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Showing posts from August, 2013

Beer Line Sanitizer and Cleaners in Korea

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Owning a small bar in Korea means that you have to keep the beer lines clean. I have been told to use a couple different solutions to do it. I was concerned about how to make a hand pump and I am not technically advanced enough to make one. I learned a trick from our beer supplier (craftworks). They rinse out their beer taps and fill it up with hot water and rinse it through the lines. But I am tempted to build my own hand pump cleaner like here.   I found that boiling hot water works for now because my shop is new, this is a quick fix. However, I have read that over time the yeast left in the line and there is something called beer stone that can ruin the taste of the beer. I have been looking at some commercial solutions such as Desana Max  but it can be quite pricey (about 5 USD a packet plus shipping). I have ordered it and once it arrives I will give it a try. But I need a solution to clean now so I have been looking at some DIY solutions. One involves using lemon juice and baking

Event: Beataewon at Full Moon

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                If you are looking for a good time on Thursday Nights, then check out Full Moon. From 9-10pm they have free drinks. Yep, they have an open bar from 9-10pm. They also have some great DJs like DJ Kevin Boyd and Guyvr. Check it out. Disclaimer: This was sent from a friend who asked me to share this with the readers of Seoul Eats. Seoul Eats did not receive any compensation.

Aronia Berries in Danyang City

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                                                                                                                          I love berries. I mean I think most people do, right? They are delicious and I feel I get a lot of energy after eating them. I have to say that my favorite berry is blueberry. When I traveled to Nova Scotia I ate and drank many many pounds of those berries. It's not just because of the taste, I think there is something in them that makes me crave the berry- it's like there is something in the berry that my body needed so I have to consume as much as possible. Recently, our company  in conjunction with the Korea Culinary Tourism Association (KoCTA ) is working with Danyang City, South Korea to promote the Aronia Berry. This year on This berry which is originally from North America has been eaten for over 100 years and they have been known to be a popular health berry. The Aronia berry, which is also known as the chokeberry has the highest concentration of

Obsessed with Korean Dramas? Visit Yongin Dramia

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I have a pretty great job, I must say. I get to travel all over the country with great people and eat excellent food. Yesterday was a particularly fun day because I got to send the day with the Estrada Family and we went to Yongin's Dramia. From Seoul it took about 1.5 hours. Luckily, we had my friend Kyung as our driver so we were able to drive in comfort. It's one of the places that is quite difficult to get to unless you have transport. You can get there by bus, but if you are unfamiliar with Korea , it could be a bit difficult. Entrance fee is about 7,000 won. So for those crazy about Korean dramas-especially the historical ones such as Daejanggum and Queen Seondeok, Isan, Jumong, and Dong Yi this is definitely the place to see. It was recently reopened and you can see the amazing historical buildings which are the sets of some of Korea's most famous dramas. I think that it is actually better than some of the palaces because you can see everything from recreated villa

So...freaking angry right now...I want to Hulk out at Google Korea

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I so want to hulk out right now because Google Korea doesn't make any sense. IT DOESN'T MAKE SENSE! In order to pay for google adwords, you have to use IE6 with active x using a windows XP machine. WTF. Is this 2005? Actually, I gave up on Google Adwords years ago because of this very issue. But... Recently, we had some smart students from Seoul National University approach us and they wanted to advertise our company using adwords for a contest they were entering. We were like sure...great! After we saw that our bookings did go up a bit, we realized that it wasn't a bad advertising option and we even hired the student to work for us. At first we didn't have a problem adding money but the second time, because we upgraded our machines, we found out that we couldn't add money anymore. So...then I tried calling them on their contact number. No, answer.   We tried emailing them and we got a detailed email in Korean. My coworkers and I tried to follow the instructions. Th

Korean Food Superstitions

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Korean people have some very interesting food superstitions. On different occasions, they have a food to match that will enhance a person's luck or prepare them for an important life event. One very important life event are exams and tests and there are many food superstitions surrounding it. The single most important event in a student's life is the soonyeon or the college entrance exams. It is a test that happens only one day a year and the entire city starts later just to make sure students makes it to the test on time. If students are running late, police officers will even drive tardy students to the school. It is a test that takes years to prepare for. For this test, it is all about memorization or having the answers stick in the student's heads. Some students will go so far as to not wash their hair for many days because they don't want the answers to fall out of their heads. Students will also avoid slippery foods during this time. Noodles are avoided and so is

Opening a Restaurant in Korea...Part 1

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For years as a food writer, I had been asked about food trends in Korea and what I thought were the best restaurants. In Korea, food trends seem to be constantly changing and there are those that come up with an interesting dish that gets everyone's attention, but often don't have the legs to last, or what happens is that others copy what that restaurant did and that place becomes irrelevant. From my experience, working in restaurants and running a restaurant are both risky. In America, I worked in restaurants as a dishwasher, server, cook, bartender, etc. I also had a small catering business and I made some cakes for cafes. I have always liked working in hospitality and I guess, deep down, my dream was to open up a restaurant some day. At my day to day job, O'ngo Food Communications , I mainly handle logistics and I do marketing. These days, I don't do as many food tours as I used to because I have a good staff working with us now. I guess this made me a little restles

Yellowtail Japanese Restaurant Wine Enthusiast Winner

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                            My chef buddy, Akira Back, recently won an award for his restaurant Yellowtail.  It was picked by Wine Enthusiast as one of America's 100 Best Wine Restaurants. Good job Akira.

Jia Choi's Seoul: Video for Conrad Hotel

My good friend and the president of O'ngo Food Communications was recently featured in a video by Conrad Hotel. They did an incredible job of capturing the essence of Korean food and about what we do. Jia Choi is an exceptional chef and president of O'ngo Cooking School in Seoul, where students receive a hands-on experience and education about traditional Korean cuisine. Jia believes that food is art, and her video is a visually-arousing display of this doctrine.

Hanging out with Iron Chef Judy Joo and Big News

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  These last few weeks have been very intense and interesting. I have embarked on a new business with my friend Patrick (which I will be revealing soon). The food tour company is going well, but the summer heat and the monsoon has slowed some of our bookings down. Our company has grown in three years and it has let me meet some pretty awesome people including Judy Joo who is an Iron Chef UK and she works at the prestigious Playboy Club in London. She gets to meet Hugh Hefner and she hangs out with Bobby Flay and Alton Brown (whom I heard mainly eats canned mackerel to maintain his weight). I got to show Judy around Noryangjin Market and then Kwangjang Market. It was really fun to introduce her to all the people that work there. I feel like the food stall workers are all my friends now and they treat the people I bring there like that as well. It was a good, but very hot day of food but overall it was a lot of fun. Judy, it was great meeting you and good luck on your new food show, ten