Has anyone had Korean food?

[Jeanne D]

Tonight will be my first time going to a Korean restaurant.
I've had Chinese and Japanese food, but never Korean. I would imagine it's pretty similar?

Jeanne

[Slug1]

All I usually eat at any Asian restaurant is fried rice, chicken and seafood. So it's always the same for me no matter what

[amazzin]

Tonight will be my first time going to a Korean restaurant.
I've had Chinese and Japanese food, but never Korean. I would imagine it's pretty similar?

Jeanne

If its Korean BBQ then its not your regular Asian fair. The kim chee is bitter and spicy but I love it. A well equipped Korean restaurant will bring you your food raw and you get to cook it over a burner in the center of your table. Some also do sushi. I love it but where I live its very popular too. My extended family hates it

[tango]

Tonight will be my first time going to a Korean restaurant.
I've had Chinese and Japanese food, but never Korean. I would imagine it's pretty similar?

Jeanne

Kimchi seems to be the kind of thing you'll either love or hate. Personally I don't like it at all, but my wife loves it.

I'm rather partial to beef bulgogi and a few similar dishes that are essentially an Oriental-style barbecue. I had an octopus dish at a local Korean restaurant which was truly divine although even the sight of it made my wife feel uneasy.

Some items you might find in a Korean restaurant look revolting to me so I wouldn't order them based on appearance alone.

Korean food is usually pretty different from the generic "Chinese food" we get in the west.

[Liquid Tension]

Kim chee...............ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! So tasty!

[Scooby_Snacks]

Wondering how your dinner went, and if you thought the food was like any other Asian food you are familiar with? I always thought Korean food was much different, probably because it can be very HOT, more so than the american type Chinese I am used to. I always wondered what the owners of the Chinese restaurants were eating that wasn't on the menu, when sitting at a dine-in. It was probably more authenic, and maybe more similar to Korean.

[Adstars]

Korean food on average is more spicy Hot then Chinese or Japanese. But both China and Japan have influenced Korean food because both China and Japan for a time occupied Korea.


All Praise The Ancient Of Days

[gringo300]

At one Korean restaurant I ate at, they cooked the food on the table.

I was glad I walked out of there with my head and facial hair.

[jhdobbins]

I have had Korean beef, but it was home cooked. Quite tasty. There are no Korean restaurants anywhere near me, but we do have a Thai one that is quite tasty. It can be quite spicy as well.

On another note, back when I drank alcohol, I went to a korean karaoke bar in Seattle and tried a beer. It was an interesting experience.

[Kingsdaughter]

Kimchee? no thanks, I can't get past the smell or the look of that stuff to taste it, but I LOVE Korean bbq, they set it up buffet style, the food is raw and you cook it at your table. Its yummy!

[guero]

I had been force-fed Korean food by a Korean roommate in college and grew to love it. Since then I have been to Korea many, many times. I must say that of all the Asian cuisines, Korean restaurants in the U.S. seem to me to be the most authentic.

Other folks have mentioned some of these dishes, but here's my list:

Bulgogi -
marinated Korean beef, kind of the consistency of what goes into Philadelphia cheese steak. The better restaurants do bring it to you to cook raw. If you are cooking it at your table, then the customary way to eat it is to take a leaf of lettuce or some other leaf whose name I can't recall, smear it with some chili paste, deposit a piece of raw or roasted garlic, put a strip of bulgogi on top, wrap it up and eat it. I had it this way in a little mountain town when it was snowing outside. We were seated on a heated floor in front of a big charcoal brazier, staying warm, cooking our bulgogi.

Kal-Bi -
Beef ribs, but more the eye of the rib with beef around the bone. Marinated the same way as bulgogi

Those two are two mainstays.

Other dishes less popular, but usually on the menu:

Bi-Bim-Bap -
Usually vegetarian; a bowl of rice with different vegetables, a cooked egg sunny side up, and a chili paste called gochujang. You get it unmixed with the gochujang on the side and mix it up yourself.

Pa-jeon -
A pancake appetizer made with green onion, usually cut into wedges and dipped in a soy sauce with spices.



There are a few things you find in Korea, that I can't find here (thankfully, in some cases - I have tried some of it in Korea):

1. Koreans also love sushi - really fresh. One of the side items is baby octopus tentacles that were just cut off and are squirming in the bowl. My Korean friends say that kids love them. When you pick them up with chopsticks, they actually climb up the sticks.

2. Beondegi - steamed or boiled silkworm pupae that are usually served as an appetizer. Taste kind of like boiled peanuts.

3. Live octopus - I saw this on Jeju Island once. The prepare a large cauldron with red, peppery spices and just put the octopus on top and cover it with a glass lid and let one tentacle stick out. I didn't actually eat this myself, but saw a large group of elderly women order it at a lunch party at a restaurant.

4. Hong-uh - even some (maybe most) Koreans say this one is disgusting. It is fermented (i.e. rotten) skate fish. When I had it, it was served doused with something that smelled suspiciously like Lysol. It is considered an extreme delicacy and offered only to the most honored guests.

5. Number 5 is dog. It is a special breed of dog raised just for eating, but more and more people are really against the custom. Now there are only a few restaurants left serving it, mostly to very old, traditional people.

[Scooby_Snacks]

Pa-jeon -
A pancake appetizer made with green onion, usually cut into wedges and dipped in a soy sauce with spices.

Love this! Now that I know the name of it I can look for the recipe! TY!

[guero]

Love this! Now that I know the name of it I can look for the recipe! TY!

Your handle has an uncanny connection with #5 on my list at the end

[Scooby_Snacks]

Your handle has an uncanny connection with #5 on my list at the end

ROFL..but a great dog!

Not correct spelling...but Scooby wont be Kagoki soon. I hope.

Oh found a right spelling for a dog recipe. Maybe the spelling of what I thought it was called is Geagogi? LOL

Boshintang (보신탕; 補身湯), or Gaejangguk (개장국, -醬-)

yep Gaegogi (개고기)

[amazzin]

D E L I C I O U S!!!!
Especially the Korean BBQ