육회 (Yookhwe) at 서초동연가

육회

My friends and I at 서초동연가 

During my visit to Seoul in Nov 2010, I had a chance to try many new dishes at a restaruant called 서초동연가 Seochodong-yeonga (thanks to my Korean friends for this finding!).  One of those new dish was 육회 (Yookhwe).  I've eaten raw fish like sashimi and almost medium rare beef in my pho before, but raw beef paired with Korean PEAR was a 1st and it was one of those greatest combos ever!  When I first saw the white julienned strips, my first thought was daikon or some type of vegatable.  To my happy surprise, it was the sweet Korean pear.  The julienned pear insinuate the dish really well.  Juicy, sweet, crunchy pear along with the aroma of sesame oil hit the nose and taste bud before the tender julienned beef.  On top was onion and raw garlic strips to bring refreshing taste to the dish.  Can't forgot the sesame seed and pine nuts in korean dishes for presentation and nutty taste.  Writing this makes me crave some now! 

Front View

Visit 서초동연가 by take the green line 2 to Gangnam Station then walk out towards exit 6.  See my directions below or google maps for details.  The restaurant has a ancient Korean feel due to the wooden tables and seats surrounded by paper like wallpaper.  There are actually two of these restaurants along the same street with the same name.  My friends and I tried both places and we found that they were very similar to one another.  If you can't make it to this restaurant or get it anywhere closeby, immaeatchu has the recipe. 

 


서초동연가 Google Maps Directions

 See pictures below for other items you can order at 서초동연가.



육사시미 (Beef Sashimi) - Dipped in a red sauce below with black sesame seed and garlic on top.  This dish is about ₩30,000 to ₩35,000.



Combo platter of small yookhwe and beef sashimi - ~₩55,000.  Can't forget soju and the restaurant's great soup! 

 

등골 - Marrow which needs to dipped with sesame oil salt.  It was fatty and very bland unless you dip in the salt.



Another type of Yookhwe so the plate presentation was a bit different - ~₩30,000 (most dish were around this price).

 

Final photo before we devoured this fest  ^ ^

Big soup bowl made of acorn jelly with refreshing cucumber seaweed was service since we ordered so much!





Ultimate Walking Snack 호떡

Green Tea Sweet Rice Cake

One of my favorite snacks in Seoul is the delicious, round, crispy on the outside, hot sweet nutty inside rice cake called 호떡 (hotteok).  You can find this ₩600 goodness anywhere on the main streets of South Korea.  There are more of these snack stalls near shopping areas like MyeongDong, Insadong, and Dongdaemun and/or around schools.  Since you walk everywhere in South Korea, the hottoek is the best cheap walking snack!  South Korea has so many street snacks, more than Vietnam in my opinion.  But I was only visiting Ho Chi Minh City for a month total so maybe I didn't explore in depth like I did with Seoul.  I can say that Vietnam is willing to try to invent more snacks so they might really have more street snacks that I'm not aware of.

Back to the main subject, Korean street food.  Like I mention, there are lots so I plan to elaborate on the important ones.  

There are a few types of hotteok.  For the inside goodness, all of them contain brown sugar and cinnamon.  Most of them have nuts (pines nuts only or a mixture of different types of crusted nuts) while a few do not.  The outside is normally made of rice cake but there are wheat, corn, and green tea (in the photo above).  Teolbo Hodduk (털보네 호떡) have more wonderful photos and explaination for your enjoyment.

But for the moment, here is one with me and my favorite snack bought from my favorite hotteok stand near Yonsei in Nov 2010.

My Life At Yonsei

Getting to Yonsei




물 냉면 - Cold Noodle, 1st meal in Korea
and 1st cold noodles dish

During my undergrad time at Baylor University, I got a chance to study aboard in Seoul at Yonsei University fall 2007!  To my wildest imagination, I would have never guessed to be cultured shock but I was on my very first few steps outside Incheon Int'l Airport (closest international airport to Seoul).  Being born in Vietnam and growing up in an Asian household, I "thought" that I completely understand the Asian ways and whatnots.  Boy was I wrong...

I had walked outside ICN in shock with all the limo bus lining up like military trucks.  See this photo (credit to the taker).  I never heard of or seen limo bus before but it seems like people in Seoul use it frequently since more than half the people at the airport awaits their bus.  In the States, you usually get a taxi or someone to pick you up.  Here, you get a third and most popular choice - ride on a limo bus for ~10,000₩ to Seoul (about an hour away).  1,000₩ is similar to $1.  Now that I live near San Francisco where shuttlebus are one of the norm tranportations from the airport in similar ways to the limo bus, I understand the use and need of those limo bus.  I even used these great limo bus when I went back to visit Seoul with my mom in Nov 2010.  Sits were roomy and your luggage safely in the bottom of the coach ("limo bus" - keep forgetting).  

Well just my luck back then, Yonsei was very accommodating to foreign students and had given us an option to get a ride with the school's transportation, which goes direction from ICN to Yonsei, for a small fee. 

After that day, I throw my "knowledge" of Asian countries out the door and embraced Korea one day at a time.  Yonsei was a wonderful start becuase of its location, beauty, and wonderful opportunties. 

Growing at Yonsei



Angela and I at Yonsei v Korea Games (Yon-Ko Jeon)



I took two years of Korean at Baylor before my study aboard so I had the basics down.  Unexpectedly, my Korean level tested out be only around 1.8 but I was in the right class with the some of the coolest international students.

Yonsei had great discounted trips for foreign students like a Seoul bus tour that took us to the famous National Museum of Korea, shopping, eating, and a special boat trip in the Hans River all in one day.  Another great trip was to see the B-Boys, world famous break dancers, show called "Ballerina Who Loves B-Boy", in Taegu (대구).  My most memoriable time at Yonsei has to be the Yon-Ko Jeon games. 



My classes were every interesting.  Finance and International Business were my majors so I took international trade, marketing, Korean language classes, Korean history, and fencing.  All were great and I still remember a lot of the lessons till this day.

Ginny, Jasmine, and I in Korean Hanbok

for 추석event at Yonsei

I stayed at the I-House (International House) dorms while some other foreign students lived outside campus and commute in.  There were benefits to both ways but I really grew my relationship with my dorm ladies so I was lucky to stay at the I-House.  2007 Ladies 2nd Floor!!  We clicked after a few chats and explored Korea together throughout the semester.  I really made life-long friends and it must be my most valuable take from studying aboard.  We are all in different places in the world today but I will always remember our fond times together in class, in karaoke room, clubbing, shopping, eating, and just walking the busy streets of Seoul. 



Yonsei in Autumn



Yonsei was is located in Sinchon (sometimes mistaken for Shinchon), the youth of Seoul because it was close to two other universities (Ewha & Hongik).  Not only was the location fun, it was also fashionable and heavenly place for foodies.  The campus was on a hill side so I had beautiful trail-like paths to class each day.  It was a pain at first becuase it was like hiking up a mountain for class each day but nature grew in on me and I started to enjoy those hikes with friends.  My adventures soon to be posted.

Now that I think about it, I should have started blogging sooner to save my memories.  But they are all in my head and in my heart. 

Thank you Yonsei!

Girl With A Mission

Eating at a resturant in Sinchon

Come Explore Korea With Me!

Hello Everyone!  I started blogging at the end of 2010 but was not really active until I discovered the biggest reward - WIN A CULINARY TRIP TO KOREA by Koreataste.org  (credit to SeoulEats for the info)!

The original "Girl With A Mission" contains my previous blogs from weebly (I switched to blogger.com because its easier for a beginner like me).

Blast to the Past

I was exposed to the Korean culture around 2002 through Harry Potter.  I'll explain...I am a Vietnamese American who grew up in a small town in Missouri, books were some of the things we treasure...or not.  Harry Potter was a required book report in eighth grade and I have a fear for large books (over 100+ pages) as I know I will never finish it.  But I cursorily finished my book report and fell in love with the series and became obsessed.  BoA was the famous Korean singer who was a strong candidate to be Cho Chang, Harry's crush, so I quickly did my due diligence on her and quickly grew my love for this talented singer.   



Full House



My love for Korean music (Kpop) spread from BoA to Shinwha to H.O.T. to 1tym and it never stopped, even to this day.  Korean dramas was introduced to my family through a friend of a friend.  Winter Sonata made my aunt cried for days but I wasn't impressed until I watch the famous Full House.  No no...not the America Full House, this 16 episode drama had a spark....or two sparks, Rain and Song Hye-kyo.   



Since the Korean Full House drama, I was hooked for more.  My phase of Chinese drama and music drifted away and I then emerged fully into all the wonderful, funny, charming Korean dramas and music. 



Click here to watch Full House!  Highly Recommended!!