Gwangjang Market, Seoul

Gwangjan Market was one of our ‘fuel’ stops on the way to Dongdaemun Market. The market itself is huge with an extensive selection of shops selling textile products. But we were there for the food market. There are two main alleyways in the market crammed with many little restaurants and food stalls. Raw fish, blood sausages, pig’s trotters and some seaweed rice rolls are just some of the items this market offers. If you want THE Seoul street food experience, this is the place to go.

The stalls are mainly run by Korean middle-aged women, who tempt potential customers by waving fried food in their faces. We settled ourselves down with a friendly lady who offered us freshly fried courgette. Later she showed us that she had been in one of the local food magazines, oh bless her.

There was a mountain of jeon in front of us. I recognised most of the vegetable ones and crabsticks. We ordered some essentials (kimchi and beer) to start. The kimchi was very different from the ones I had tried in other Seoul restaurants, it was sweeter and less fermented. It went down really well with the oil saturated jeon. To be honest the food was not very tasty, but this place is great for people watching. I feel the same way about Borough Market, I hate it being so crowded and touristy but I cannot help but love it for its noisy and chaotic vibe.

Gwangjang Market

Eating Barbecued Baby Octopus in Seoul

The Koreans are the kings of extraction fans. They have these metal expandable tubes hanging from the ceilings of barbecue restaurants, the suction is so powerful that not a hint of the greasy smoky smell will be left on your clothes after the meal, even if you are wearing a jumper! Our first meal in Seoul was in a little barbecue restaurant specialising in baby octopus. It was between our hotel and Myeong-dong, not easy to find, but I knew we were at the right place when I saw the wall covered in signed photos of K-pop celebrities.

Ordering was challenging, as everything was written only in Korean. The only preparation my husband did for the trip was to find out the word for beer – Mekju, and used it continuously for the next five days. Also the fact that I was the one who looked oriental had cornered me into doing all the ordering. Luckily there were only six items on the menu. But still, after a few attempts to understand it, we ended up having whatever the table next to us was having. Later I figured out that the first three items on the menu were three different types or parts of baby octopus (KRW18000 each). There was also an assorted plate of baby octopus (KRW26000), fried rice (KRW5000), and soju (KRW2000).

We found out that we had ordered the assorted plate when the food arrived. There were some round-shaped slices (possibly the head), some short tentacles and some long ones, all covered in a vibrant and scary looking red sauce. The plate had ‘spicy’ written all over it. The meal also came with a plate of lettuce leaves, whole green chillies, a bowl of beansprout broth, miso paste and raw garlic slices on the side.

The octopus was cooked on a metal rack placed directly on top of a bowl of charcoal sunk into the middle of our table. Unlike the Korean restaurants in London, you do everything yourself. It was lots of fun cooking our own food, and we got a stern look when we left the food on the grill for too long.

I wrapped the octopus in a lettuce leaf with garlic and miso on top, it was so tasty but O LORD IT WAS HOT! I reached for the beansprout broth and downed it in no time. It was not the tastiest thing (imagine slightly salted warm water) but it did the job. My husband teased me by telling me it was a fingerbowl, and how I was an idiot foreigner. It haunted me for a couple of days, until a friend who lives in Seoul confirmed that they were for drinking from. Phew. I also saw some guests tuck into the raw green chilli by dipping it in the miso, and then followed by a whole shot of Jinro - THAT is the hardest of hardcore eating. I didn't dare to try.

I do not have the address of this place but I have marked the location on Everplaces and it looks like this:

Octopus and strong spice is not the most digestible combination, so consumption of large quantities of Korean rice tea afterwards is highly recommended.

Myeong-dong and mini tips for Seoul

Some observations about Seoul:

• Korean couples wear matching outfits, from top to toe literally.
• Teenage girls use their camera phones as mirrors.
• No matter what you buy, you get facial masks as a free gift.
• Soju (Korean vodka) is cheaper than bottled water.

I wanted to add number 5 - there is no escape from kimchi, but it is not quite true. There was no kimchi in the Korean fried chicken restaurants. Mmm... more about KFC later...

In October I went to Seoul for a 5 day trip, we stayed at the PJ Hotel which is conveniently located in the middle of four metro lines, and a short walk to a touristy shopping area called Myeong-dong. The hotel is modern and clean, and mainly serves Japanese tourists so the service was great (lots of bowing). I cannot tell you how pleased I was when I found a Toto toilet in my hotel room, an instant +10 comfort points (imagine what is like eating kimchi with nearly every meal). Our room looked over a school baseball ground, not exactly the million-dollar city view you would find in one of the big city hotels but somehow heartening.

PJ Hotel

There are some local restaurants near the hotel. We did not get to try any, although it would have been fun for the sake of an authentic experience.

Myeong-dong is everything you would hope for – well, if you like shopping. Apart from a couple of shopping malls, there are also countless of cosmetics shops. They all sell virtually the same stuff, and reappear in every single alley way. DO NOT USE ANY OF THEM AS A LANDMARK. To blend in with the local culture, I bought myself some cutting-edge cosmetics products – snail essence facial masks. Yup you heard me. I also got a poisonous snake mask as a free gift. My skin will be as beautiful as this guy, lucky me!

Besides shopping, there are also many food stalls distributed throughout the main streets in Myeong-dong. The first one we encountered sold these sugar-coated spiral potato crisps on a stick, sausage optional.

GyeRanBang - hot fluffy cake with a whole egg in the middle

Toasted dried squid and sweet potato fries

Poached giant clams

Various fried snacks, including glutinous rice cakes in Gochujang

Myeong-dong Kyoja is a popular dumpling restaurant in the area. It was one of the quickest meals I had in a long time, wow they moved faster than the Chinese! The service was a bit indifferent (towards rude), reminding me of Wong Kei in London’s China Town. The filling of the dumpling is denser, probably less fatty, than those in China. Some claim it was the best meal they had in Seoul, it was decent but certainly was not the best. Wait until I show you the hanu beef...

Myeong-dong Kyoja

Here are my mini tips for Seoul:

• Rent an EGG. It is too easy to get lost in Seoul, so the internet can save your life. You can hire a 4G WiFi hotspot called an EGG from Korean network company Olleh, at the airport or other branches in the city. For 8000KRW a day, you can tweet/instagram/facbook anytime you want. You know you want it. And you get a facial mask as a free gift too, obviously.
• Take the airport bus. Airport bus is the most convenient way to travel/from the airport. There are more than 30 routes covering most of the hotels in Seoul as well as some of the suburban areas.
• Taxis can be cheaper than taking the Metro. Take the grey or white ones, the black ones are for tourists and charge at a higher rate.
• Fruit is expensive in Korea, eat kimchi instead.
• If in doubt, point. People are generally nice and helpful if you ask nicely. I cannot speak Korean but managed to get what I wanted by just pointing at signs/map/pictures of food etc most of the time.
• Read these blogs: TomEatsJenCooks, SeoulInTheCity

Cocktail Buns

So I went to Hong Kong and Seoul for three weeks in October, blog posts coming soon(ish) I promise. But before that I want to tell you how I coped with nasty homesickness and post-holiday depression - I made bread.

A few months ago I joined Band of Bakers - a south east London baking club. We meet up at one of the local restaurants or cafes for a monthly themed baking gathering. From green tea Swiss roll to strawberry and cream choux buns, it soon became an essential event that I look forward to attending every month. There was a special event in October where the theme was enriched breads i.e. breads that have butter, sugar and eggs. I have never been very good at making bread, me and yeast just do not get on very well… So in order to hide my weakness (not competitive at all), I baked cocktail buns – a Hong Kong classic that no one from the BoB would be familiar with, therefore not knowing how they are supposed to taste. Genius? Yes.

A cocktail bun 雞尾包 is a sweet bun with a coconut filling, topped with sesame seeds and two pastry lines made from butter, flour and sugar. Originally local bakers mixed up leftover ingredients to create the filling, hence the name ‘cocktail’. It is one of the must-eat Hong Kong bakery items alongside egg tarts 蛋撻 and pineapple buns 菠蘿包.

I adapted the recipe from Christine’s blog (an excellent site for various Chinese recipes). She uses a special bread starter called Yudane 湯種, a mixture of hot water and flour, which apparently gives extra sweetness and softness to the bread. I have not tried making the bread without it so I cannot tell you the difference, but the result was very close to the texture I was aiming for. I used my bread machine to knead and raise the dough before shaping.

Cocktail buns

Makes 10 buns

Yudane:

50g Super Strong White Bread Flour

250ml Water

Dough:

350g Super Strong White Bread Flour

55g Caster sugar

5g Salt

56g Egg (beaten)

125ml Full Fat Milk

120g Yudane

5g Instant Yeast

30g Butter (room temperature)

A few drops of vanilla extract

Filling:

60g Butter

60g Caster Sugar

60g Egg (beaten)

80g Sweetened Coconut (shredded)

Sugar syrup:

1 tsp Caster Sugar

2 tsp Water

Toppings:

20g Egg (beaten)

5g Caster Sugar

15g Butter (room temperature)

10g Plain flour

To make the Yudane, mix the flour and water in a saucepan until fully incorporated. Put the pan over a medium heat, keep stirring to prevent any lumps. Remove from heat as soon as the liquid starts to thicken.

Place the Yudane in a bowl and then cover it with cling film. Set aside until it reaches room temperature.

To make the dough, place all the ingredients (except the butter) in a bread machine in this order: milk, egg, Yudane, vanilla extract, salt, sugar, flour and yeast. Set and start the ‘dough’ function of the bread machine, and then add the butter when a rough dough is formed. Let the machine continue the kneading until the dough is smooth and elastic.

Use the ‘raise’ function of the bread machine for proofing (see your bread maker’s instructions for the exact timing). Or you can place the dough in a greased glass bowl, cover it with a damp towel and then proof until it doubled in size.

To make the filling, beat the butter and sugar in a bowl. Add the egg followed by the coconut. Place the mixture in a square/rectangular container, and then put it in the fridge until the first proofing is done.

Transfer the dough onto a floured surface. ’Punch’ the dough to release air, and then divide it into 10 small portions, around 75g each. Cover them with cling film and then rest for 15 minutes. Meanwhile, take the hardened filling mixture out of the fridge, and then cut it into 10 strips.

Use a rolling pin to roll the dough (away from you) to a long flat shape, place 1 strip of filling on the top of the dough, and then roll inwards into a tube shape.

Place the filled dough, seal side down, on a greased baking tray (I use a Swiss roll tray). Cover it with cling film and a wet towel on top for second proofing. It normally takes around an hour for the dough to double in size.

Preheat a fan oven to 180C. Make the pastry lines by beating the plain flour, sugar and butter together. Spoon the pastry mix into a small piping bag.

Make the sugar syrup by heating water and sugar in a saucepan. Boil for 2 minutes until the sugar dissolves completely. Set aside to cool.

Brush the dough with egg. Pipe two lines onto the dough using the pastry mix prepared earlier, and then sprinkle some sesame seeds on top.

Bake the bread in the oven for 30 minutes until golden. Brush the sugar syrup onto the buns, then return to the oven for further 2 to 3 minutes. Rest on a rack to cool down.

Best served while still warm! Enjoy!

Sushi Tetsu

Sushi Tetsu, Clerkenwell

I have had a few busy months since I started my supper club, and I have really enjoyed seeing my well-fed guests go home with big smiles on their faces! On one hand I am glad it is going well, but I also feel a bit sad that I stopped blogging. I still eat out a lot and take lots of photos, but with so much going on, it is hard to wind down and find the time to write a post. I think I have reached a critical point, where if I do not write a post this week I will fall deep into depression and hate myself. Also my little brother has just returned to Hong Kong for good, so I am feeling a lot more emotional than normal, and need a channel to express myself. So here I am, my first post after so so so long, if you are reading, THANK YOU!

I took my brother to Sushi Tetsu for his farewell dinner. Let me explain why I took him to a Japanese restaurant even though he is heading to the Far East. Choosing a Japanese restaurant in Hong Kong is a bit like choosing a Chinese restaurant in London. There are so many of them – you can go to China town for a quick and basic meal, or Hakkasan and Yauatcha for special occasions, but you really have to know where to go when it comes to finding a particular dish you want to eat. For instance, did you know that the best twice-cooked pork dish can be found in Camberwell? For a traditional sushi restaurant, I would say the quality of the fish is responsible for 80% of the taste, and the rest depends on the skill of the chef. So even though the quality of the fish in Hong Kong is generally higher than in London, the skill can sometimes be lacking. I have yet to find a sushi restaurant that is comparable to Sushi Tetsu outside of Japan.

Tetsu offers a very unique experience. To quote my husband after our first visit, 'it is like eating in somebody's home, isn’t it?' Yes, exactly that. Tetsu is run by ex-Nobu chef Toru Takahashi and his wife Harumi.  There are only seven seats at the counter, and two small tables next to the entrance serving as a waiting area. There was a bowl of edamame to nibble while Harumi san carefully explained the menu. We went for the omakase (chef’s choice) with a budget of around £70 per head. You can ask for sushi only, or a mixture of sashimi and sushi.

Toru san started the meal off with milder flavour fish – sea bream and turbot. There was no need to add soy sauce or wasabi (unless he asked us to) as he had already done it for us.

Sea bream タイ, Turbot カレイ

Engawa エンガワ is my favourite cut of fish, it is the thin muscle next to the fin of a halibut or turbot, which has a texture between squid and fatty tuna, with a rich flavour. The guests sitting next to us were further down their omakase menu, which meant they had already had a couple of blow torched (Aburi 炙り) nigiri. The wonderful smell of the bubbling fish oil filled the room in no time, I inhaled as much as I could, almost feeling a little guilty for stealing other guests’ food.

Engawa エンガワ, Scallop 炙りホタテ

Yellow Tail ハマチ, Prawn 炙り海老

Tuna 中トロ, Razor Clam 炙りテマ貝

Sardine イワシ, Cooked Prawn 蒸しエビ

Next up was a tuna and pickled radish hand roll. The chef made this temaki using the same cut as the tuna nigiri he had made for us earlier. He first gently minced the fish using a spoon (showing just how tender the cut was) and then chopped it. The soft tuna together with the mildly sweet radish worked perfectly, possibly the best temaki I had ever had.

Razor clam and cucumber roll テマ貝とキュウリ細巻き,Mackerel 炙り鯖

Eel 炙りうなぎ

The final item was the egg. I heard that Toru san spends around two hours every day fter service to make this. These little cubes of eggy cake are light and spongy, slightly sweet, but with a hint of savoury thanks to the addition of prawns.

Sushi Tetsu is certainly not a place I can afford to go regularly, but it really is worth every penny. There were no short cuts, what you get is a combination of very high quality fish, perfectly cooked sushi rice, and lots of care from the chef. If you go there, trust Toru san and tell him your budget, and then let him take care of the rest. You will not be disappointed.

Sushi Tetsu