Street food

Hello, I'm lying in bed and I'm grumpy because I'm suffering from a severe lack of sleep. A horde of Korean teenagers moved into my hallway a few days ago and they party loudly until 2 or 3 a.m. Every night they're OK with earplugs, but in the long run it's neither healthy nor pleasant. My Italian classmate recommended a guest house in a Buddhist monastery in Hongdae. Well, I've just spontaneously reserved a single room there. I've made up my mind: I'm moving on Monday!

But I actually wanted to tell you how I spent today's holiday. Since the weather forecast said it would rain in the afternoon (why does it always rain when I have the day off?), I started in the morning. I just had to step out of the front door and cross the main road and I was in the foothills of Namsan Park - or more precisely, in the Hanok village "Namsangol", which nestles cozily in the shade of the high-rise buildings at the foot of the mountain.

Fun fact: Hanoks are the traditional wooden houses of the Koreans. What makes them special is the windows, which are made of paper instead of glass, and the built-in underfloor heating, which is called “Ondol”. I would like to write a separate article about this. Would you be interested in the topic?

After a walk between the houses and the extensive gardens (which then seamlessly merge into Namsan Park), my stomach is rumbling. Ever since I saw the sweet potatoes in Myeongdong, I've been determined to eat street food. It's more expensive there, but I can be sure that everything is open despite it being a holiday.

The streets of Myeongdong are packed. The only thing missing are the food stalls - only after I decide to rest a bit at home are the carts rolled out onto the street. No matter, I'll be back later - after all, it's only one stop or a 15-minute walk away.

At home, I first do my homework and put my feet up for a bit. (The wound seems to be healing well, I'm cautiously optimistic.) To pass the time while I wait, I have a healthy snack (fruit).

But at some point I get too hungry. I grab my umbrella (it's freezing outside!) and take the elevator down to level -1. From here I have direct access to the subway station without even having to leave the house. Practical on a rainy day like this!

A few minutes later I climb the stairs in Myeongdong. Umbrella open and off we go! Now all the food stalls are set up and everything looks so delicious!

Various skewers with meat, sausages, cheese, rice cakes, Korean hot dogs or corn dogs, which consist of sausage and sometimes other fillings and are covered in dough, lobster tail with cheese, egg bread, chestnuts, fruit, various pastries - e.g. caramel sticks, twisted "donuts" (the dough is more like that of quark balls), filled sweet pancakes... the possibilities are almost endless despite the bad weather.

I choose: 2 grilled sweet potatoes, 3 mandu with vegetable filling (+1 free with kimchi), small kimbab rolls, and a giant mochi with fresh strawberry inside.

In Korea, sweet potatoes are purple on the outside and yellow on the inside. The consistency seems a bit firmer and more fibrous to me, but the taste is very similar to the orange ones we know here. You have to peel the skin like an egg and then just bite into it. Mmm, delicious!

The fried dumplings (Mandu) are filled with vegetables and glass noodles and unfortunately don't taste like much. Except for the one with kimchi, which is fantastic. But the street food definitely can't compete with the great food from the Mandu restaurant, neither in terms of price nor taste.

The Kimbab rolls are a perfect small size. Each one contains pickled yellow radish (Dan-mu-ji), spinach and cucumber, then rice and a seaweed leaf on the outside, coated with a little sesame oil and sprinkled with sesame seeds. It tastes really fresh, crunchy, has an aromatic depth thanks to the sesame seeds without tasting musty and is not too heavy due to its size.

Mochis are made from a very, very soft rice dough that is filled with various ingredients - in this case sweet red bean paste and fresh strawberries. It feels a bit like a scrotum 😂 (Mom, please don't read that part to Grandma, otherwise she'll be shocked!) The heavy sweetness of the bean paste and the slightly sour strawberry harmonize wonderfully, and I love the sticky consistency of the dough anyway.

All in all, it was a very successful feast, and as I write all this down, I'm getting hungry again! 😃 So I'll quickly say goodbye and go to sleep!