[Food]

[Food] Saeu-ganjeong (Sweet and Spicy Deep Fried Shrimp, 새우강정)

Any dak-ganjeong (Sweet and Spicy Deep Fried Chicken, 닭강정) restaurant in cities near the East Sea of the Korean peninsula cooks Saeu-gangjeong (Sweet and Spicy Deep Fried Shrimp, 새우강정). Fishermen by the East Sea catch lot of shrimp, and that's why deep fried chicken restaurants in cities by the East Sea sell deep-fried shrimp too.

No one knows who invented saeu-ganjeong but everyone knows that deep-fried shrimp covered with sweet and spicy sauce tastes greater than common deep-fried shrimp :)

A few days ago, I visited Sokcho (one of the cities by the East Sea coast) and visited the Deep Fried Food block of Daepo Port in Sokcho. Daepo Port is famous for its seafood and it also sells many deep fried seafoods. There's one deep fried shrimp place that I love to frequent :)

Daepo Port in Sokcho

Deep Fried Seafood Place

Saeu-ganjeong (Sweet and Spicy Deep Fried Shrimp, 새우강정)

They don't peel shrimp shell, they deep fry the whole shrimp including its head, legs and tail. The deep fried shrimp shell  gives an even crispier texture, which goes well with a sweet and spicy sauce.

If you ever visit cities in the East Sea coast, go to a seafood market and try saeu-ganjeong please. I'm so sure that saeu-ganjeong can be one of your best deep fried foods :)

Bon Appétit!

[Trip]

[Trip] Photo Trip - My Favorite Cafés in Sokcho

Today is a rainy and cloudy day so although it may seem gloomy, rain makes a cup of coffee taste better than ever. So I've been on short coffee trips to Sokcho, Gangwon province with a good friend. There are a few excellent cafés in Sokcho - among my favorites - so I want to introduce them to you today with photos :)

1. Coffee Belt (커피벨트)

It's a good café to visit for an aromatic cup of joy with its variety of coffee beans. They do cold brew (also known as 'dutch') and hand-drip coffee. They always use fresh coffee beans with an exotic aroma and flavor :)

2. Another Blue (어나더블루)

Its name is 'Another Blue' but the taste of the coffee is not 'blue' :) Another Blue is famous for einspanner (an Austrian coffee with thick sweet cream on top), accompanied by lemon zest and great cakes :)

3. Sunsarogil (선사로길)

This is my favorite café in Sokcho which serves an excellent cup of einspanner with sweet, thick cream and a fine bakery :) I recommend their selection of pound cake and scone :)

Bon Voyage!

[Food] Dak-Gangjeong (닭강정, Sweet and sour chicken)

[Food]

[Food] Dak-Gangjeong (닭강정, Sweet and sour chicken)

It is an undeniable fact that famous deep-fried chicken originates from the U.S.A through the tragic history of slavery. Nevertheless, when deep-fried chicken flowed into Korea, Korean-style deep-fried chicken became more famous globbally than the original. (However, it doesn't mean Korea didn't have any deep-fried chicken recipe. Korea had traditional deep-fried chicken recipe called 'Pogye', which is soy-sauce and vinegar-based deep-fried chicken.).

Today's dish, 'Dak-Gangjeong (닭강정, Sweet and sour chicken)', is a very modern Korean dish that appeared from 1970s; the era when Korea was massively industrialized and started to develop its culture, quality and diet. In 1993, dak-gangjeong was introduced in a newspaper as a good dish to cook when deep-fried chicken is left over at home, which means dak-gangjeong was a beloved and popular recipe for the public.

A dak-gangjeong shop in a market of Gangneung Central Market

Dak-gangjeong originated in two cities, Incheon in western Korea and Sokcho in eastern Korea. Several dak-gangjeong shops claim that they have the original dak-gangjeong with 40 years of tradition but no one knows who the original really is.

Dak-gangjeong slightly differs from 'Seasoned spicy chicken' through some of its features, though it is similar. Its seasoning is less watery, more viscous, and fully coated fried-chicken, not 'poured' on chicken. It is usually spicier than seasoned spicy chicken because of garlic and spicy chili, and a bit more crunchy with more nuts.

Western dak-gangjeong from Incheon features bigger chunks of chicken which is very similar to seasoned spicy chicken. On the other hand, eastern dak-gangjeong from Sokcho has smaller pieces of chicken and is usually boned. To me, they are all nice and delicious anyway.

The recipe is very similar to seasoned spicy chicken.

1. Deep-fry chicken pieces.
2. Stir-fry them on a wide and round pan with sliced garlic and spicy chili.
3. Add soy-sauce, starch syrup and water. (Here you can add more seasoning such as chili paste, chili powder etc.)
4. Add starch water and nuts, boil down.

'Dak' means chicken and 'gangjeong' means traditional Korean crunchy crackers with rice, sesame, beans, nuts etc. in Korean. I think that its name suits it very well with its crunchy and sweet features. Dak-gangjeong is one of my favorite dishes, and it is also very popular to many tourists who visit Korea because....I mean, who dare hates deep-fried chicken?! You look at the photos in this article. Don't you see that crunchy, crispy-fried chicken with lip-smacking seasoning?

A dak-gangjeong from Shinpo Market, Incheon, western South Korea

A dak-gangjeong from Sokcho Central Market, Sokcho, eastern South Korea

Nowadays, you can find dak-gangjeong very easily in any market in Korea because it is popular to Koreans and non-Koreans alike. Once I saw tourists from the U.S.A trying some sample of dak-gangjeong at a market in Busan (when I visited Busan), then they bought 2 boxes of dak-gangjeong per person.

A dak-gangjeong with fried rice cake pieces

If you are sick of 'normal' fried chicken, try dak-gangjeong. It will open your door to a new world of deep fried chicken :)

Bon Appétit!

[Food] Makguksu (막국수, Cold Buckwheat Noodle)

[Food]

[Food] Makguksu (막국수, Cold Buckwheat Noodle)

Mr. Roh’s hometown is Pyeongyang, North Korea, but now he lives in Abai (meaning 'Father' in N.Korean dialect) - a village of Sokcho city in South Korea. He has been running a N.Korean food restaurant since 1955 in the village of Abai. Well, he is one of my grandfather’s friends; that is how I got to know him when I visited his restaurant with my grandpa as a little kid. He was a very good friend of my grandfather, sharing a long friendship, and he cried as if he had lost his mom when my grandpa passed away.

What I really like about him is that he is the hidden grandmaster of Makguksu (막국수, Cold Buckwheat Noodle) in Korea who can cook Makguksu from raw buckwheat to its complete dish.

Today, I have come to enjoy his great Makguksu for a long while. His Makguksu is very simple but not easy to make, and needs some toughness and tenderness to turn hard buckwheat into powder and then buckwheat dough. He first grinds all buckwheat with a grinding machine, and then takes the powder to his noodle workshop beside his restaurant.

Buckwheat flowers. Buckwheat is very well-known to Koreans because of the novel 'At the bloom of buckwheat' by the famous novelist Hyo-Seok Lee. Hyo-Seok Lee likened buckwheat flowers to swarms of stars at night :)

An image from the novel 'At the bloom of buckwheat'

 Buckwheat. Buckwheat has been planted and grown in Korea since the 7-8th centuries. Wheat was a very rare ingredient so Koreans rather used buckwheat for cooking :)

"Papa Roh! How's everything? Any good news from the National Red Cross?" 

"Good...good...yeah, the red cross guys sent me a good letter yesterday..haha.."

Mr. Roh grinned with wrinkles round his eyes. He looked happier than last time I saw him.

"Now you can finally ask your family in N.Korea about the secret recipe of Makguksu and its Dongchimi (동치미, Cold white radish kimchi), right? haha!"

I hugged him as I hugged my grandpa when he was alive.

"Shut up, my mom must have already died some decades ago...maybe my brother and sister will tell me for sure. What do you want to have today?"


"Makguksu with Dongchimi and steamed pork please, sir."

Dongchimi (동치미). Makguksu is originally buckwheat noodle in cold Dongchimi soup :) 

"Mr. Roh. Can I ask you something? I don't know why I haven't asked you this so far"

"What is that, young man?"

"Why did you start making Makguksu? Grandpa once told me that you were a farmer in N.Korea before the Korean War."

"Yeah...you are right. I was a farmer before I joined the Korean War.."


He took out buckwheat dough from his kitchen and started to press a bunch of noodles out of the noodle machine. I can see thick steam from boiling buckwheat noodle with the smell of buckwheat :)

White Kimchi and chopped sweet-sour radish. Typical Makguksu banchan (side dish).

Sliced steamed pork and chopped spicy radish. They are usually eaten with Makguksu in Korea.

"But why Makguksu? Is that your favorite menu?"

"It was my mom's best menu."

Mr. Roh answered with sweat on his forehead. Soon, a large bowl of Makguksu and sliced steamed pork came to the table.

"In North Korea, we used to eat cold Makguksu in winter...my dad usually asked my mom to bring a bowl of Dongchimi from crocks at the front yard and he pressed buckwheat noodle out of his noodle machine at the kitchen. Then they throw buckwheat noodle into a bowl of Dongchimi, that's Makguksu."

Actually, Makguksu means 'A noodle that has just been made'. 'Mak' means 'Just' and 'Guksu' means 'Noodle' in Korean.

"Oh....you must miss your parents and their Makguksu."

"Yeah...I miss my mom's Dongchimi and dad's buckwheat noodle...haha..."

He started his talk quietly as he sat in front of me with a smile.

"..........One day.....long time ago, when I wore younger man's clothes....it was a very peaceful day before they conscripted me into the N.Korean Army..."

"I never thought you were conscripted by the N.Korean Army, Mr. Roh. I thought you were a refugee from N.Korea..."

"Oh, well. I don't like to talk about it much because I hate the communist army. I'm never proud of it. Anyway, that's not the point. I thought I would just go for army training for 3 or 4 weeks so I was thinking about eating Makguksu after completing it. On that day, I left my home, and mom asked me 'What do you want to have after training?' and I answered her 'Your Makguksu, mom'."

Buckwheat noodle

Dongchimi soup

Original Makguksu that has been eaten in N.Korea might look like this: just noodles and Dongchimi soup :)

"But....the Korean War broke out as history tells."

"Yeah....(sniffle).....that was the last time I ever saw my family in my life. The N.Korean Army invaded S.Korea after a few days and I fought against S.Korea and the U.N.'s Army. However, thank God, I became a prisoner of war in S.Korea and survived....but I couldn't ever return to my hometown .....and couldn't taste her Makguksu either...ever..."

I also 'quietly' swallow Makguksu with cold soup as I wait for him to continue his story.

"Later, I settled down in Sokcho where I could be closest to N.Korea, where I could go faster than anyone when the day of reunification comes....I missed my family's Makguksu so much, it is unforgettable...how can I forget...? I still remember the whole recipe.. and that's why I started Makguksu restaurant..."

He wiped tears from his cheeks. Hm....I began to feel sorry that I pushed his 'tear' button. I didn't want to sink into a sad mood with him...;;

"Uhm, Mr. Roh, when is the day of inter-Korean separated family reunion?"

"Yes, reunion! Haha, next month! The red cross guys told me that my sister and brother are still alive...."

Phew, now he is in a happy mood. I didn't know that Mr.Roh has this sad story.

"Then you can complete your original Makguksu as you had eaten when you were a kid."

"Yeah, I hope they still remember mom's recipe...haha.."

There is a calendar on the wall of his restaurant, and I can see a big red circle on the day of inter-Korean reunion next month. That day must be the day that Mr.Roh will meet his N.Korean family for the first and last time in his life.

Mool Makguksu (Original Makguksu)

Bibim Makguksu (Makguksu with spicy sauce)

"I'm leaving Mr. Roh. Thank you for your story and for Makguksu: please tell me more about your family when I visit you next month...I look forward to eating your Makguksu again."

He nodded with a big grin.

"Come again, young man. I will let you taste my perfect Makguksu, haha.."


"Yeah, please let me taste it..."

Instant Makguksu noodle

I’ve heard from the news that there are still millions of separated families in North and South Korea who haven't met since the Korean War. I hope Korea will be reunited again soon and all families will see their lost members again :)



Bon appétit!