Exclusive: International Chefs and Journalists at Korea's Farming Co-op Supermarket

When you have famous international chefs and journalists in Korea's largest and most popular farming co-operative, what do you get? Lots of "ooohs" and "aaaahs." Seoul Gourmet 2010 is in the full swing of things and it is going very smoothly. The first official outing was an press exclusive showing of Hanaro Market in the southern part of Seoul. Hanaro has a strict policy of no press. I've tried to take pictures there before and I was asked (politely) to delete the pictures. Chefs Carlo Cracco, Sang-Hoon Degeimbre, Luigi biasetto, and Fernando del Cerro were in the market checking the quality of the ingredients. Many international journalists including people from El Mundo, Travel and Leisure, and the Huffington Post were in attendance. It was a great first outing.
Journalists and Chefs at Hanaro Mart in Southern Seoul

A Search for Ingredients at Hanaro Mart in Southern Seoul

Acclaimed Italian Confetioner Luigi Biasetto (far right) and his Sous-chef at Hanaro Mart in Southern Seoul


Chef Yim Jung-shik from Jungshikdang at Hanaro Mart in Southern Seoul

Korean Red Ginseng Valued at $300.00 at Hanaro Mart in Southern Seoul

Ginseng at Hanaro Mart in Southern Seoul

Knife Fish at Hanaro Mart in Southern Seoul

Skate at Hanaro Mart in Southern Seoul

Chef Carlo Cracco (left) checking out seafood at Hanaro Mart in Southern Seoul
School of Fish at Hanaro Mart in Southern Seoul

Kimchi at Hanaro Mart in Southern Seoul

Kimchi and pork dumplings at Hanaro Mart in Southern Seoul

Kimchi Stuffed Dumplings at Hanaro Mart in Southern Seoul

Hotteok (Caramel Peanut Pan-fried Donut) at Hanaro Mart in Southern Seoul

Doraji at Hanaro Mart in Southern Seoul

Hanaro Mart in Southern Seoul

Popular posts from this blog

5 of the Best Jajangmyeon 짜장면 in the City of Seoul, Korea

Image
The Best Jajamyeon in Seoul by Daniel Gray Jajangmyeon 짜장면: Korea's favorite hand pulled noodles in an black sauce is also a favorite dish of mine. It's so famous they even have a holiday for it. It's filling and hearty like a bowl of spaghetti but with Asian flair. It's one of those dishes that you can get whenever you need a quick meal and it doesn't break the wallet. It's a pretty ubiquitous dish and every Chinese restaurant must have it. If it does it well, the place becomes famous. If it is just alright, it is just a meal and gets classed in with all of the other places in the city. I can't say I have had any seriously terrible jajangmyeons except maybe some delivery places (where the noodles are overcooked and terribly clumped together so it takes like 10 minutes to get the sauce mixed into it) but even then it is still edible. With the noodles, I love to get fried dumplings and a place is good fried dumplings or some other sides like tangsuyok ...
Read More, See More >>

Calories in Soju and other things I Know about Korea's Famous Swill

Image
Just in case you were wondering, one bottle of Soju contains 540 calories. That's like 4 beers. So to put it in perspective, you would need to walk about two hours to exercise it off. (Walking two hours with a soju hangover is not an easy task.) Soju originally was made from rice but whenever there were rice shortages, people were forbidden to make Soju. Alcohol producers the started to use sweet potatoes and tapioca to make an ethanol based alcohol. Overtime they doctored up the taste so it has a smooth, crisp taste that goes great with raw seafood and grilled meats. The world drinks a lot of Soju. 61.38 Million cases of soju were produced in 2012 with Korea consuming about 2.75 billion bottles of Soju a year. You would think that everyone would be falling over drunk in Korea, but this is not the case. The alcohol is only about 17-19% so a bottle won't wreck you (but two or more might.) Koreans judge how good of a drinker you are by the number of bottles o...
Read More, See More >>

5 of the Best Gamjatang Restaurants in Seoul: Korean Potato and Pork Stew

Image
Seobu Gamja-guk One of the dishes that came out of necessity is gamja-tang or pork-bone potato stew. This dish has its origins from the Incheon dock area where laborers that were working in the construction wanted to have a cheap and hearty food after a long day of work. The soup consists of pork spine that is slowly cooked with potatoes and topped with sesame leaves. The result is a satisfying dish that goes great with a bowl of hot rice. This was often cooked throughout the day and then eaten at the end of the work day. This dish goes perfectly with a chilled shot of Korean soju. After the first train line was built that would connect the Incheon area with Seoul, one entrepreneur decided that he wanted to make a restaurant focused on this dish. The first restaurant of this type was built near Noryangjin station, which was near the end of the han river railway construction. The dish became a big hit and soon many copycat restaurants started popping up all over Korea. The name gam...
Read More, See More >>