Have you tried Soy Tiramisu? Congdu Neo Korean Cuisine

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On Thursday, I helped organize an event for the chef’s association in Korea , LTB. At the event the chefs learned how to make makgeolli from scratch and then made their own batches of makgeolli. The event was a big success and the Chosun Ilbo, Korea’s largest newspaper, did a story on the event.

Now before the event, I had an opportunity eat at the venue, Congdu Restaurant (Located in the Seoul National History Museum). The concept of the restaurant is healthy, new, and almost everything is made from beans.

Green Menu

Soybean milk Soup

We started out with a soy bean milk soup (kongguksu) flavored with green herb (mugwort) with angel hairlike threads of crunchy turnip noodles with a citrus dressed salad. This dish was very refreshing and refined.

Then we had a pumpkin soup with a hint of soybean and garnished with roasted walnut and a chestnut. This dish was very subtle. The main course was very Korean as well. We had the green menu (25,000 per person) and the options were a bibimbap with a thick, flavorful soybean paste sauce or a grilled corvina fish served with rice and green tea. I had the fish and green tea and it was a tranquil, zenlike meal. You take a bite of the savory fish, a sip of tea, and a bite of rice and you feel very much at peace. It’s not a flavor bomb of spicy, sweet, savory; it’s just very calming- especially as you look out into the open field of the Seoul National History Museum.

Soup

Pumpkin Soy Bean Soup with Autumn Nuts

Black Bean, Ginseng Makgeolli Cocktail

Green Tea with Fish?

Bibimbap

Corvina Fish

You have to have Kimchi with every Korean Meal.

The patio

Oh, we can’t forget about the dessert. You get a small cup of fresh cut fruit served with soybean tiramisu. I had doubts that this dish would work, but it did. They replaced the marscapone with a bit of soybean. The creamy soy paired well with the coffee cake beneath. This is something I might have to play around with later: turning beans into cream? It sounds like alchemy.

Soy Bean Tiramisu

About the Author

Daniel

Daniel Gray is a Korean adoptee that returned to Korean in 2005 because he wanted to try and find his birth mother and to learn about Korean culture. He started a restaurant review blog in 2007, www.seouleats.com, that became a local and international hit. He and his blog has been featured in the New York Times, Monocle Magazine, The Kimchi Chronicles, Bizarre Foods, Rudy Maxa, Olive Magazine, Euronews and much more. He now is a partner at O’ngo Food Communications (www.ongofood.com), which is a culinary tourism and consulting company that offers Korean cooking classes and restaurant tours to travelers. Their food tours and cooking classes are ranked as one of the top attractions in Seoul according to tripadvisor.