Bulgogi and kkaennip : Korean food that changed my life!

I'm not much of a foodie, but when you live in a foreign country, it's somehow inevitable to try and discover all kinds of food, and that's why I'll probably write quite a few posts about Korean food on this blog. I have already written extensively about Kimchi and snacks. Oh, by the way, we have tried another one, 꽈배기더블스윗 (꽈배기 Double Sweet). But as the name indicates, it's a little too sweet (unlike most Korean snacks), so I advise to stick to regular 꽈배기 which is much more delectable.

꽈배기더블스윗

Where was I? So, yes, Korean food. It's a vast topic so I didn't quite know where to start. I do like gimbap (김밥), tteokbokki (떡볶이) and Korean noodles, and I will write about them some day, but I'd rather start with what I like best. And my all-time favorite is definitely Bulgogi (불고기). Bulgogi is very popular in Korea, and you can find it pretty much everywhere (in restaurants or at the supermarket). There are restaurant chains specialised in Bulgogi, like "Bulgogi Brothers", and fast-food chains like McDonald's have even come up with bulgogi burgers, but let's not dwell on that. 

In the Ulsan area, there's a town named Eonyang, which Her calls "bulgogi town" because it is nationally famous for its bulgogi (Eonyang bulgogi). And I can confirm it is delicious! But when all is said and done, my mother-in-law's is still the best.

Eonyang bulgogi

What exactly is bulgogi? Well, "bul" means "fire" and "gogi" means "meat". So basically it's slices of beef or pork (or other meat sometimes) marinated in soy sauce, sesame oil,  garlic, onions,  ginger, and sugar and grilled on a barbecue, or broiled, or cooked in a pan with mushrooms, vegetables, sometimes glass noodles. So as you've probably guessed there are a whole lot of different kinds of bulgogi.
 

Beef Bulgogi (left) and Pork Bulgogi (Right)

Bulgogi with glass noodles

I haven't met anyone in Europe who tried bulgogi and didn't like it. So I suggest you give it a try in Korean restaurants abroad. The following picture was taken in a Korean restaurant in France. Their bulgogi was nowhere near as good as the real thing, but it was still better than no bulgogi.

Naturally, bulgogi is eaten with rice and a multitude of small side dishes, which are always served in Korea whatever you're having. 

Korean side dishes and rice

 

Korean side dishes and Duck Bulgogi

I already wrote about kimchi. So today I'll focus on another one that has literally changed my life. To be honest I still don't know how I could live without knowing kkaennip (깻잎) . It's perilla leaf (sometimes presented as sesame leaf). It can be eaten as is, and Koreans traditionally use it to  wrap rice and meat. In that case it's called "bap-doduk", (밥 도둑), or "rice thief", meaning that you eat a lot of rice with it without even noticing it.

깻잎 (circled) and other side dishes

 깻잎 can also be cooked, for instance you can stuff it with meat and pan-fry it. Or it can be marinated and eaten as a side dish (some people call it "perilla kimchi" or "perilla leaf pickles").  Tasty, but not too spicy, as Korean food can be sometimes. I strongly recommend it, it's delicious any way you try it!

Pickled kkaennip

 We're having 돈까스 for dinner tonight (Japanese deep-fried pork cutlets). That's delicious too, and I'm adding it to my list of things I want to write about. So you should definitely expect more post about food in Korea in the future.