6 Korean Meals to die for

They say food is the way to a man's heart. Well, food is also a way to comfort a travelling soul. 

I thought I would share my favourite 6 dishes that's traditionally Korean. When I got to Korea it was really hard for me to get used to the blandness of Korean food but as time went by my tastebuds definitely got used to it and I love it now. I think it might also be because I had to get used to the spiciness of the food. It's strange how food comforted me through the months I've been here. The first thing I missed was McCain mixed stir-fry veggies but I think I got a pretty good replacement for the time being.

Bibimbap:

This is a veggie and meat rice dish. Some places serve it without meat which is perfect for vegetarians. The rice texture is normally sticky and sometimes it has beans in to change the taste a little bit. The beans are actually quite healthy since it's a source of protein. There is a variety of veggies used depending on where you go but normally it consists of mushrooms, carrots, bean sprouts and spinach. The meat varies between pork and beef. You also get an baked egg on top. The special ingredient will be the famous chill pepper sauce used by Koreans. I also got dried seaweed in my meal before and it's actually really nice. 

Boiling the rice with green tea leaves really gives the rice a great taste.

Recipe: Bibimbap

Gimbap:

Gimbap is the perfect meal if you are about to go up the mountain and you want to take a snack with you. It's cheap and highly available all over Korea. The ingredients differs since there is quite a variety of stuffings you can use. Gimbap is a seaweed wrapped rice rolls with vegetable and meat or fish stuffings. One thing that's always inside Gimbap is radish, carrots and spinach. If you want a fishy role your options are normally tuna or crab. If you want meat your options are pork, beef or chicken. I personally like the breakfast Gimbap role since it has egg inside. Majority of the time the meat is cooked in garlic. 

Recipe: Gimbap

Chap Chee Noodles:

I get this meal in small portions at school from time to time and sometimes I'll order it at a restaurant. It's something different to the normal noodles we normally eat. The noodles is transparent. It's filled with a variety of vegetables and contains meat as well as egg. It has sesame seeds and bamboo shoots in as well. The beef is marinated in sauce made of soy, sesame oil, green onions, salt and pepper. 

Recipe: Chap Chee Noodles

Seafood Pajeon or Korean Pancakes:

This is not really a meal on it's own but it could be eaten as one if you fancy that. We normally eat it as a starter. It's a mouth full of seafood and the crisp is quite addictive. It's made with rice flour and some other ingredients mixed with vegetables, green onions and seafood. Normally the seafood would be octopus and prawns. But the seafood depends on the restaurant. In special occasions you'll find they put squid in as well. You can get this pancake as vegetable only as well which is just as delicious. 

Recipe: Seafood Pajeon

Bulgogi:

Also known as Korean BBQ. I just love this. It's a little different that the way we do thing in the sense that the meat is really thin and you don't spice it at all. It's also not grilled on a wood fire but on coles. This changes the taste a little. You can marinate the meat. What I like about it however is not only the meat but the way you go about eating it. You will get lettuces with your meal as well as egg, bean sprouts, tofu soup, soy sauce, onions, garlic, green chilli peppers ( I don't touch those) and a salad with red pepper sauce. As a starter and pallet cleaner you put the onions in the soy sauce and eat it. You take the lettuce and you layer it with meat, some sprouts and salad, fold it close and pop the whole thing in your mouth. It's tasty, crunchy and messy but great. 

Recipe: Bulgogi

Korean style Fried Chicken:

Chicken and beer is a thing and if it's not I just made it a thing. It's super good. Although it could get a little spicy from time to time it's definitely to die for. This is normally my friday night treat since it's quite expensive. In Korea you have a choice of boned or deboned chicken and then of course the flavour. You get spicy, really spicy, not so spicy and not spicy. Most of them has garlic on which makes it quite spicy. I love the sweet and sour chicken which on a scale of 1-10 spicy it's about a 5 after the 4th piece of chicken you eat. The burn doesn't disappear, it gets worse. Normally we order a bland ( not spicy at all) chicken dish as well for if the burn gets to much. This dish only consists of chicken and sometimes a little coleslaw. 

Recipe: Fried Chicken