First of all, let me once again introduce the official website on Korean Food, brought to you by the Korean Food Foundation. At http://koreanfood.net/intro.html you can get info, recipes, news, stories...well, basically anything that concerns Korean Food. Furthermore, the website is available in various languages such as English, Japanese, Spanish etc. so please do surf in and mention "Pros", "Cons" and "Suggestions" down here in the comment box.
Now for my own Korean food experience...
Jangchungdong hosts a bakery which sells
traditional Korean sweets and pastries at a surprisingly low price. You can
find everything from macarons to mont blancs and of course more Korean items
such as rice cake-covered ice cream and other sweets. But before dessert one
needs to intake dinner first, correct? That is what this blog post will be
about (the bakery introduction was just to lure you guys in!^^)
However, before starting, non-pork eaters need to heed this warning,
since this dish is ALL about the pig and its various edible (?) parts. Jangchungdong
is known as the heart of Seoul for jokbal and there is a variety of shops to
choose from. We settled upon trying the restaurant Pyeongando Halmeoni Jib (평안도 할머니집) with the longest history
(and the steepest price at the same time!). Jokbal is basically a Korean dish
consisting of pigs’ feet cooked with soy sauce and spices. The liquid its
served in is basically made from soy, ginger, garlic and rice wine. The menu is
limited to different sizes of jokbal depending on how many people you are, and
there are also a few bigger side dishes to choose from. For me as someone who
is not used to eating anything else but the flesh of the pork, jokbal was at
first a bit of an extravagant experience. At the bottom of the dish is the foot
with the worst parts removed, but you can still easily detect that it actually
is a foot. :) This is covered with delicately sliced pork meat which reminded me
a little bit of samgyopsal meat. However, the slices also include the
gelatinous skin of the pig which is said to be good for our skin as well! It
might be difficult to mouth at first and it is an acquired taste, but after a
few times it tastes deliciously. At a price of 30.000 for the smallest portion
which is good for 2-3 people it is not the cheapest of foods out there, but
totally manageable for even a student’s wallet. So do not hesitate and try this
dish at least once in this area.