[The Palate] Winter wellness found in fermented bean paste soup

Korean cuisine has long been associated with the practice of fermentation and the healthful benefits of a variety of pickled and salted foods. As health trends from around the globe are becoming more popular among conscientious eaters, the culinary history of Korea which is rich in flavor and focused on wellbeing, offers much to learn. One dish that stands out among Korea’s most pungent holistic foods is cheonggukjang, fermented soybean, with a unique aroma which makes it an acquired taste.Going

Feb. 19, 2016

[Weekender] Moveable feasts: Street foods shed humble beginings

Cheese-topped lobster, grilled steak, steaming bowls of Vietnamese rice noodle and deep-fried whole squid on a stick -- these are but some of the foods from around the globe that can be had on the go on Seoul streets.Myeong-dong and Hongdae neighborhoods today boast street foods that have shed any trace of their humble origins as a cheap, quick bite for people short of money and time. Even staple street foods like tteokbokki and fishcakes have been given new twists -- spicy tteokbokki served smo

Feb. 19, 2016

[Weekender] Seoul City pushes to legalize street vendors for better control

Trying out diverse types of street food may be tempting, especially for tourists who wish to experience Korea‘s unique food culture. About 8,000 street vendors operate in Seoul, mostly food vendors, attracting visitors with a wide variety of offerings ranging from Korean traditional desserts to hot meals.Most of them, however, are illegal, as occupying streets with unauthorized facilities is officially banned in Korea. Acknowledging the public’s complaints over the overcrowding of the city’s maj

Feb. 19, 2016

[Weekender] Newly legalized food trucks face systemic hurdles in Korea

Korea is famous the world over for its vibrant street food culture, with stalls, carts and booths selling time-tested delicacies at every turn. So it may come as a surprise to some that food trucks -- vehicles outfitted to accommodate cooking facilities -- were just legalized in Korea in August 2014 as a part of the deregulation efforts pushed by the Park Geun-hye administration.Although food trucks were touted as a way to increase opportunities for young entrepreneurs who may not have the capit

Feb. 19, 2016

Seoul street foods seeing culinary rebirth

A city that once saw its street foods limited to greasy fried foods on a stick and traditional doughy dessert snacks, Seoul’s streets are now seeing new culinary creations and out-of-the-box dining options like never before. Like many urban cities, one of the dynamic aspects of Seoul’s city life for both tourists and locals alike is the wide-ranging options of hot-off-the-street eats. And one cannot talk about Seoul street foods without mentioning the city’s street food mecca -- Myeong-dong.Seou

Feb. 19, 2016

Busan’s street foods stay true to their origins

Overview of food alley at BIFF plaza, Busan. (Korea Tourism Organization)Along with the spread of social media, there has been a rapid change in street food trends, from previously focusing on taste to being increasingly fixated on providing visual pleasure. People who once enjoyed the food itself are now seeking fancy or extravagant presentations to show off on Facebook or Instagram.Although Busan also has picture-worthy street foods, such as water drop mochi and skewered fruits covered with sy

Feb. 19, 2016

Around the hotels

Banyan Tree introduces ‘Taste Odyssey’ diningBanyan Tree Club & Spa Seoul’s Club Member’s Restaurant is presenting “Taste Odyssey V” from Feb. 26-27. Taste Odyssey is held once a month and this month’s featured ingredient is fresh Byeolgyo cockles. This uniquely Korean dining event will use chamkkomak and pikkomak varieties of these little clams, delivered directly from Yeojaman, the area famous for cockles, located in the Byeolgyo coastal area. Chamkkomak is famous as one of the dishes served t

Feb. 19, 2016

Home Cooking: Mapo tofu

Mapo tofu (or mapa dubu) is a popular Chinese dish in which small tofu cubes are braised in a spicy sauce. Mapo tofu recipes typically call for doubanjiang (called dubanjang in Korea) which is a spicy, salty chili with fermented bean paste and Sichuan peppercorns (aka Chinese coriander), but these ingredients are not staples in Korean kitchens.  Mapo tofu (Korean Bapsang)　So, to recreate this dish at home, Koreans often use a combination of doenjang (fermented soybean paste), gochugaru (red chil

Feb. 12, 2016

France’s Cahors wine is new frontier for Argentina, China

PRAYSSAC, France (AFP) – France’s southwestern Cahors region is a new frontier for foreign investors, from Argentine winegrowers doing the “Malbec tango” to potential investor “ambassadors” from China.　Cahors is the new go-to destination for foreign investors as wine-growing land is becoming scarce -- and therefore exorbitantly expensive -- in other French regions.　“You can’t afford anything in Bordeaux or the Rhone or even in the Loire anymore,” says Chilean specialist Pedro Parra, who works fo

Feb. 10, 2016

Hidden gem restaurant

Over Lunar New Year, Seollal, there are some traditional foods that herald in the festivities. One of them is Tteokguk, or rice cake soup. It is the first meal one should eat in the new year, as it represents hope and is symbolic of another year lived, or as it is properly known here, the Korean age of reckoning. After finishing the bowl of soup, a person’s age goes up by a year. Manduguk, or dumpling soup, is a North Korean variation of the traditional soup eaten during Seollal, and often both

Feb. 5, 2016

Around the hotels

Ritz-Carlton offers Spring Festival packageThe Ritz-Carlton, Seoul is presenting the “New Year’s Prestige Getaway” package in celebration of the Spring Festival, China’s most important public holiday. The package is available from Feb. 1-18.Available to guests staying for two or more nights during the promotion period, the package includes buffet breakfast at The Garden and dinner at Oksan Buffet for two, for the duration of each stay. The price of the package starts from 300,000 won per night.

Feb. 5, 2016

More eateries appearing in Korea’s train stations 　

With Lunar New Year upon us, there is no escaping the elbow-to-elbow crowds that flood the nation’s train stations as millions of locals travel out of the cities to reunite with their loved ones. While long lines at ticket booths are not surprising, over the past few years, a new food culture of has also developed there, with long lines at food places have also started appearing in train stations.  Interior look at Daejeon Station‘s bakery Sung Sim Dang. (Julie Jackson/The Korea Herald)Rather th

Feb. 5, 2016

Gourmet panini for the thrifty foodie

Crescent-shaped housemade loaves of bread form the foundation for Bistro Piuzza’s panini.  Bistro Piuzza’s porchetta panino is crafted with fennel seed-spiced pork belly that has been slow roasted for over three hours. (Park Hyun-koo/The Korea Herald)　Smoky from a stint in a wood-fired oven, the bread boasts a crisp crust and an airy, hollowed out center ideal for sandwiches. 　“We bake our panini bread to order,” said Bistro Piuzza chef Hwang Dong-hui, gesturing to the oven in the open kitchen.

Jan. 29, 2016

Home Cooking: Tteok sanjeok (skewered rice cake with beef and vegetables)

Sanjeok is a traditional holiday dish that is a variety of jeok -- skewered meat and vegetables. Unlike some other jeok varieties, sanjeok is not egg- or flour-battered. The ingredients are skewered and then grilled or pan-fried. Depending on the main ingredients used, they are called gogi (beef) sanjeok, songi (mushrooms) sanjeok, pa (scallions) sanjeok, etc. Tteok (rice cake) sanjeok is made with garaetteok, which is unsweetened rice cake that’s shaped like a long cylinder. 　Garaetteok is abun

Jan. 29, 2016

[Weekender] Drinking soju can be a lesson in gastronomy

Drinking is almost a national sport in Korea, and soju takes a large chunk of the market.Soju is so popular that the fact that mineral water sales outpaced those of soju at one of Korea’s largest supermarket chains made headlines in 2015. Soju comes in many shapes and guises, ranging from the cheap but effective brands that cost about $1 a bottle at a supermarket to those produced using traditional methods with significantly higher price tags. Regardless of the quality of soju, “anju,” or food e

Jan. 22, 2016

[The Palate] Eat like a local on Jeju-do Island

Christine Cho, a Korean-American expat in Seoul, has been eating and cooking her way around the world for 16 years as a private chef. -- Ed.The list is long as to what one should eat on Jejudo Island as a visitor, but it is a top culinary destination. Some of the most flavorful fruits and vegetables in the country grow on the island and it is prized for its Jeju black pigs and the abundance of seafood from the surrounding waters. Jeju black pig is a heritage breed indigenous to the island and pr

Jan. 22, 2016