The best cure for cold weather: Korean Sundubu
Cheongdam Sundubu is one of the institutions in Korea for a boiling hot bowl of Sundubu Chiggae.
Sundubu is the soft uncurdled tofu that is boiled with red pepper paste, clams, mushrooms, and onions. It is one of my favorite stews on a frigid winter day.
The stew comes boiling hot to the table and you are supposed to add a raw egg into the still boiling soup. The egg will soft boil and the creamy yolk melds with the spicy broth.
What I love about Cheongdam Sundubu is that they have many different types of Sundubu on the menu. They have Curry, Ham and Cheese, Kimchi, Cow Intestine, and many other variations on this classic dish. However, I feel that their classic seafood sundubu is the best.
Also the rice comes in rock bowl also. What you are supposed to do is spoon the rice out of the bowl-leaving the bits that stick to the bottoms and the sides-and then pour hot water into the bowl and cover. Then you eat the soup and rice and forget about the bowl with water.
After you finish your spicy stew, you uncover the bowl to have delicious rice soup. The bits that stuck to the bottom are now loose and they add a toasted flavor to the water in the bowl. This is sorta the dessert after such a spicy meal. The contrasting flavors are comforting to eat.
Cheongdam Sundubu
Bundang Location 031-739-3555
(They also have other locations throughout Seoul.)
Dan