Korean Barbeque: Galbi

As far as Korean food goes, there is not much better than Korean BBQ, otherwise known as Galbi.

Galbi, sometimes spelled kalbi, is a delicious meal of marinated beef ribs barbecued on a grill which is right in your table. Galbi dishes can also be made from pork, or chicken, although beef is the most common. It's a sort of do-it-yourself meal, where your server will bring everything you need to your table, after which you set about grilling your meal and getting all your fixings ready. When you order galbi you will usually receive a variety of sauces, garlic, kimchi, lettuce, and some soup along with your meat.

Occasionally, galbi is grilled for you and brought to your table, in which case it looks like this. This is a less common method than the grill-at-your-table method.

The grill-at-your-table traditional method is really neat, and personally is my favourite. Your server will bring you meat and then you'll slap it on the grill yourself, and grill it to perfection. Gabli is usually grilled over hot coals, and the grill has a hood to take away the smoke.

When the meat has cooked for a few minutes on each side, its time to cut it up into bite-sized morsels for eating. If you leave your galbi untouched for too long, your server will notice your shining white skin and come over and do this part for you, but its pretty easy, so you can do it yourself if you feel up for the challenge. Just grab the metal tongs that were used to put the meat on the grill, and that large pair of scissors that you've been wondering about since you sat down, but felt too embarrassed to ask what they were for. Pick up the meat with the tongs and start cutting with the scissors. Its not as easy as it sounds -- at least not for me -- but you'll get used to it.

The man in this picture is already going for the next step. Once the meat is cooked and you've cut it into delicious pieces, grab some lettuce and put a piece of meat -- dipped in your favourite sauce -- into a piece of lettuce with some rice, and maybe some kimchi, roasted garlic or bean sprouts. Wrap it into a ball, put the ball in your mouth, chew and enjoy!

Galbi is a delicious Korean food, traditionally only affordable to the rich and famous, but today available to everyone. There are Korean barbecue restaurants in most major cities in Canada and the US, and if you ever have the opportunity to try one, you definitely should. Delicious!

Mandu

Mandu are a Korean dish that I have really fallen in love with since I arrived in Korea. They are a filled dumpling which are delicious, healthful (depending on how you cook them) and have I mentioned... delicious? Common fillings include meat, veggies, kimchi and noodles.

Mandu are very difficult to make by hand so I buy frozen ones at the local grocery store, but once they are made they are quite easy to prepare. There are one of two ways that you can do this. The first, and healthiest way is by steaming them, in which case they look like this:

The second, and most delicious, although much less healthy way is to fry them in a pan with oil, this makes them a little more crispy, which I really enjoy. They look like this:

Both types are usually served with a dipping sauce made of soy sauce and vinegar.

There are also different shapes of mandu, and of course different possible delicious fillings that can go inside the shell. My favourite type of filling is kimchi, which is a sure sign that I've already been living in Korea a little too long! haha

On a side note, you will be happy to know that the turtle is no longer nameless. This post is dedicated to him, as this delicious Korean dish is his namesake. I am proud to announce the turtle's new name: Mandu

The Cabbage that we Ravage with the Chili Paste Taste

You guessed it, its Kimchi!

Making kimchi is the traditional Korean way of preserving vegetables to last over the winter. It can be made from any vegetable, or combination there of, but the most common and popular variety is made in the fall, from whole salted cabbage, with chili paste and other ingredients stuffed between the layers. It is considered by Koreans to be both nutritious and delicious. It really didn't appeal to me when I arrived in Korea, so I disputed the 'delicious' part, but I have discovered that the 'nutritious' part indeed has much truth to it.

According to this article on Asianinfo.com kimchi is rich in vitamin A, thiamine (B1), riboflavin (B2), calcium, and iron, and is also an excellent source of vitamin C. Although some kimchi varieties are high in salt and therefor associated with the health problems that come from high-sodium diets, the low sodium varieties may possibly reduce cancer growth and were listed on one health magazine's website as one of the 5 healthiest foods in the world. Wow!

Inspite of my initial skepticism, kimchi is quickly becoming one of my favourite Korean foods. I love to eat it with the majority of my meals. I agree with Koreans that it is delicious by itself, in soup or in fried rice. It is many delicious. Having always been a picky eater, that's saying a lot about kimchi and how it can grow on you.


The title of this post actually came from a music video made by some teachers in another part of Korea very close to Seoul. There are many jokes that you might have to live in Korea (or at least visit) to understand, but I'll post it anyway, because I thinks its pretty hilarious, and I'll add some pointers at the end to help you understand. Enjoy!

1. This song goes out to all the weguks. Weguk = foreigner
2. Kamsahamnida = Thank you
   Anyonghaseyo = Hello
3. T-money = Transportation money, for buses, subway, cabs etc.
   Yoke= (subway) station
4. Koreans cannot swim in a public pool without a swim cap
5. Drinkin Cass-euh, Drinking Hite-euh, feeling alright-euh: In the Korean language there are no words that end with a consonant sound, and so although Koreans use many English words quite frequently they add a vowel to the end of every word that doesn't already have one, almost exactly like this guy is doing in the video. Cass and Hite are the two popular brands of beer in Korea.
6. Noraebang : A karaoke room.