Foodventures: Seoul, South Korea

I don't like my hometown much.

Seriously, with North Korea right around the corner, their sky-high suicide rates, insane academic competition, socially accepted anorexia, and plastic surgery addiction, I honestly wonder how anyone makes it out of there alive (literally). The five or so years I spent there around my tweens was more than enough for me.

But even I have to admit that it's a magnificent place to visit, and I am glad I managed to spend my Thanksgiving holiday in Seoul.

For a small country, South Korea has a lot in store. There's something for everyone: countless mountains in both the city and country for the hiker (and skiers in the winter!), beaches all around the peninsula for the swimmer/surfer/snorkeler, booming nightlife for the partier, a rather impressive collection of high-end designer shops and indie boutiques for the fashionista, museums and cultural monuments for the history buff - and of course, unlimited food options for the foodie.

In Korea, you can find a town of restaurants that specialize in nothing other than soybean products. Think you don't like tofu? Well, I can't say I blame you - I don't know why I like it either. But as every Asian is wont to do, I'm willing to shovel it in my mouth by the kilogram (Korea uses the metric system, because it's the sensible thing to do), and this is exactly what I did in Paju aka soybean town.

TOFU AND SOY SAUCE

Did I go to Paju specifically to eat tofu and ground soybeans? The answer is no - I was in the area visiting my grandpa at the cemetery and I stopped by for lunch. Either way, it's certainly worth a visit if you happen to be wandering in the area.

Ground soy beans

While I was in Seoul. I made an overnight trip to Busan with my family via the KTX (Korea Train Express). At the train station, we stopped by a Dunkin' Donuts for some coffee and a mochi donut.

Yaaas

A mochi donut is basically a regular donut - deep-fried and all - made of sticky rice flour instead of normal wheat flour. And it is godly - the texture is chewy like a mochi ball yet light and airy like a yeasty donut. I can't believe they don't sell them in the streets here.

They sell these at every Korean donut shop, but I believe the original is the Pon De Ring from Mister Donut. This is a must have if you visit Seoul.

View from my hotel room in Busan

Once we arrived in Busan, we headed straight for some fresh seafood - what else would we eat by the ocean, after all? We ordered a huge platter of sashimi which came with sides of oysters and squid and scallops among other things and I ate until I exploded.

My raw food escapades continued the next day at lunch when I opted to try steak tartare for the first time. I present to you: STEAK TARTARE BIBIMBAP.

I do enjoy my steak rare, but since steak tartare had the appearance of ground beef, I was slightly apprehensive; my concerns were vanquished when I took a bite and IT. WAS. DELICIOUS. I had no idea you could improve on bibimbap so drastically. 10/10 would recommend.

Even though Korea was my home for some time, I find that there are so many places (both food- and not food-related) that I have yet to explore. Even during this most recent trip, there are so many things I neglected to photograph: stuffing my face with KBBQ, ordering Korean-Chinese food, guzzling a 10,000 won affogato in Gangnam...and despite all that there was still so much to do and so little time. This year, I'm planning on taking a detour to Jeju Island when I return to Seoul; I'm already looking forward to the culinary experiences that my next journey has to offer.