Seoul Food Girl in Japan:How to make Takoyaki in true Osaka fashion

Forget spending a fortune in America or taking a trip to Japan, making your own takoyaki is easier than you think.

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How to make Takoyaki live video:

A takoyaki grill is needed.

      Bubbly balls of goodness shimmering with moving flakes and green sparkles is the best way to describe the famous Japanese dish takoyaki (た こ焼き). During my first trip ever to Japan, my friend and I stopped by the famous takoyaki restaurant in Dotonbori in Osaka. Osaka is the best place in Japan to try takoyaki as the delicious octopus fried balls originated in the coastal city in 1935. To be honest, I was very skeptical about trying takoyaki for the first time because of the crazy hype fellow travelers and friends expressed as they lost their minds telling me about it. Speaking from past experience trying popular food items in tourist locations usually turns out to be a let down and more of a tourist trap or experience rather than being popular for the actual taste and quality of the food. But all of my premonitions were wrong about takoyaki as I bit into a flaky and crunchy yet gooey ball of absolute joy and decided it was by far on the top 5 list of things I had eaten in Japan. Returning back to Tokyo to work 10 months after my short trip to Osaka, I found myself with a Japanese family making my own takoyaki for the first time. 

My great takoyaki teachers.

Takoyaki Ingredients:

-Batter
-Octopus
-Tempura
-Fish flakes
-Pickled ginger
-Green onion
-Seaweed flakes (kim)

Simply add all of the ingredients to the inside of the balls and turn them with a toothpick. Then season as shown in the video.

If you have any questions or comments about "Seoul Food Girl in Japan:How to make Takoyaki in true Osaka fashion" please leave them in the comment box below or email them to goneseoulsearching@gmail.com 

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Seoul Food Girl: Mappo BBQ is the Korean BBQ restaurant in San Diego that never sleeps

Mappo BQQ in San Diego stays true to Korean night life every day of the week.

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The traditional round tables are just like in Korea piled with goodies.

    Six bottles of soju later, a free bill, and Korean Karaoke marked a wonderfully Korean night out on Convoy st. in San Diego. The small round tables at stools at Mapo BBQ Korean Cuisine keep the traditional Korean BBQ alive as many local California Korean BBQ's take a modern take Korean dining with Western style tables and chairs. Mapo offers both a traditional Korean experience with charcoal grills outside and a modern American experience with electric grills inside. Whatever you are looking for, the Korean cuisine will be delightful.
    After 2 kimchi jjigaes, bi bim bap, samgyupsal, gal bi sal, thin sliced beef brisket, shrimp, 2 steamed eggs, several bottles of soju and hite, my table was stuffed. We went a little overboard having a great Korean BBQ experience with my friends and their Korean students studying in California. One of our group members was also vegetarian so we ordered her the shrimp and vegetable bi bim bap. We ordered the set menu A which lets you choose 4 kinds of meat, 1 steamed egg, and 1 kimichi or tofu jjigae. We also ordered extras such as the shrimp and more jjigaes and rice to satisfy our appetite.

The grills outside in the traditional Korean section have charcoal.

     After a good two and a half hours of eating and playing Korean drinking games one of the Korean students got up to use the restroom. After a long departure, another one of our group members went to check on him only to discover that he had been sucked over to his Uncle's business meeting (drinking meeting in Korea) at another table. Our large bill over $200 was comped by the boys Uncle who explained that it was tradition for the oldest family member to pay the bill! The uncle had also encountered my blonde friend near the restroom which could have been another contributing factor to the free meal. Even funnier, we never saw our friend again as he was initiated into the business table and was stuck there until everyone had finished!

After Mapo head over to a local Korean karaoke room for some fun.

Price- Certain things on the menu seem outrageously priced for those of us that have lived in Korea. To see bi bim bap priced at $8-12 seems ridiculous when you can get a giant sizzling bowl with free side dishes in Korea for just $3. However, if you are going for BBQ the all you can eat is the best route to go. For $20 you get everything included. The set menus are also

Service- The service takes much longer than in traditional Korean restaurants. They serve you your side dishes first and the meat comes out much later. The trick is to not get so hungry that you eat all of your side dishes before grilling your meat as you should mix and match them along with the meat for extra flavor.

Atmosphere- At about 10 pm on a Thursday night Mapo will start to get really crowded. Interestingly enough my group was there at about 8:30 and the traditional BBQ tables were empty in the inner room. But the later it got, the entire room and outside portion with the charcoal grills were completely full. Mapo BBQ is like Korea at its best as it lives up to the night life in Seoul and every other Korean city. If you go to any big city in Korea the BBQ restaurants are at their full capacity at around 10 pm to midnight and even into the earlier hours of the morning. I'd say that Mapo is one of the most authentic Korean restaurants in San Diego.

Food- Once again, for those of you that have lived in Korea the quality of American beef versus Korean beef is non comparable. You can taste the difference in quality and the flavors are quite different. However, Mapo BBQ does a great job keeping all of its side dishes including its kimchi extremely traditional. The dipping sauces for the meat are perfectly made and if you are lucky enough to get a charcoal grill outside your meat will taste even more Korean. Cut those long pieces of kimchi up and throw them on the grill along with the garlic and mushrooms for added flavor.

Reviews- Most of the reviews agree that Mapo Korean BBQ can be quite expensive but well worth it for the quality of food and atmosphere. In relation to the well known Korean chain, Manna Korean BBQ, Mapo stays true to its Korean heritage without becoming too Americanized or mainstreamed.

Check out Mapo BBQ Korean Cusine's Facebook Page. 

If you have any questions or comments about "Seoul Food Girl: Mappo BBQ is the Korean BBQ restaurant in San Diego that never sleeps" please leave them in the comment box below or email them to goneseoulsearching@gmail.com 

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Seoul Food Girl: Zion Market brings Korea to California

A photo of me so happy to see giant bottles of Yu Ja Cha citron tea and reasonably priced soju!

    
     Californians have easy access to a full Korean grocery store at Zion Marketplace. Stepping inside Zion, I felt like my body had somehow time warped back to Seoul. All of my favorite Korean snacks and vegetables were suddenly in front of my eyes but I was 6,000 miles away in sunny San Diego. Mul Naengmyeon buck wheat cold noodles 물냉면, kimbap, bulgolgi, and even my favorite pistachio ice cream bars were among my first purchases as I wandered around the store completely awestruck. After an afternoon spent searching for Korean grocery stores in Kearny Mesa and a lackluster trip to the massive Asian market "Ranch 99" I took a wrong turn near the freeway and suddenly saw a massive grocery store with Korean Hangul written in bright green letters.
     After returning home with all of my goodies I decided to do a little research on Zion. Why had I not heard of this Korean grocery from any of my friends in San Diego? As the website states, Zion was one of the first Korean markets in the San Diego area when it opened its small shop in 1979 on Convoy Street. In 2002, Zion expanded nearly 7 times at 32,700 square feet and remains housed in a modern building on Mercury Street. With a popular store in San Diego, the owners decided to expand opening a store in Cerritos, Los Angeles, and Irvine. Now Californians have easy access to the freshest Korean produce and brands making Korean culture easier to retain in America through its unique food culture.
     If you don't feel like cooking your own Korean food, Zion has plenty of pre-made food and several in-store restaurants that will cook up your favorite meal in traditional stone pots and metal serving bowls. The prices are extremely reasonable and there are weekly specials offered to customers by looking at their online website. A standard bottle of soju cost about $3 including tax which is only about $1 more than in Korea.
     Zion really made me feel at home in San Diego after a difficult acculturation process that left me wondering why I ever left Korea. I suggest stopping by the store and talking to people if you want to make Korean friends or meet other people that were former expats in Korea. Visiting the store may also be a great place to practice your Korean language skills and find a language exchange partner.

My Korean honey cookie obsession can live on in California!

I can finally make my own kimbap now that I have pickled radish!

Soju and meokgolli were on sale the day I visited the store!

A home goods section of Zion Market has all of the traditional Korean cookware.

One of the in-store restaurants has a menu full of Korean food as well as Japanese foods.

My Korean ESL students always gave me Bacchus-D when I was sick or tired.

Beef galbi will bring back Korean BBQ to your household.

I missed Koreans fresh pealed bags of garlic! At only $3 you cannot go wrong!

Don't want to make your own Korean cold noodle soup? No problem, this pre-made package has everything.

My favorite Margaret cookies from Lotte.

The inside of Zion Market reminds you of any standard Korean grocery store piled high with boxes!

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  Gone Seoul Searching by Marie Webb is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License. Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at goneseoulsearching@gmail.com.

Eat the best Korean style dumplings in Seoul at Bukchon Kalguksu

The mandu at Bukchon Kalguksu is the most famous in Seoul.

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The chefs are making the mandu right in the entry way.

    There is always a line out the door at Bukchon Kalguksu where everyone wants to get their chopsticks dug into giant dumplings (mandu in Korean). Bukchon Kalguksu was the only restaurant that my Korean friends and I ate at twice during a two week scholarship program I was part of back in 2009. We simply couldn't stop talking about those dumplings and with such a convenient locations beside Gyeongbukgong Palace we headed back  a second time to pig out in one of their private rooms upstairs.

Don't let the size of the mandu in the picture fool you, its giant.

    Now that I am living in Korea I have had plenty of chances to sample mandu. Even the famous Sikdorak pork mandu street vendors since 1969, that people line up for over an hour on Saturdays in Namdaemoon can't compare to Bukchon's. The restaurant specializes in giant dumplings filled with pork and tons of vegetables. Upon entering the restaurant you can see the mandu being made fresh on a table directly across from the cashier. The giant bucket of pork magically disappears as the cooks quickly stuff giant teaspoons of filling inside of fresh dough.

This soup is perfect on a cold winter day!

    Don't bother ordering anything else on the menu. The dumpling soup costs 9,000 won and is enough to feed two people. One person can finish it alone, I have personally done so, but I couldn't move for about an hour and was in a complete food coma. I truly think the fresh dough and the perfect blend of ingredients is what makes the mandu so delicious. These are Korean style dumplings with thin dough, not the Chinese style with that are thick and more bread-like. In addition to the dumplings, the kimchi is some of the best I have tasted in Seoul. It is truly homemade fresh everyday, which is something to be said because I never eat kimchi.
    Ideally the best time to go to the restaurant is during the week between normal meal times. So at 2pm the lunch crowd should be gone. Otherwise plan on waiting for up to an hour in line. If you do end up waiting it will be worth every second, or you can complain about it on my blog!
    Getting there is really simple, take exit No. 2 out of Anguk Station and walk straight about 6 minutes until you see the palace walls across the street and a pagoda-like structure in the middle of the road (pictured below). Turn right here and you will see Hank's bookstore on your right hand side. Walk straight until you get to the first big intersection. Take a right on this street and you will see the restaurant on your left. For a detailed picture map of the restaurant's location visit the maps page of iTourSeoul. Or Exit Gyeongbukgong and walk straight. If you are looking straight at the palace turn right and you will see the giant pagoda-like structure straight ahead. Then cross the street where you will see Hank's Bookstore ahead and turn left.

If you have any questions or comments about "Seoul Food Girl: Eat the best Korean style dumplings in Seoul at Bukchon Kalguksu" please leave them in the comment box below or email goneseoulsearching@gmail.com
  Gone Seoul Searching by Marie Webb is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License. Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at goneseoulsearching@gmail.com.

The entrance of the restaurant on a snowy day.

The pagoda-like structure where you should turn down the street.

Mad For Garlic in Korea has a completely garlic menu

The Garlic For You Steak is one of the signature dishes on the menu.

This article can also be read  at www.Koreataste.org and www.goneseoulsearching.com

    I'm simply mad for garlic! Upon moving to Korea I am trying to live a healthier lifestyle by including foods like garlic, green tea, and ginseng in my everyday diet. That's why when a friend told me about Mad For Garlic, we decided to spend our New Years Eve toasting with fine wine and bad breathe! Yes everything on the menu has tons of garlic in it, there is even garlic gelato for dessert. You may be just as surprised as I was to find out that the franchise is a Korean chain that has recently become international with locations in Singapore, Indonesia, and Hawaii to name a few. The Italian Wine Bistro first opened in Seoul in 2001, and now has 11 locations in Korea.

Try the steamed mussels in tomato garlic sauce for an appetizer.

     Plan on spending alot of money at this restaurant. Between my boyfriend and I we managed to spend around 100,000 won, but we also ate enough for four people! This is a great place to spend a romantic date, or celebrate a special event. The atmosphere is extremely romantic, there are dim lights and wine glasses dangling from beautiful wooden beams in the ceiling. The garlic theme is also represented in the decorations such as a garlic wreath, and garlic ornaments on the restaurants Christmas tree in December.

The crab and lobster pasta comes with plenty of seafood.

For an appetizer try out the garlic steamed mussels in the red sauce. There is always a great debate between my friends and I about whether or not red or white is better with this dish. However, at Mad For Garlic the red sauce is clearly the winner. Order some extra bread to dip in the bucket of extra sauce. This dish is humongous and will be enough to share with others unless you are stingy with your seafood!  The garlic tower bread is also a must, and comes literally packed full of garlic which is then smashed down into the tower by the waiter right in front of you.

End with garlic gelato.

   The sweet potato pizza is a huge let down. The only cheese on the entire pizza is about 4 little balls on each slice, and it comes served with a mayonnaise like sauce all over the top. Its pretty much like ordering a thin crust pizza with salad on top. Don't experiment on any other types of pizza, and simply order the Gorgonzola pizza $16.90 which is perfectly cooked with a thin crust and lots of garlic and cheese. If you want a little seafood in the mix try out the crab and lobster pasta. The sauce isn't to die for, but the seafood is definitely fresh and they give you plenty of succulent lobster.
    The steak on the menu is all from Australia, and so the cuts are some of the most expensive items on the menu. The Garlic For You Steak comes served on a sizzling plate with sauteed bell peppers, onions, garlic cloves, and an entire head of garlic on top, stem and all just in case you didn't get enough! The steak was cooked to perfection, and is a reasonable price of $32.90 which is very reasonable for this cut in Korea.
    For dessert ordering the garlic gelato is a must, and don't forget to top off the meal with a nice glass of wine. The house red wine from Chile is a great choice that compliments almost any dish with its light and sweet aromas. There is a little bite to it, but it wears off immediately with a smooth after taste.
    Visit The Mad For Garlic Stores page to see the nearest locations to you. You can also view a menu, but it is not the most updated version. With all of the locations throughout Seoul you are bound to find one close by. Good luck and enjoy your garlic!

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  Gone Seoul Searching by Marie Webb is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License. Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at goneseoulsearching@gmail.com.

Eating live octopus at Noryangjin Fish Market

Bargaining for your live octopus at Noryangjin is half the fun.

You can also read this post at www.goneseoulsearching.com
  
    Eating live octopus in Korea is a delightfully scary and delicious experience. The best place to experience eating raw fish (sannakji hoe), and especially raw live octopus (낙지) is none other than the famous Noryangjin Seafood Market in Seoul.
    Noryangjin is one of Korea's largest fish markets with a raw fish market operating 24 hours a day 365 days a year. After arriving at the Noryangjin market from subway line No. 1, I was overwhelmed by the amount of seafood that this enormous building houses. Just looking at the billions of pounds of sea food got me wondering if there are any fish left in the sea at all (and I am no animal rights activist)!

Huge tanks of clams are among hundreds of types of seafood at Noryangjin.

  Once at Noryangjin you will see hundreds of tanks of fresh octopus. Simply wander up to one of the stalls and ask how much (Eolmayeyo). A medium size octopus about the size of your hand should run you about 10,000 won. If you want to bargain with the fish dealer simply hesitate alot and then say gga gga ju se yo , which means discount. The "gga gga" is pretty much pronounced "ka ka" like poop, with a strong emphasize on the first "ka." The fish dealer will be very impressed that you said this, and will most likely drop their price immediately

A view of Noryangjin seafood market at 1:30 am on a cold Friday morning.

   After purchasing your octopus, head on over to one of the many hidden and often underground restaurants in the market. Sometimes the fish dealer will take you right there which happened in my case. At the restaurant, they will wash and serve up the raw and wiggling octopus with some tangy sauces and lettuce for a cheap price.

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Enjoy pastry perfection and a weekend brunch at Amandier in Anguk-dong

Freshly made pastries and desserts are Amandier's specialty, and hudreds of macaroons are made daily.

 This article can also be read at www.goneseoulsearching.com.

The pastry shop/restaurant has a lavish interior to suit its upscale menu.

    Nestled between historical Insadong, grand Gyeongbokgung palace, and cozy Samcheongdong lies a little slice of European heaven called Amandier. According to Ten Magazine, Ruben Jan Adrian is a Dutchborn 29 year old pastry chef. With experience working in locations such as Paris, Singapore, and Brussels, Adrian had plenty of experience before opening Amandier just three short months ago.
     Just looking through Amandier's upscale storefront will make your eyes grow wide. There are hundreds of colorful macaroons, decadent chocolates, and pastries so beautiful that you will truly be afraid to touch them. Of course there are fresh bakery items offered each day, and Monday-Friday you can order a lunch sandwich with a free coffee.

The eggs benedict: poached eggs, fresh ham, and sinful Hollandaise sauce.

    Although the restaurant is limited to salads and sandwiches during the week, there is a small and affordable weekend brunch menu offered on Sat-Sun from 10am - 4pm. Don't miss out on this menu! There are only four items and they're all made with perfection: the belguim waffle with maple syrup and butter, a waffle with cafe Americano, waffle with ice cream and cafe Americano, and eggs benedict. The eggs benedict has perfectly poached eggs and a sinful Hollandaise sauce. The spinach added as a layer in between, is a much needed healthy and fresh addition to the buttery concoction. And don't worry, you can get this perfect dish for only 8,000 won!

Chef and owner Ruben Jan Adrian working hard in the kitchen on a Sunday.

    The coffees and teas at Amandier are a little pricey at an average of 5,000 per cup. I recommend skipping the caffeine, and putting that money towards an extra pastry item such as the fresh raspberry macaroon, or a freshly baked carrot multi-grain muffin.

Directions: 

Walk across the street from Insadong Station Exit 6. If your looking at Gyeongbokgung Palace simply make a right on the main street and the restaurant will be a two minute walk.

If you have any questions or comments about "Enjoy pastry perfection and a weekend brunch at Amandier in Anguk-dong "  please leave them in the comment box below or email them to seoulfoodgirl@gmail.com

  Gone Seoul Searching by Marie Webb is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License. Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at goneseoulsearching@gmail.com.