Seoul Eats: August 2008

Untitled.

I just watched one of those investigation videos where an Alec Baldwin sound-alike narrates you through the horrors of livestock farms and slaughterhouses. First, I want to tell you all that I've been an animal lover ever since I stopped mutilating the creatures I would find desperately trying to locate a way out of my swimming pool on Long Island. The facts that I was a child, and that children do what children do, do not keep me from feeling pain when I think about those days.

I love meat, though, and I doubt I'll ever stop eating it. I would push all my chips forward after betting that most of you dig on meat with as big a smile as I do. There are alternatives, though. Instead of aiding and abetting these corporations who hire the obviously demented, you can do your research and find out where you can buy "humanely" slaughtered meat. If you love meat, and can't part with it, then I suggest this, for your health will benefit as well will many other things.

I am not well-versed in the area of livestock, but I can tell you that I would rather be digging into a formerly free-ranging burger than one that was slapped and pounded by the hands of evil disrespect.

These grainy-voice narrated investigation videos, however, are created by people with an agenda. They are created by people who consider Michael Moore's work groundbreaking presentations of the undeniable truth. By nature, film is a manipulative art form. Don't be swayed one way or the other after viewing these videos. Do your research. You owe it to yourself as foodies.

Look up Jamie Oliver (www.jamieoliver.com/). He is the British chef commonly referred to as 'The Naked Chef.' He works to promote the use of fresh organic foods and has recently been crusading against commercial chicken farms (www.jamieoliver.com/jamiesfowldinners/). Give it a look.

More than a proponent of the ethical treatment of animals, I am a proponent of trading money for food with your local small businesses. Go to the less-than-super markets, including (and preferring) farmers markets. Buy your food products from the actual people who work to produce them. You will save money, stimulate the economy, build friendships, learn more than you've bargained for, improve your health, and while you are pleasantly surprising your tastebuds, you will be strengthening them as well.

Remember your taste zones!

Peace & Health,

Egbert

RGwatts@hotmail.com

1Comments

, by Egbert

In korean food, vegetarian

Vegetarian Restaurants in Seoul

Here is an informative site about vegetarian restaurants in Seoul.

Sanche

Kangnam-Gu, Togok-Dong 411-11 Subway line3, Maebong station entrance 4, walk 100m toward the Yangje terminal

02)554-9223

9-10:00 large set W18,000 sanche set W13,000, codonopis lanceolata set W15,000, sanche bibimbap W7,000, perilla noodle W7,000, sweet and sour mushrooms W20,000

Owned and operated by Ms.Soon-Nam Kang, a famous Korean author ('The Meal Table is the Medicine Table'), which is about eating uncooked vegetables and living a natural life style. All the spices, seasonings, and foods are prepared naturally here, and this makes this vegetarians as well as for those looking for natura-style remedies. All the ingredients used for food here are from organic farms, and no chemical seasonings are used as spices. The foods are prepared only with natural ingredients and natural sauces: kimchi in fermented with juice from greens, salad with tofu, radish, and onion in its dressing; Jochung, grain syrup made of brown millet rice and other grains as well. The most recommended and popular dish, the 'Sanche set meal,' is an order prepared with brown rice, millet, foxtail millet, adlay, black beans, vegetable soup, and various vegetables and potherb along with pancakes, acorn jelly, and salads, and served in woodenware to give the food an authentic appearance.There is also a terrace where fruit and soy sauce are fermenting in crocks, and pottery and here wooden furniture pleasing to one's eyes. There is also a small shop where you can purchase snacks made of wheat, Japanese apricot juice, bamboo salt, grain syrup, and many other natural foods.

Sanchon Mountain Village

Insa-Dong area of Seoul; everyone knows it; ask.

02-735-0312

http://www.sanchon.com

W20,000 lunch; W35,200 dinner (includes exquisite traditional Korean music and dance performances). Features a set menu of numerous traditional Korean vegetarian temple foods. Founded by a former Buddhist monk, Sanchon has a beautiful temple-like atmosphere.Well-known within the artsy Insa-Dong area. Vegan.

Vegetarian Restaurant

Insadong Anguk Station, Insadong exit. Walk straight, past Tourist Information on your right, art store on your left. A convenience store is in front of you. Turn right at the store and a few steps down (before the bank) you should see an English sign for a vegetarian restaurant.

02)111-3333

Vegan-friendly, macrobiotic, organic.

Yakcho Dimibang Vegetarian Restaurant

Insadong: Gohap Bldg. Exit 6 and backtrack to the first alleyy/street; from Insadong follow the street by Gana Art Space; from the N end of Insadong, it's the first alley on your left.

02)720-2417

Deulhyanggi

Jongno-Gu, Samchungdong 98-1 Subway line 3, Anguk station entrance 1. Walk for 10 minutes towards Kwanghwamun. As you walk into Samchungdong you will see the green signboard with 'Deul-hyang-gi.'

02-732-7775 12-10:00, closed Sun set meal W20,000,W15,000, sanche bibimbap W7,000,

Mushroom miso stew W7,000, sweet and sour mushroom W15,000 stuffed bean curd W10,000 The Sanche bibimbob here is served with 7~8 vegetable dishes, and these dishes are seasoned with natural spices and sesame oil, and no artificial sweetening is used. These vegetables are lightly stir-fried in a pan with seasoning or just dressing on top. The types of plants used here, root of bellflower, bracken, aster leopard plants, potherbs, zucchini, and shiitake mushrooms, result in a deliciously fresh taste. Sweet and Sour Mushrooms are prepared with deep fried shiitake mushrooms, agaric mushroom, pimentos, bamboo shoots, bokchoy stem with sweet and sour sauce. The house salad has an olive powder and spice dressing and offers a refreshing vegetable taste. At Deul-hyang-gi, no artificial sweetening is used in the food preparation, and the food is presented on wooden tables made from zelkova trees

Myonginga

Jongno-Gu, Kwanhun-Dong 196-6

02)722-1060

Hangwachae Vegetarian Restaurant

Jongno-Gu, Kwanhun-Dong 30-9 Cheonga Bldg.

Take the alley across (Insadong) street from INSA Art Galley (the corner by Sudo Pharmacy) all the way until the main road. It's in the basement by Kyung-In Art Gallery.

02)720-2802

SaeSaengMyeong

Jongno-Gu

02)735-5681, 02)3210-2151 12-2:00 W7,000

Kamrotang Sachal Restaurant

Jongno-Gu Hwa-Dong 87-1

02)3210-3397

www.sachelfood.com

12-3:00; 6-10:00

W18-58,000

Click here for more

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An Unprocessed Rant.

Your body’s all you've got. It is the first and last line of defense against any, and every of the many lurking opportunistic bio-evils. I’d rather eat a hearty grub than a processed piece of puffed plastic child-treat.

The Conflicted Glutton never rests. He is conflicted because health is his chosen path, but gluttonous because the path is laden with all of this food lovers favorite foods. On the right there is bittersweet dark chocolate. To the left, bacon cheeseburgers. Further on down the line a zig, or a zag is required to sidestep the jar of strawberry jam. How many times has he tripped while attempting a zig only to land face-down in that jar of jam? He will go for the jam like a vicious hyena and run it off in the morning.

It’s a hard case being a health nut and a food nut simultaneously. I’m addicted to endorphins as well as calories and carbohydrates. I’ve long rejected these fad diets that rely on limitation to achieve success and gone the route-the much happier and stress-free route-of, simply put, allowing myself. I've transformed my body into a calorie-burning machine and fear not any gorging that I am bound to do. I know every calorie and carbohyrate will be put to good use. Hell, I need those things...

Yes, my favorite food is the bacon cheeseburger. Actually, I prefer what I call the ’morning burger.’ This burger is a bacon cheeseburger topped with a fried egg. Cole slaw, and an onion ring are wise additions. Rarely, though, do I go near processed foods such as white breads (the bun), condiment sauces (the ketchup), fried foods (the yahng pah ring), or mayonnaise (in the coleslaw).

Processed foods are really the things to avoid if you want to take the healthy road. It’s really as simple as eating everything and anything you want-so long as it is not processed. An easy (but not definitive) way to determine whether or not something is processed is by asking yourself where the food came from. If it came straight from the earth, with little human tinkering before reaching your plate then, no, it is not processed-unprocessed. But, on the other hand, if the food in question is of an unnatural color, unnatural form then chances are it has been processed. This is not the be-all, end-all criteria, though. Take sun dried tomato paste, for example. Perfectly healthy food that has obviously been toyed with before finding your tongue. Eat it. It’s delicious. Kimchi is another good example. Eat that, too. Don’t eat cake, cookies, candy, white foods such as white bread, or other processed grains. They’ll kill ya. I just returned home from Baskin Robbins, by the way. Don’t eat that, either.

Processed foods are already broken down for ya. Unprocessed foods have not yet been broken down leaving the hard work for your body. This is what you want. You want your body to do the work that it was designed to do.

Keep it simple. Keep it natural. Keep it earthy. Allow your body to get in touch with earth’s flavors (I recommend omitting salt for a little while to allow your tongue to learn how foods really taste) and your pallet isn’t the only thing that will greatly benefit.

As food people we need to look out for our bodies. That's what I'm really sayin' here. I could go on forever typing out all of the health information I have snagged along the way but then this wouldn't be a rant. Those hotdogs were wretchedly delicious, by the way. I vomited four times after taking in them, and loads of other foods, while celebrating American independence at VIPS. That's another blog...

Peace & Health,

Egbert

RGwatts@hotmail.com