Wednesday, September 8, 2010

Korean beef small intestines experts

Another restaurant review! Why not? I eat three times a day, don't I?

I went with my colleague and friend Mr Hwang and his son to a very popular local eatery on Deungchon-gil about one block northeast of Deungchon station on line 9 (turn right out of Exit 1) called 한우곱창전문 Hanu gopchang jeonmun, Korean beef small intestines experts!


You can barely see fuzzy Hwang and son to the left of the photo. It may be the first time I've seen the boy wearing something other than a baseball uniform, since he lives and breathes the American Korean pasttime. You have to arrive at this tiny spot early (6:30 or so) or else very late, otherwise you will wait in line. Today's weather was spectacularly mild (after some months of boiling heat and humidity), so sitting on the sidewalk was definitely the thing to do. The aromas from the neighboring tables as we waited were delightful.

The meal here always starts with a bowl of 선지해장국 seonji haejangguk heated on your burner--that's oxblood soup. The panchan includes kimchi, of course (not pictured), marinated sesame leaves, raw liver and kidney cubes, and something which may be a part of a cow's stomach lining; marinated onions, salt-black pepper-oil mixture, and samjang are for dipping.



We ordered the modum (in full 한우모듬구이), which is a mixed or sampler platter, and it was awesome, 13,000 W per serving. In addition to small intestine, it includes liver, stomach, potato, garlic, onions, leeks, and some grass-like veg that Koreans seem to love.


After that was all gone, we got 복음밥 bokumbap, rice, shredded seaweed, kimchi, etc, fried up in the pan drippings. This is also tasty, and fulfills the Korean requirement for rice at almost every meal (including breakfast), though to be honest, I could live without the seaweed.


Mr Hwang's son seems torn becoming a baseball player and a chef, since he was very attentive and deliberate about making sure the food got turned when needed, delighted in serving me or his dad the perfectly done bits, and when the bokum came, made sure it was patted into a perfect shape, then scraped away the top so he could make the slightly burnt, crispy rice of 누룽지 nurungji.

1 comment:

Adam said...

Hi, you may not remember me but earlier this year I asked you what recruiter you had used when applying for your teaching position. I successfully applied to EPIK with Korea Connections and am now teaching at a rural school in Gyeongsangbuk-do. Thanks for pointing me in a good direction.