Korean Food Spotlight: 닭갈비

     Thanks for checking out the blog again, folks. I'm not gonna mention a thing about why I haven't blogged for yet another month, especially after my most recent post alluded to the fact that, at the very least, I'd be offering up something on a weekly basis. That effort has also failed, but here I am a month later, begging for your forgiveness and hoping to make your mouth water with this week's installment of "Korean Food Spotlight" (you can visit my most recent food post on cow insides Here. Maybe, as my good friend and former expat in Korea has suggested, I ought to just devote this blog solely to food. That seems like a better and better idea by the day...

     Let's get on with it. What food are we talking about? The name of the game is 닭갈비 (think DAHK with a relatively hard "d" + GAL + BEE).  As I did last time, I'll show you an opening picture that is not mine and ask that you guess what you're looking at before you scroll down any further:

So we're looking at vegetables, a red sauce of some kind, and what is probably 

meat. One thing for sure is that this shit is spicy.

Question #1: What the hell am I looking at?

     Good question. Although, to be fair, this is a little bit more clear than my last offering. 닭갈비 is, contrary to what my offered pronunciation might suggest, has nothing to do with duck and everything to do with chicken. Now, you might think to yourself, "Big deal, Sam. Why waste my time? Chicken is probably the most commonly consumed bird or meat worldwide. Don't waste my time, clown." 

Question #2: Why eat this?

     I offer that what you're seeing in these pictures is something you've never really tried before. It's wildly simple, but just gets better each and every time I eat it. This is chicken, perfectly marinated and caked in spicy pepper sauce. 닭 ("DAHK") more or less referes to "chicken" in Korea, although 치킨 (literally "CHICKEN") works as well--bless Konglish in all its forms. Add vegetables, namely some lettuce for wrapping, some green onions for extra flavor, and some white and sweet onions for relative crunch. Also add some soft rice cakes (which, coincidentally, look like play-dough) that, when one is lucky, might contain some hot cheese. Order a serving or two of it for you and a friend, and it's all brought to your table, ready for you to fry up over an open flame on your table. If you approach the situation confidently enough, in this situation as well as other Korean BBQ situations, the server might even let you, the foreigner, mix it and dish it all up yourself. If not, just kick back and watch the flames grill these already spicy bird chunks.

     Yikes, that last sentence didn't sound the least bit appetizing. Here's another picture to get you back on track:

Here you have your beautiful marinated and grilled to perfection chicken chunks in the foreground,

and rice cakes, onions, and mushrooms (a nice surprise this time around) in the background.

     It only takes minutes to cook, especially as this particular place (in Chuncheon, 춘천, a city that is known for its 닭갈비 and even has a long street featuring restaurants that serve up the big specialty), as they grill it up on giant, separate grills before you finish it off at your table. Just as with any other BBQ item in Korea, you're offered an assortment of sauces and veggies with which to down this spicy beast--we opted for some romaine wraps, a few green onions, garlic (because who are we kidding? we're in Korea...) and some salty 된장 sauce to cool off the spice a bit. Wrap that up and get it in your mouth son. You'll never have anything quite like it, despite how truly simple it is.

On a bed of romaine, a little rice, garlic, and 된장, there she lies. So good.

Question #3: Is it delicious?

     When Sam grins like an idiot...yeah, it's delicious.

Catarina is an absolute pro with this stuff--she wouldn't let me touch the scissors 

or grippers. You can see just how hot these grills make the room--look at those 

rosy red cheeks! Smuggling cherries from the orchard, Cat?

Recap:

     Bottom line: if you're looking for a relatively tame introduction to Korean BBQ that offers up some ingredients with which you might actually be familiar as a westerner, you really can't go wrong with 닭갈비. Spicy, sweet, hot, spicy, healthy (when you add in some veggies), and spicy. Everything I love about Korean food in one dish--rich flavor, fresh ingredients, and general simplicity in materials and preparation.

Coming Up:

     Guess who is coming to Korea? MAMA! MAMA! MAMA! That's right, my Mama is making the trek to the Land of the Morning Calm in just 5 short days! I'd like to get back on track with the blog as long as she's here, so as to document the constant stream of thinking from a foreigner who is only here for 2 short weeks, and not as a temporary expat. I've been waiting to show Korea to my friends and family for 15 months now, and I could not be more proud and excited to do so. Safe travels, Ma, and I'll be seeing you soon!

     Thanks for reading, folks! More coming soon. 안녕히 계세요!

     -Sam Sam