheartedly.

This change in mindset has seen me experience some genuinely magnificent flavors around the world. Since then, I've enjoyed crickets as a beer snack. I actually like dog soup. I've drank coffee made from mongoose poop. I never let a balut fetus guy pass me by in South Asia. I have even eaten cat! (Get over that too.) I have managed to appreciate eating intestines, drinking blood and even got handy at cooking animal heads.

The pooping mongoose

There's been some bad stories too. Frog soju, drank in Korea for energy, is disgusting. Fish urine soup is as bad as it sounds. And plenty of sea creatures have sent me running to the bathroom.

The new culinary adventures have also come to my kitchen. When confronted with a refrigerator of left over ingredients, I no longer seek the nearest fast food establishment. I establish the main protein, and look at where a Bourdain episode was recently based. Then, simply go to the google and search. Some of the results have been very successful including, but not limited to: Sudado de Pollo (Colombia + Chicken), Cuban Mojo Pork Tacos (You can guess), Poulet Yassa (Chicken + Senegal), Moqueca (Fish+Brazil), Khoresh (Beef+Iran)... You get the picture. This little game, made me a better cook, it brightened many boring evenings and allowed me to entertain many guests. It's actually fun trying to travel the world with the scraps in your refrigerator.

Now lets talk about the travel. I was well traveled. Sort of. I had set foot in many countries. I had drank many different brands of domestic beers in different bars around the globe. I had even taken a random trip to South Korea without doing a shred of research. But it was all with mates in capital cities. It was all first world.

Let's get it straight, I didn't evolve into a vegan hippie. But I took a lot more risks. I sought to see more on my travels. I sought to actually get to know the countries I went to. I ate and drank as much like a local as I could. Even when I went to cities, I would try to seek out the real local spots, I would try to find places that were perhaps "Parts Unknown."

My first trip after joining the cult of Bourdain, was to Malaysia with the man that helped me discover him, Jesse Laudino and a man simply known as "Gavin" or Prof Trevor Groce. While we weren't fully in our groove yet as disciples of Bourdain, we did watch the fuck out of his trips to Malaysia and try to hunt down the food that was featured. We had a great time, we really did. But I wasn't quite satisfied enough. We hadn't delved deep enough. We had been based in Kuala Lumpuur which is a fine city, but we hadn't gone to the spiritual home of Malaysian food, Padang.

Sadly, Jesse left Korea. He had come to be my Eric Rippert. We had done so many of these international google leftover challenges together. I was lost. We had started to get into a great travel groove together. We had also traveled to Vietnam and the Philippines together. We had both seen THE SHOW too. That was a Bourdain inspired adventure of the highest order. The loss of Jesse would be great. We had developed a deep friendship inspired by Bourdain.

The Tokyo Robot Show - CHECK IT OUT!!!

Replacing Jesse was never going to be easy. It would take a lot of luck to get anybody that I could have nearly as much fun. But fortune smiled at me and gave me 2 replacements. Cody Jarrett and Stephanie Sweeney. A married couple that I would nickname the Swearetts.  Over time I would develop a different but just as meaningful friendship with Cody and Stephanie. We bonded over a hunt for an Uzbek restaurant. You could quickly tell that they were my kind of people. We would cook random food from around the world. We would buy random ingredients from traditional markets and entertain guests with bizarre foods. We had pig head parties and they were damn good! We would also travel together.

I would return to Malaysia to set that straight. This time with different travel buddies. Cody and Stephanie Swearetts and Erica Foffenburger. Oh and a guy called Dan, but we don't need to discuss him. This time there would be no missing Padang. The self styled food capital of Asia. It does not disappoint. Any night market or hawker stand serves great food. The Nasi Lemak is like crack. No other food will satisfy half as much. A flavor profile that is unmatched. You've got spice, you've got saltiness, you've got sour and even some sweet. You have hot and cold. You get harder and softer textures. You get into food heaven.

Nasi Lemak

Finally, it was my time to leave Korea or so I thought. I somehow found myself moving to Jakarta, Indonesia. Honestly, I don't know what I was doing. The city is ugly to put it nicely. It is a difficult and often stressful place to live. It floods. It is ridden with open sewers and clouds of blood-sucking mosquitoes. My home didn't have hot water but my intestines were happy to produce plenty of brown water. I was not happy. I was as unhappy as I can ever remember myself being. One person got me through my time there, my housemate Ian Stanley. Ian is another disciple of Bourdain. While both of us really hated Jakarta with a passion, we sought comfort in seeking traditional foods, going to interesting places and following in Anthony Bourdain's footsteps. We even sought how to eat a monkey together on my first weekend in Jakarta. Again, you could tell that he was my kind of guy.

One of the chinks of light was planning our trips out of Jakarta. There was plenty of Bourdain watching to do in order to plan these trips. This led to us having the best damn pork of our lives (Ian hasn't actually done this yet, but might be doing so at the time of writing) at Madam Ibu Oka in Ubud, Bali. You actually hear the pig squeal as you wait for your order. But the life was not taken in vain. It is given a crispy, flavorful, juicy send off to my stomach as it is pit roasted with coconut oil. We went to small towns and sampled local delicacies, we drank all kinds of strange alcohols (Damn you Arrak! Oh and how could we forget Vodka Joss???), and made lots of new friends along the way.

There simply isn't enough time for me to write a blog detailing every Bourdain adventure that I've had. There are many more friends that I have had the pleasure of meeting on these adventures and I am a better person for meeting each and every one of them.

As time went by, I wouldn't just try to follow Bourdain, I would try to beat him. I would want to be the first person that I knew to have gone to a certain place or to have eaten a certain food. It's a thrill. There's a sense of achievement. Some really amazing travelling memories followed. I have stayed in family Gers in Mongolia. I have got drunk on fermented camel milk or Chal, in Kazakhstan. I have eaten cats in Vietnam (you'll have to get over that too!) I climbed an active volcano in Indonesia. Oh and I have let off fire crackers in the middle of a Chinese intersection, with the Chinese Police.

Astana - Kazakhstan

Drinking horse milk in a Mongolian family home.

Sadly, the friends that I have mentioned in this blog have left Korea. I still hold them dear but I miss them greatly. With expat life you get used to losing friends and it is a forever revolving door. I don't think that I ever came to terms with how much I changed as a person since I started living abroad. The death of Anthony Bourdain has bought some reality crashing home for me. I have realized the losses of my friends and it is really hit my how much some people meant to me. In life, we are rarely genuinely happy, but for a period of 6 years I was very happy. Sometimes too happy, too often. The reality is that it was always going to be huge fallen down once reality hit me. I have lost a lot of friends with whom I shared some very fond memories, I still keep in contact with them but it is not the same as having them around on a day to day basis. Bourdain was a catalyst for my relationship with these people and he was a glue that bound our friendships.

As I come to terms with this, I must also now take responsibility for my own travel achievements and appreciate the friends around me today. I have lost my inspiration but now it is time for me to inspire others to explore other cultures, make new friends and to try different foods. We should all try to do this.

Just as I was thinking of how to finish this blog, I was eating some outrageously good fried chicken with a friend in Uijeongbu, South Korea. I couldn't quite get my words right. But then, as we were eating, an elderly man stood up and came to our table. He asked if we thought the food was delicious. We told him that it is was damn good. His response "All people, from all countries are happy when they can eat good food with their friends." I have been lucky enough to do that because of Anthony Bourdain and the secret to future happiness is surprisingly simple. Keep meeting new people and try to eat good food with them. There's no excuses. Just go and do it!

Thanks Tony! You've given me so much! Rest in peace buddy!

Michelin Mandu

White Ajussi Fast Facts
Restaurant Name: Piyangkong-Halmani
Michelin Rating: Bib Gourmand
My Rating: 3.5/5     Poor drinks choice, questionable mandu, good value for money
Location: Google Maps Seollung Exit 1

Background: Blame Gordon Ramsay
Following Gordon Ramsay's recent Korean culinary adventures, I found myself really thinking about the quality of cooking in Korea. I had always enjoyed Korean food but I had always tried it at the local restaurant level. My mind was opened up. I decided that I should dig deeper into a part of Korean culture that is often left untouched by visitors.

There are endless blogs from foreigners who live as expats in Korea. Most of them tell tales of lame adventures that usually end up with them eating some kind of foreign comfort food. I have read many such blogs. After wading through paragraphs of nonsense about things that I would never really care about, I have often found them to lead to average, overpriced establishments that offer food that is acceptable to western tastes but in no way special. I have often found that the best western food is in our own kitchens. The best burgers, steaks and tacos have been in my friends' homes. Even I, a keen but distinctly average, home cook can often whip up something better than the Itaewon rip-off merchants.

This blog will seek to do something different to most others. So many of us really enjoy Korean cuisine, but how many of us actually seek out the best that Korea has to offer? How many of you are aware of the vast abundance of Michelin starred restaurants under our noses? Where should we look? What are we even looking for? This will not be one of those embarrassing blogs by a first year about their first bibimbap nor will it be a pretentious rant by somebody that you should rightfully want to punch in the face. I will simply try to introduce the best cuisine that Seoul has to an international audience.

The First Restaurant: Piyangkong-Halmani

So, let's talk about food. The first restaurant was chosen partly because of its amazingly cheap menu but mostly because of my love of Mandu. Michelin awarded Mandu was something that I was very keen to try! I feel that I should start this blog with Bib Gourmond recipient. This is Michelin's lowest award, but still very difficult for cooks and restaurateurs to obtain. Starting at the lowest price grade on the Michelin spectrum would allow for me to build up and even compare the difference between each step on the ladder.

If you don't trust my words, please check out the Michelin Guide 2018 for Seoul which includes directions and pricing:  Michelin Guide 2018 Piyangkong-Halmani

What does a Michelin restaurant look like?

Anybody who has spent any time in Seoul or anywhere else in South Korea, will struggle to spot and real discernible difference between the style or appearance of this restaurant.  In fact, this place sits on a very unassuming back road near Seollung station. 

Inside, on first inspection, it appears to be just a regular Korean joint. Nothing initially so impressive. But then you realize something. It is very precise and clean. There is still a wonderful rustic feel about the interior but it is as clean as a dental surgery. Almost a bit too clinical. The staff are friendly, but more like office receptionists than friendly waitpersons. All the staff are reassuringly ajummas! Which just makes you feel good about the food. The rustic, handwritten hangeul menus adorning the wall, are a nice touch too.

What is it famous for?

Kong Biji. Which is intriguingly described as peasant food by the fine people at Michelin. KOng Biji, is a tofu and nut paste. Here they turn it into a wonderfully milky soup and infuse it with pork. Pig meat never hurts a recipe, right? We ordered the regular kong-biji, along with a Su Jae Bi (a kind of Korean pasta served in a creamy sauce made from Perilla seeds and the house Mundu dumplings. 

Kong Biji

The Kong-biji was pretty much a new experience. A flavor that was part Korean porridge, part cream of wheat with added pork fat. The nice people who compile the Michelin Guide describe this as peasant food, but still deemed it award worthy. So I guess that it is food for white trash that have won the lottery. 

 It was a bit of a shock but grew on me with each passing mouthful. Its creamy taste is very comforting. Once you get through the initial shock, you start to break it down on the roof of your mouth. You start to find those wonderful nutty notes. You start to find real flavors embedded into the tofu. I found that the pork subtly complimented the paste and really started to add tot he depth of flavor. You should never expect the pork to be the star of this dish, rather it oddly seems to be a condiment or flavor enhancer. I felt it lacked a little seasoning but a little pepper did a little trick and I ended up really enjoying this soup.  So if this is peasant food, then I'll gladly be a peasant!

The Mandu

As somebody who is very passionate about dumplings, I have to say that I was a little disappointed. Far be it from me to disagree with the Michelin judges, but I am also guessing that these were not the item that won any awards. They were decent but not great. 

Mandu, or dumplings to readers outside of Korea, can be divine edible containers of all kinds meat and vegetables made from thin dough. The flavors and juices that can be contained inside can be a pure joy! I have found that my love of Mandu has grown with each passing day that I have spent in Korea. There are a lot of distinctly average dumplings out there and for many, they may still just be a simple freezer food to boil when you can't be bothered to really cook. But once you stumble across ones made the right way, you will never forget the moment. Almost nothing compares in terms of packing such a powerful punch of flavors in one bite. You'll know when that moment comes for yourself. (My divine intervention came at a lamb restaurant in Seoul... but more of that in another blog.)

This sadly wasn't one those moments. If you order dumplings from Din Tai Fung, you would never cut them or even pierce them with a chopstick. You simply can not lose the juices contained inside. It defeats the point! That is why all that goodness is boiled in one sealed little package. These Mandu were simply too big for most to consume in one bite. They had to be cut and you could see so much goodness going to waste. Then, when you dip them into soy sauce, too much floods in, due to the open wound.

The dough was also way too rubbery for my taste. Too overpowering for the textures that should be discovered inside. In a good dumpling, the casing is merely a method to lock in the flavors, a means to keep stuff togetehr and contain wonderful aromas  

Put simply, I have had better. I had better, the night before.

Sujebi

Sujebi was initially introduced to me as a vegetarian food. So you can imagine that it didn't go down well. I still think that in most broths that it can be a bit of a non event. Put it into a creamy perilla seed soup and it can be absolutely wonderful. In this case, it was another home run. Much closer to the level of the Kong Biji rather than the distinctly average mandu. 

Until recently, I didn't know much about sujebi or perilla. Here is a place to find out more: Sujebi Intro

Drinks
I was a little disappointed by the drink choice. While all of the Korean staple brands of beer (there was Cass for Gordon Ramsay), soju and makgeolli were available, there was nothing interesting. This food lends itself out to some deeper flavored rice wines. Most places serving this kind of fare do tend to offer more of a selection. I didn't really appreciate the bog standard Seoul Makgeolli. I feel that many better options could have been provided for a very reasonable price. After dinner, I actually ended up going to another establishment to get my makgeolli fix! Don't know what Makgeolli is: What is Makgeolli???

Conclusion
The prices here are very reasonable and a lot of the food will be different to what many of you have dared to try. It is worth the visit, if nothing else, to put your culinary journey onto a new path and open your mind to elevated cooking and different styles of food. You will probably like what you try, but, for the love of god, don't touch the mandu!

Thank you for reading!