Food is everywhere in Korea. Anywhere you go, you can find some food stands, markets, and obviously restaurants where you can eat AMAZING food. We always take full advantage of these opportunities ;). (Somehow we've managed not to gain 100 pounds each in the last 8 months.)
Let's start with street food!
We are TOTAL fans of Yaki Mandu! This is our go-to drunk food when we're downtown haha! Mandu is a dumpling that's filled with noodles, veggies, sometimes meat... I don't know. But then they're deep fried and sprinkled (okay covered) in salt. They can also be boiled, but obviously anything fried is way better!! We didn't make these, but we plan to someday! Mandu costs about ₩5,000 (less than $5) for a huge bag of them. We usually dip them in soy sauce, but they can be eaten just as they are and they're still delicious. Here's a Google image of some Yaki Mandu. (I didn't make any because I'd rather my whole house not smell like fried food for a week.)
Next, is Hotteok! OMG YUM. Hotteok is a fried dough filled with "jam" made of nuts, cinnamon, honey, sugar.. Whatever. They're like pancakes, but better. We've had regular Hotteok and green tea Hotteok (which taste the same to me but they're green instead of golden brown). They're the best when it's cold, because you buy them straight off of the griddle! These are usually ₩1,000 each. We've made these twice now with a boxed mix we bought from Home Plus, the Korean Walmart type store. They're definitely not as good when made at home, but I'll figure it out!
Here's a Google image of Hotteok. (I don't have my own picture because we devoured them before I had a chance to take one.)
Here's a picture of Odeng.
That's my crash course on street food. Now some other foods we love in Korea.
KIMBAP!!! Kimbap, or Gimbap, is super popular in Korea. It looks like sushi, but it's a finger food, that has no raw fish in it (so I'm all about it). It can be filled with many different things, but we usually get the ones that have fish cakes, egg, cucumber, pickled radishes, ham, and carrot. Sometimes it has imitation crab instead of fish cakes. They can be spicy, savory, lots of different flavors. They're like sandwiches for Koreans; altered to fit anyone's preferences. These are cheap too, about ₩1,500 for one roll. If you haven't figured out, food here is pretty cheap. We bought all of our ingredients for or homemade Kimbap at Home Plus and I was SO excited to make it!
Here's a Google image of Kimbap.
Here's a bunch of pictures of the process.
The next thing we made was Samgak-Gimbap, or rice triangles. These can be found in any convenience store in Korea. Drew has always been a huge fan of them. These, like regular Kimbap can be filled with many different things. Spam, tuna, bulgogi, kimchee, squid, the possibilities are endless. We found a Samgak-Gimbap mold at, none other than, Home Plus and were so pumped to make it! Like Kimbap, this stuff is seaweed, rice, and fillings.
Here's a Google image of Samgak-Gimbap in a convenience store.
I'm not a HUGE fan of these, but they're much better when I make them myself and know what is inside! I usually end up picking a gross one from the store!
That does it for all of the Korean food we made this weekend. In the past, I've also made bulgogi and bibimbap (rice, meat, veggies, and egg in a bowl. I just need more practice with everything so I can come home and cook it all for you!
I'll end with some puppy pictures so you can all get your fix.