If this is your first visit to the blog, welcome! I am Nau, an avid eater, and fan of trying new things whenever and wherever feasibly possible, especially when travelling. In the past I've shovelled things like still-living (and squirming) shrimp into my pie-hole, wriggling miniature octopus tentacles liberally lubricated in sesame oil (to keep from choking, of course), squirmy sentient (or at least prehensile) penises of a creature called daebul, and even more controversial things like that time I tried whale bacon in the tiny dining room of a restaurant nestled deep into a narrow back alley of Shinagawa or braved a bowl of boshingtang in a small restaurant buried in a suburb outside of Seoul. There was also that time back in college when my friends and I were camping and one of our cohorts brought along a bag of marinated wild-caught rabbit he'd hunted and butchered not long prior to our trip, lugged to the site along with the grill it would be cooked on via backpack, to be washed down with fancy booze at hot spring hidden in the desert. Suffice to say, bring me your unusual, your wild, your chewy and your squirmy and I'll give it an honest shot. I'm pretty open to most things, from dog meat to century eggs, fish sperm sacs to bull's balls... To be frank, I think the one and possibly only new food I know of but haven't tried that I'd genuinely struggle to eat is balut, the fertilized egg with a mostly-formed bird embryo tucked inside, replete with barely formed feathers and crunchy little barely-done-bones. Well, that is aside from my perverse aversion to yogurt and pudding, which make me gag with their texture. I know, right? This, coming from someone who willing ingests fish sperm sacs. I wasn't especially keen on sea cucumbers when I tried those, either. But this post is not about things that were unpalatable- or things I wouldn't be able to eat- this post is about things I did eat, and also quite thoroughly enjoyed!
See that cup right there? That cup is full of magic, of glory, and of things chewy, crunchy, sweet, gooey, juicy and delicious. It hits practically every possible flavor and texture profile yet contains little more than chicken, coated in a crispy-crunchy batter, and rice cakes- both of which are then generously drenched in an addictive sauce. All around deliciousness in a small cup, eaten with a toothpick and a delirious grin. I'm still a bit ashamed with myself for not discovering the joys of 양념 통닭, or yangnyeom tongdak, previously, but to be fair it may have taken the cooler outside temperatures to bring the chef out to the streets to share her goods. Needless to say, fantastic!
The other dish on our menu today is grilled sea snails, called 골뱅이 or golbaengi. This was from another small cart not far from the yangnyeom lady, and the freshly cooked snails were liberally seasoned while grilling and then adorned with garnishes upon serving. Those big tan-ish flakes are bonito shavings, a form of dried fish that is a total umami bomb, imparting serious flavor in the thin slices, which happily wiggle in the steam from fresh, hot foods. The snails were a bit chewier, not especially to any surprise of mine, but tasty. Also very affordable, as much of the street food found in South Korea is. Be brave, my little ducklings, there's so many tasty things out there and you never know what new favorite food you might discover if you don't at least give it a try.
Until next time, lovelies~
맛있었습니다~!
💘
XOXO,
NAU
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