Korea Tour Afterthoughts

Looking back at my Korean tour, I noticed that there was a great deal of involvement from the diners when cooking the food. Unlike the other tours I had where the food is already completely prepared when served, the local Korean restaurants, more often than not, serve you raw ingredients.

There are certain advantages to this kind of method. First, and most obvious of all, the food is guaranteed to be cooked fresh (unless you don't know the basics of cooking). Next is that you can customize your food from how much spices you want to add to how well-done you want the meat cooked. Finally, a hands-on experience is one of the best way to appreciate the culture of a country and its people. Food is one of the objects that best reflects a culture. You get to experience an activity the people do on a daily basis. You witness not only their eating habits but also the creativity people pour into their cooking processes. The spices and flavors you taste can even tell you a lot about their preferences, the crops they grow and their necessities from which their culinary ingenuity was born. Having this unique chance to be behind the grill made me more open to and appreciative of the culture of Korea.

Seafood Buffet

On the day of our departure, we had lunch buffet at a seafood restaurant. As I have mentioned before, we rarely had seafood since Korea doesn't have much aquatic resources. Our local tour guide claims that their they don't have plenty of fish farms or fishing grounds in their oceans. I guess that explains why seafood is not commonly involved in traditional Korean cuisines. So it was no surprise that the restaurant served lots of Japanese and Chinese dishes like sushi, tempura seafood fried rice and fish fillet in black bean sauce. They even served western-inspired dishes like the spicy spaghetti with shrimp and mussels.

But of course, you can always expect more in a buffet. It's not all about seafood. They also had Chinese dumplings, Japanese cold noodles, Miso soup, deep fried chili crab and the ever-popular Korean Bulgogi. This buffet was a great way to end our tour since I was able to experience a variety of dishes from different cultures all under one roof. It's just a shame that the restaurant ran out of certain dishes quickly since there was another tour group, which ate along with us. But even if it took the crew a long while to refill the food, the buffet still left me very satisfied.

Saving the Best for Last

This was the dinner we had on our last night in Korea. It's Beef Bulgogi and may I say that it is the best barbecue this tour has to offer. Notice that the pot is overflowing with mushrooms and vegetables. That is because the restaurant needed to add lots of extenders to the dish since they (or any restaurant for that matter) don't offer free beef refills. Unlike pork and chicken, beef is a very expensive commodity in Korea.

If look at the picture once more, you will see that there is more of those long , white, stringy mushrooms. Those are Golden Needle Mushrooms and here in the Philippines, it is a very expensive imported food. Since it grows abundantly in Korea, I was able to indulge until my craving was completely satisfied.

This was the best traditional barbecue I had in the entire tour. Not only did the sweet and spicy flavors of the beef barbecue win me over, but I was able to enjoy an abundant supply of the expensive Golden Needle Mushrooms.

Shabu Shabu Hot Pot

Shabu Shabu is a dish or style of cooking that is not Korean at all. It is actually an influence of Chinese and Japanese cultures. After all, Koreans are renowned for using the barbecue cooking method and not cooking mixed ingredients with a boiling bowl of soup. But even though we had a nontraditional lunch, the hot pot was terrific.

I liked the generous servings of pork, which were sliced to paper-thin portions so it would cook faster. The meat was of great quality since it had a very tender texture. Best part of the hotpot was the noodles. Judging by its yellowish color, I'd say it was egg noodles. I loved the firm texture and flavorful taste of every noodle strand. The entire hotpot lunch became even better when Korean side dishes, especially the Kimchi, were eaten along with the Shabu Shabu. Even though the concept of this meal was an influence of other cultures, the Koreans were able to create their own great version of the dish by adding a bit of their tradition. They really know their culinary stuff.

Pork Bulgogi and Bibimbap

This dinner was one of the best since I was able to try out two native dishes in one sitting. The first was Pork Bulgogi. Unlike the Osam Bulgogi, the pork slices are further soaked in a darker, richer and sweeter marinade, which gives it a more intense flavor. As an extender, a huge bowl of chopped cabbage was added while the meat was being cooked in the sauce. I'm not sure if that is the standard recipe or if it is a version of the restaurant but it was all great.

The next dish was the Hot Stone Bibimbap. It is a mix of rice, vegetables, seaweed, onions and spices all topped with a raw egg. Think of this Bibimbap as the Korean version of fried rice, only this time you are involved in the cooking process. The bowl is very hot like a sizzling plate so all the raw ingredients are cooked by the intense heat alone. It is important to thoroughly stir the contents around so that the heat will be distributed evenly before all the heat is gone. We don't want any salmonella remaining in the egg, do we?