Simple Pleasures

Sergio and I would both agree that every strong relationship is built on core commonalities. One of the things that we truly love to do together is eat. We love anything and everything about food. We love to cook it, buy it, eat it- all of it! We knew moving to another country, let alone a non-Western country, would allow us to experience all kinds of new food, as well as give us a chance to miss some of our favorites! One of our absolute favorite things to do here in Korea is go out for Korean barbecue or gogi gui. This method of eating includes grilling different kinds of meats (or other mysterious creatures) with a grill actually built into the table. The whole grilling experience is very interactive, you choose the temperature, you cut the meat, you flip it-you COOK! The majority of Korean meals are served family style, so if you’re a ‘germaphobe’, Korean dining is NOT for you! Most times, a few vegetables are grilled along with the meat. The dinner is served with many different side dishes called banchan. These can include fermented vegetables (kimchi baby!), lettuce for wrapping, sauces and a bean paste or two. The banchan varies greatly from restaurant to restaurant. But rest assured, your meat to grill, lettuce and veggies to wrap with the meat and plenty of maekju (beer) will always be offered at any restaurant you choose!

So far we have tried plenty of pork barbecue, or samgyeopsal (sliced pork belly). For those pork lovers, imagine a giant grill with strips of bacon cooking to perfection dripping with oil down to your veggies as they simmer and soak up all the juicy bacon flavor. Throw a piece of meat onto a leaf of lettuce, add some kimchi, small bit of rice, some bean paste and a touch of sesame oil and - BAM - party in your mouth! 

 



If this hasn’t convinced you to have your own Korean barbecue experience, I don’t know what will! Until next time....