Hanu Beef, Seoul

It all started with a photo-envy. I came across this (via @TomEats) when I was looking for restaurant ideas in Seoul. Pure beef porn. I too wanted to have a photo of beautifully marbled hanu beef on my blog. And here it is.

South Korean people take great pride in their beef. Hanu beef is considered a luxury because its price is a lot higher than imported meat, therefore it is generally only eaten on special occasions.

Despite the high price of the meat, the restaurant we visited was relatively basic - it had no menu, and we had to sit on tatami (Japanese style floor with mats). Our host ordered the food by showing a photo of hanu beef on her phone. The waiter smiled, and then the food was on our table within five minutes. You know those places you see in Chinese movies, where the kitchen porter is actually a retired kung fu master? Yes I felt like I was in one of those.

The beef came with kimchi, pickled onions, seaweed, a small spring onion salad and raw garlic. We greased the hot plate by rubbing a piece of beef fat all over it, followed by some garlic. The smell was amazing. We then lightly seared the beef for around thirty seconds each side. The beef did not melt-in-the-mouth as much as the wagyu I tried in Japan, but it was tender with a slight chewiness, a texture I had not come across before.

We also had Gyeran jjim (steamed egg in casserole) – a mild and comforting dish that made all the gluttonous beefy action feel right.

The location of the restaurant is a secret. I also have no idea how much the meal was as we did not pay for it. Sorry!

We were determined to have another hanu beef meal before we left Seoul, but since we did not know where to go we just picked one that was recommended in my guidebook. I was a bit sceptical about this restaurant because 1) it was in Myeong-dong and 2) it had an English menu. But it was all fine when the food arrived. We ordered some beef and pork, all farmed in South Korea according to our waitress. The colour of the beef was not as dark as the one we had previously, maybe not as aged? But the marbling was again insanely good.

Similar to the baby octopus restaurant we visited earlier in our trip, the meat was cooked on a rack placed directly over charcoal. It did not take long for the beef to become charred around the edges. Am I the only one to get overly excited about the sound of oil dripping onto the smoking hot charcoal? *tizzzzz*

During this trip, I discovered my favourite way of eating barbecued meat – wrapped in a shiso leave with miso.

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If there is one kind of beef you cannot buy in London, it has to be hanu beef. Definitely worth including one of the hanu restaurants in your eat-list if you are planning to visit South Korea.