[Food]

[Food] Sundaetguk (Korean Blood Sausage Soup, 순댓국)

Sundaetguk is one of the most typical and familiar foods in Korea; it's cheap and folksy :)

What do men in your country eat when hungry but can't think of a particular dish? Fish and Chips? McDonalds? Meat Pie? Chinese fastfood? In Korea, we just go to any nearby sundaetguk seller :)

Sundaetguk consists of sundae (Korean blood sausage) and pork stock, which are very simple and quick to serve because restaurants usually cook them before they open and just re-heat them before serving. So it's not wrong to say sundaetguk can be considered a Korean-style fast food.

Sundae (Korean blood sausage) had been made with dog's intestines since the 1670s before being gradually substituted to cow's, then pig's, intestine. Today's sundae is all made of pig's intestines. Some sensitive eaters don't eat sundaetguk because 'it smells too much of pig'. Well, I think that's acceptable!

Sundaetguk is a very stodgy food too, since it contains more parts of pork with sundae, which is filled with sweet potato noodle, minced pork, pork's blood and vegetables. Quick, hot, stodgy and cheap - what food it is, isn't it? This is why Korean men (and women) love to eat sundaetguk as a casual meal :)

Moreover, sundaetguk is served with various kinds of kimchi and side dishes that give a tasty kick to enjoy sundaetguk. Sundaetguk soup is very mild and savory, but people pour kimchi's juice into it to give it a spicy and sour kick.

Sundaetguk is also symbolic of hot folksy meal because it can fill your tummy easily. So you can see people eating sundaetguk a lot with soju in many Korean dramas and films. In fact, people usually think of sundaetguk when they are hungry on their way home after a long day's work. Sundaetguk has meat, soup and steamed rice. What more do you need?

If you have the chance to visit a Korean restaurant, try sundaetguk :) This Korean-style meaty soup may give you power for your hard day :)

Bon Appétit! 

[Food] Sundaeguk (순댓국, Korean sausage soup)

[Food]

[Food]  Sundaeguk (순댓국, Korean sausage soup)

This story continues from Uh-mook and Sundae. It is helpful to read them before you read this story for a better understanding :)

Sundae (Korean sausage) + guk (soup) = Sundaeguk (Korean sausage soup). A popular meat soup dish in Korea. Its meaty and salty flavor fills your tummy with warmth. People put chopped spring onion as toppings and add spicy chili paste for extra taste. 

She was kind and warm like ever before. We talked about life since I left our hometown and what we do now. I opened up about my life story of my family and I moving abroad, then becoming independent to study abroad alone in Australia but then deciding to return to Korea to join the Army. Once I wanted to marry a girl who I really liked and was my ideal woman (which ended up being an epic fail in my life), and wanted to live as a freelancer who wanders alone to eat delicious food and meet people who I like. Nevertheless, I couldn't say "I missed you. I came here, not just drop by, to see you again before I leave" and "I was so shocked and you are married and have a daughter who looks exactly the same as you."

She was sitting down in front of me, and almost finishing her supper (sundaeguk) while listening to my life story. I observed, by glance, her face thoroughly. Maybe her freckles had faded and gained some wrinkles at the end of her eyes but her dimples and bright smile were right there, as in my childhood memory.

Sundae is being steamed on a metal pot.

She listened to my story with widened eyes, laughter, claps and murmurs, saying "Really?" and "Oh my God, Jerry". She looked as happy about our small reunion as I was. To me, she was one tough woman who fought daily and the kind mom of one daughter who resembles her so much.

Me...? I don't know...just a lonely jerk who roams around Korea and so-called 'gourmet' with low self-esteem? Whatever...

It was almost 10 o'clock on Saturday night. The customers were all gone and Ginny already went to sleep with her grandparents. The restaurant hall was dark with only some fluorescent tubes shining I and her. She said she was so tired of bargaining with farmers and dealers at a farmers market in Seoul.

"Hannah, I was so surprised when I first met Ginny. She is just a younger version of you, don't you think?"

"Hahaha, everyone says that. I think so and she is just gorgeous, like her mom. Ahahaha"

"Yeah, the power of genetics. Anyway, where's her father? Does he live in another city or is he on a business trip or something?"

"Uhm.......that's...uhm...."

Suddenly, she rubbed her eyes with her hands and I could see they were red. Her eyelashes were soaked. I instantly instinctively realized that I had pushed her 'tear button'. I wondered what happened to her in the last 20 years. She got up on her feet and headed to the shop's kitchen.

"Jerry, I'm gonna bring some soju (Korean Rice Wine) now. Do you drink soju? I will get some more steamed sundae from the kitchen too."

"Uhm...nah, I'm alright. Thanks."

"Ah...you are still not funny."

"Pardon?"

"Nothing. Never mind."

Soju (Korean Rice Wine) with a variety of flavors in a freezer.

It was for a short moment that I was sitting alone while she was away getting a dish of sundae and soju. It felt so long to me. A series of questions about her and her family endlessly popped up in my head. 

Cheating? love-child? divorce? separated? accident? death?

Soon, she came back to the table with a soju and a tiny glass cup in her right hand and a dish of sundae in her left hand.

"Here's my natural tranquilizer. The best friend ever."

"Ah....Great. I guess I have to stay over tonight."

"That's right. Don't worry, we have extra room for you. (Giggle)"

She sat and opened a bottle of soju with a metal spoon that she was using, and poured crystal-clear liquor into a tiny soju glass. Then she quickly popped one shot into her mouth, then poured a second shot again.

"Yes! Sweet home, sweet soju."

"Sure, it is...sure..."

She drank three shots of soju straight, then smacked the table with the bottom of the soju glass really hard.


Clink!

"Aww! Hannah, that just hurt my eardrums."

"...Jerry."

"What?"

"Well...I really liked him. So much. Like the apple of my eye."

"You mean, your husband?"

Hannah nodded.

"He wasn't a very handsome guy or a prince in a Porsche, but diligent, warm-hearted, responsible and kind. We met each other in the Uni that we went to together. He said I was his everything and so did I."

She took another shot, and chewed a slice of sundae. I poured soju for her.

A dish of assorted sundae and sundaeguk

"I met him in a business administration class. He wanted to be a chef with his own restaurant, like this place - somewhere people can easily come and chat over a hot meal. A restaurant that means more than a restaurant. I liked his idea too, we thought we were great for each other. We fell in love so quickly and he proposed to me to marry him when we realized I was pregnant."

I listened to her story in silence. I couldn't say anything but 'I'm sorry for your loss'.

"One day, unfortunately.....yeah, like every sad story that you would have heard....in my case...it really happened to me....anyway.....he got hit by a truck...died on the spot."

"Aww....that's...more than terrible..."

"Yeah...I know, I know...shut up. I don't want to hear 'I'm so sorry for your loss' anymore."

"Okay...go on..."

I could see her eyes welling up. She sniffled and took another shot of soju.

"He was on the way to pick me up. We were supposed to go to a dress shop for our wedding."

"Oh, my..."

Sundaeguk with spicy chili paste

Soju glasses

"Well...people told me to start over with a new life, and abort the baby...I couldn't because Ginny is the only thing that he left for me."

Oh, man. I could feel my eyes were welling up too.

"People said it is not my fault...I know! But...what if...what if....I didn't beg him to go to the dress shop that day....it wouldn't have happened. I know it is my fault...but...I can't convince myself that it isn't my fault..."

"...........(sniffle)"

"Ginny doesn't know how her father died because I can't tell her yet. But when she asks me why her father had to die and she says she misses her father who she has only seen in his picture...I pretend I'm okay and it is nothing to me, but it breaks my heart...Now, people around me think I'm a tough and strong superwoman mom who survived for her family...but I'm still a weak woman."

Her teardrops fell into the soju glass that she was holding. She drank it. 

It must be sweet, bitter and salty. Like our life.

She cried till her lachrymal gland dried up. Then, after a while, she fell asleep after sharing some cute drinking habits and story of her hardships as a mom. And the last word that she mumbled while asleep pushed my tear button.

"Honey.....I miss you..."

Hot sundaeguk and a bowl of rice with Ggakdugi (fermented radish kimchi), one of my favorite meal, yum!

It must have been more than 10 years since his death. Hannah still calls him 'Honey' even in her dreams. I felt some kind of jealousy towards this man who doesn't exist anymore. 


Silly me.

Bon appétit!



<To be continued>

[Food] Sundae (순대, Korean sausage)

[Food]

[Food] Sundae (순대, Korean sausage)

This story continues from [Food]  Uh-mook (어묵, Korean fish cake)  :)

A dish of Sundae (Pig's intestine) with other parts of a pig (Lung, liver etc.)

When I visited my hometown in Suwon, it was winter again. I wrapped up in a long-padded thick black parker coat with a warm, fluffy muffler. As I moved one step forward to the place where Hannah's shop used to be, I felt my heart beating harder and harder than usual.

'Is the shop still there? If it is, is Hannah still there too?'

'How old is....oh, yeah...she was in the same class...haha...what would she look like now?'

I was just trying to visit my old-friend but I felt butterflies in my belly slowly fluttering their wings. Darn, I'm so nervous.

Soon, I arrived at the site but...it wasn't there. Rather there was a big restaurant instead of a small snack bar and shoe-repair shop.

A traditional sundae restaurant in Korea

"Oh.....(sigh).."

I felt my heart-string snap suddenly. There was a huge spicy stir-fry sundae restaurant instead of the shop in my childhood memories. I thought :

'It looks like I can't meet her today. Do I need to ask someone around here? or...forget about childhood stuff, and go home and sleep?'

Deep in my thoughts, I strolled back and forth in front of the restaurant.

'Go home? but I don't think I will ever come back here again? When would I visit this city again? In 10 years?'

'Go into the restaurant? Why? Jerry, come on, this is not the snack bar that you used to know. What would you do? Ask someone at the counter, "Do you know where the snack bar that used to be here has gone?" Oh, that is absolutely silly.'

While my thoughts were split in two and in a quarrel, I didn't recognize someone approaching me.

'Oh, my...what should I do?'

I couldn't see who was coming because I had closed my eyes during my inner conflict.

"Hey, are you okay? do you need help?"

A thin, high-pitched young girl's voice tickled my eardrums. I opened my eyes and turned my head towards her.

"No, I'm alright...I'm just....Oh, my...Holy cow...."

The sundae building (A building that is filled with sundae restaurants) in Sinrim, Seoul, Korea

"Mister? What's wrong?"

Young Hannah from my childhood memory was standing there and looking at me with a clean smile that she used to show me. Actually, this girl didn't have twin-tailed hair but short-black hair.

"Hannah?"

When her name came out of my mouth with a quiver, her eyes widened.

"Hannah? That's my mom's name! Do you know my mom?"

Mom....? MOM...?! Mamma Mia..! Even before the first shock faded away, the second shock of 'Hannah is mom' had struck me again. Yeah, we were around our late 20s/early 30s...what's the big deal about being a mom and dad? But it was shocking to me as I couldn't get out of my 'beautiful' reminiscing of Hannah.

Soon, I pulled myself together and started to talk with a girl who said Hannah was her mom.

"Uhm...Is Hannah your mom? Uhm...is her family name 'Park'? and...uhm..."

"Yes."

Wow.

"Uhm.....does she have little freckles on her cheeks and slightly long eyebrows?"

"Yes...! Are you a friend of my mom?"

"Yes...an old-school friend, I am. Uhm...where..."

She cut my words.

"Sir, would you please come in to the restaurant? I'm getting cold by the way."

She was wearing an over-fitted red sweater with jeans and slippers.

"Oh yeah, Sorry. Let's get in quick, I was going to eat at your restaurant anyway. Sorry, my bad. Can I ask your name please?"

"Ginhee Park. You can call me Ginny, how about you?"

"Jerry Kim. Nice to meet you. One question, are you always this kind to everyone?"

She giggled brightly, oh she really looked like her mom.

"I always try to be because my mom taught me to be kind to anyone I meet."

Wow, Hannah. You are a good mom.

I entered into the restaurant with Ginny, and as soon as I stepped into the restaurant, a thick smell of pork with hot steam ran into my nostrils. Ah...yes, this is the smell that I sniffed at Hannah's old snack bar.

Steamed sundae with other parts of pork on a steam cooker.

"Grandpa, grandma, I have brought a customer. He said he is mom's friend."

"Hi, Mr and Mrs Park...long time no see, how have you been? haha..."

I recognized Hannah's parents at first glance though they have more white hairs than they did 20 years ago.

"Jerry! Our frequent customer! Wow, you are such a handsome gentleman now!"

"Have a seat. Sit please. Just say what you want, don't pay today."

"Thanks, thanks. I want one stir-fried sundae please. No, I have to pay, ma'am. It's my first visit to your restaurant."

Their kindness and happy energy overwhelmed me. Little Ginny brought me a cool handkerchief to wash my hands in and a bottle of warm water. I guess 'kindness' runs in this family's veins. Ginny sat in front of me and looked at me with curiosity and an impish smile.

"You came here to meet my mom, right?"

"Yeah...sort of. This is my hometown too, I came here to do some work and was passing by your restaurant."

"And thinking about coming in or not to see my mom who might be here?"

Oh, my God. This little girl saw through me.

"Wha...wha...? How do you....?"

"Because I was watching you going back and forth from the beginning...and you are not the only one who comes to this restaurant to see my mom, hahaha."

Yeah...must be, she must be so beautiful now. A very...very obvious thing even though she is married (highly likely) and the mother of this girl was right in front of me.

Sinrim's famous stir-fried sundae. Spicy and meaty flavor is very attractive.

"She will come in about an hour, I think. She went to Seoul to buy some ingredients at a farmer's market. Can I have a little chat with you before the dish comes out please?"

"Sure, sweetheart. Say what you want."

"How did you get to know my mom?"

"She was in the same class with me when I was 12. You must have heard that your family had been running a business here a long time ago....I was your mom's frequent customer. I think that we were good friends."

I picked up a piece of radish kimchi and started to chew it with a crunchy and crisp sound.

"Hm....good friends....that sounds like you wanted to be more than friends...don't you?"

Cough! Cough!!

Ginny's question got spicy-red radish kimchi caught in my throat.

"Sorry, Mr. Kim! Here's water! Are you alright?"

"I..I'm alright....cough....No, not really Ginny...No....You went way over the top..."

Phew...I guess Hannah's daughter is very much like her mom, even with this maturity of mind. Hannah was more mature than other 12-year-old girls at that time but I think that Ginny had already beaten her mom's.


"Ginny, how old are you now?"

"10."

"Good grief. You are better than your mom."

"Pardon? What do you mean?"

"Nothing. I think that you are smarter than your mom at 12-years-old."

"Ahahaha, really?"

Yeah....Like mother, like daughter.

"Mr. Kim, then will you ask my mom to....."

Oh, No. Not now.

"Would you put these dishes to the side please? Sundae has arrived!"

"Thanks, Mr.Park. Wow...it's too much, I don't think I can eat this all."

"Eat them up, I know you can eat a lot. Once you ate 20 skewers of uh-mook when you were young, don't you remember?"

"But I don't eat that much now...."

By the grace of God, Mr. Park intervened on the table with an iron plate with a mountain of stir-fried spicy sundae on it and rice noodles.

"Ginny, leave him alone to eat. Would you?"

"Okay, grandpa. Enjoy your meal."

"Thanks, Ginny."

Phew....Thanks, God.

Sundae - Steamed pig's intestine that is filled with a variety of ingredients (sweet-potato noodle, cabbage, clotted blood, spring onion, sticky rice etc.), it differs by tradition according to region. Sundae originally came from China and Mongol and first appeared in Korean history in the 16th century.

A typical sundae restaurant in Korea

"Mom!"

Huh? Mom? Hannah?

Ginny just ran through my table and was hugging a woman wearing a long white thick-padded parka. The woman's pale complexion with little freckles, tied-up hair with a hairband and a green cap was the only difference in my memory of her.

"Hey, sweety! Been doing well today?"

"Yes! I have finished all my homework and was helping grandpa and grandma!"

"Yeah? That's great!"

"Mom, guess what? You've got a visitor!"

"No...not today. I'm dying to take a shower and sleep."

"But he said he was your classmate when he was 12-years-old."

"What? where?"

"Over there."

Ginny pointed her index finger to my table, and Hannah's eyes met mine.

"Hi."

I smiled awkwardly like a robot.

"Hi."

She did the same but waved her hand to me.

Abai sundae (Left) & Squid sundae (Right). They are North-Korea's traditional sundae which you can taste at Sokcho, Gangwon province.

Bon appétit!



<To be continued>