Om nom nom (Korea edition)

In my excitement of getting Japan pictures online, I had put Korea pictures on the back burner. So here we go... food from Korea.

Sun-dae :D

I used to be grossed out by the concept of this interesting sausage when I was younger, but now I just don't give a damn. It's delicious. I also just realized that it's spelled the same as "sundae," as in the delectable ice cream concoction. Har har.

Korean street food :D The sheer variety of street food in Seoul is staggering. Stop by any random stand (or improve your dietary standards and hit up a pojangmacha) and you will be met by everything from giant clumps of french fries on a stick to the good ol' cup of silk worm larvae. I only wish LA had this amount of food on every corner.

Gonzalez kebab - chicken, assorted veggies, a nice helping of assorted sauces, all wrapped in a nicely toasted tortilla. Definitely nontraditional, but no less delicious. Only problem was that it lost its heat in the cold Seoul air, at which point it failed to be as delicious as it was when I first bit into it.

A spicy sausage wrapped in odeng and bits of spam, with a bit of ketchup mixed in with chili paste. I'm not going to bullshit about how the flavors meld in some vague, complex way. No, this thing is meaty, salty, and delightfully filling. Quite possibly the greatest invention in street food since hotteuk. Speaking of which...

Can't get enough of this stuff. Sure, the versions of it in LA are quite tasty. But there's nothing quite like getting the original, piping hot and ridiculously inexpensive.

And candied strawberries in Myungdong. Not quite my cup o' tea, but my sister seemed to have enjoyed them.

Om nom nom. Korean street food. My mouth waters at the thought of it. Cheap, quick, delicious, and most importantly - unhealthy. Yes. It turns out that a large percentage of the Korean food that I enjoy is considered to be "poor peoples' food." It originated during Korea's harsh times that started around the early nineteenth century, when people would have to scrounge for food and do with what they have. Hence, the abundance of stews that seem to have a bit of everything, lots of fermented foods that were easy to store, and soups that are made of leftover animal bones. I had never really thought much of it, but the Korean diet that I was raised on gives a small look into what people had to do to survive during times of crisis. It's quite a sobering thought.