“Seoul” Good Food (day 3)

What’s a day in Korea without trying their local food? After the first visit to SK Telecom, we had mouth-watering Bibimbap and Shabu Shabu for lunch. 

Back in the day, farmers were poor and a lot of work was demanded of them outside of the home. It is believed that rice with some kinds of vegetation, like Bibimbap, could quickly be mixed in a large bowl or container for communal feeding. 

Bibimbap, a dish served in a hot stone bowl, is a mixture of rice, shredded vegetables, minced meat, egg yolk, and bean sprouts. Gochujang (chilli paste) can also be added to suit one’s preference. Side dishes like Kimchi, when coupled with Bibimbap, is like an appetiser and a main dish all in one. One does not simply stop at the first mouthful. 

A bowl of delicious bibimbap.

Together with the Bibimbap was the Shabu Shabu – a dish consisting of finely sliced pork cooked in a heart-warming bowl of soup, along with a whole lot of vegetables and mushrooms. This dish was introduced in Japan in the 20th century. The clear soup was a bowl of home cooked goodness, which certainly left us craving for more.

Pork Shabu Shabu before cooking.

After the seven-hour break between lunch and dinner, our appetites were finally satisfied once again when we were served a seafood steamboat for dinner. The steamboat really reminded us of how we celebrate Chinese New Year and we began to reminisce about home.

The korean side dishes that came with the main course.

The seafood steamboat dinner that consists of mushrooms and crab.

Seafood is aplenty in Korea as it is a peninsula. Koreans eat a lot of seafood although meat has become very popular in the last 50 years or so.

Like most other meals, there was a free flow of side dishes (which included Kimchi, anchovies, pickled radish, bean sprouts and etc.) and fragrant short-grain rice, which were typical of the type of rice grown in this part of the world. The fresh seafood really brought out the flavour of the soup. Despite being an all-girls team, finishing the soup wasn’t a problem for us. In fact, we wanted more!

We are definitely seeing a trend in the meals served here – they are always wholesome and balanced, with at least some meat or seafood, and a whole lot of veggies. It’s no wonder that the Koreans have such flawless skin! 

More Kimchi, anyone?

Written by Abigail Lee and Jodenia Chan

Videography and Edited by Charlyn Chua & Sabrina Poon

A production by BAEGOPAYO