Overall, the experience was very ok. The concept of the meal was confusing and it was all very bibimbap (everything just mixed together). I believe their concept is to do something like the French Laundry or Michel Bras: they forage and get the best local ingredients and combine them using French techniques. I just don't think their chefs have to skill to pull this off. Also, for the price (75,000 per person), I expected more.
Club MOW
02-512-9060
Retro-oven
02-544-9045
I know a celebrity. AZA.
Chef Rachel Yang is continuing her rise to the top ranks in the culinary world and her secret weapon is Korean food. Her restaurant Joule in Seattle has been featured in the Wall Street Journal, Gourmet Magazine, Food and Wine, and countless other publications. Over the summer I had the opportunity to go to her restaurant and I still have dreams about her cornbread and gouda dish topped with black truffle dish. Also, her yukgaejang was the best I've ever had.
If you don't recall, Rachel was in Korea last May and she did a cooking demonstration for the Tteok Festival.
Rachel did an amazing rice cake pasta dish topped with a soy tempered egg and a Makgeolli Sabayon.
I don't know the results of the show, but I heard that she used many Korean ingredients to make interesting versions of classic Korean dishes.
I think that the Korean government should bring this rising star back to Korea to show everyone how they can make Korean food work overseas.
Rachel, if you are reading this, you are awesome and I can't wait to see the episode.
Dan
Eddy Ahn: Chef extraordinaire, foodie, and friend invited myself, Joe MacPherson aka zenkimchi and a couple other foodies to the Hanspoon opening party. You can find about more about Hanspoon at www.cyworld.com/FSCG and on their Facebook page
We started out with a few Makgeolli cocktails. This one was a Makgeolli Pina Colada. Makgeolli pairs very well with different juices and flavorings. My favorite of the evening was a Omija (5-flavor berry) Makgeolli.
Here are some Pork Kimchi Lollipops: samgyeopsal (Grilled Pork Belly) on forks topped with kimchi. It was a wonderful hors d'oeuvre to start the evening.
Here is Glass Bean Jelly in rice paper wraps flavored with sesame oil and roasted seaweed. Tangpyeongchae is the regular Korean dish, but it is usually very difficult to eat because the noodles are very slippery to eat with chopsticks. Wrapping them in rice paper is a great way make this dish finger food.



These days in Korea, you will find coffee shops on almost every corner. If you think about it, it's actually quite strange because back in the day, Korea was mainly a tea based culture. According to Professor Jia Choi of Ewha University, the popularity of coffee comes from a mix of different influences. One of the main influences was from Emperor Sunjong of Korea. Emperor Sunjong was the last king of Korea and he would often have western style dinner parties at the palace. They would have western style settings and food. Now this was back in the 1920s, so this was quite revolutionary for the time.
Emperor Sunjong and his father, Emperor Gojong, would often drink coffee together. The Japanese found about their affection for this drink and they had a plot to kill the king by poisoning their coffee. Luckily, the plot was uncovered and the King wasn't killed.
During Imperialist Korea, whatever the king did became the trend, so many people started to drink coffee because of this. Then, coffee became synonymous with dabang girls. Dabangs were coffee shops with women of questionable morals. In some of the smaller cities, you'll find girls that will wear mini-skirts and drive around on motor scooters to deliver instant coffee to men.
On which roasted coffee has more caffeine, look at this post:
http://www.seouleats.com/2009/02/light-roasted-coffee-has-more-caffeine.html
Like on every Friday at 2:30pm, I will be on the Steve Hatherly Show on TBS eFM radio. You can listen in at 101.3 FM.
Today I will be talking about coffee. Do you know which coffee has more caffeine: dark roast or light roast coffee? Also, how did coffee become so popular in Korea?
Listen in to find out.
Dan








The W-hotel also has a great sunday champagne brunch. I recommend you check it out.