Dear Seoul Eats Readers, A member of our Seoul Eats Facebook Page (currently nearly 10,000 members) Pakinam Magdy sent me a list of all the foods that she wants to eat while in Korea by grazing through the facebook group. As you know the Facebook group is tough to find stuff after it has left the main page. She has gone through and listed the foods she would like to eat in Korea. We have credited the authors and credited the blogs the content has come from. Mind you, another blogger, Zenkimchi has done a much more comprehensive job in his book that you can can buy via Amazon here. I would like to Thank Pakinam for her diligent work. And if you would like to help feed Seoul by contributing, feel free to contact me at seouleats at gmail dot com. Bio: Pakinam Magdy A Architect who gets really pissed if you take away her sweets. I am very passionate about trying out and discovering new yummy for the tummy eats and places. Have travelled to exotic locations before and lately Kore...

Tosokchon's Black Chicken Samgyetang So...many of you might be looking at the above picture and thinking, "what does black chicken taste like?" It tastes just like regular chicken but a bit of complexity. I can't really describe the taste but there is an elusive flavor there. Most people don't eat it for the flavor- they eat it for the miraculous healthy qualities it is supposed to pass on to the diner. It's a dish that I will have a couple times a year because I do feel something after eating it. I wouldn't say that I feel like Popeye after eating spinach- I would say it is more like spending a nice day in the sun after eating a very fresh salad. I feel something more psychological- I feel more optimistic like if an anti-depressant kicked in. Tosokchon is a place famous for their chicken and ginseng soup. Often there is a line outside the door with Japanese tourists waiting to get in. I went there with a tour because one of my guests said they were ...

This article was originally published by Seoul Magazine in the August 2010 issue. It is being reprinted here with permission. Please read my monthly columns in Seoul Magazine. The magazine can be found in many establishments around the city and at their bookstore in Samcheongdong . You can also read their online magazine at http://www.seoulselection.com/index.php/home/ Black Chicken Samgyetang at Kuryeo Samgyetang Seoul, Korea    The idea of eating black foods seems like a paradox. Maybe it’s because we have all learned that burnt steaks, chicken, and grilled cheese don’t taste very good. Or maybe it’s because we all see ourselves as beings of white light and black foods might muddy that image. Whatever the reason, the concept of “black foods” is not instantly associated with deliciousness.     An enigma in the food world is Black Chicken or called O-golgye in Korea. This rare bread of chicken has black flesh and black bones. This rare strain of chic...

Whole Fried Chicken Yesterday (July 19th), was Cho-bok 초복: the hottest day of summer. On this day it is customary to eat Samgyetang (Chicken and Ginseng Soup.) During this time, you'll find most Samgyetang restaurants packed. Koreans eat this dish because it is supposed to relieve fatigue from the blaring hot sun. It might do that, I don't know. What I do know is that I love eating this dish because it's like a mini Thanksgiving Dinner with chicken soup. It's a mutant fusion dish like my favorite submarine sandwich from Delaware: the Bobbie. This is a sandwich with pulled turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce, mayonnaise and tons of black pepper. This dish is like that because it has a whole young chicken stuffed with Asian stuffing (rice, chestnuts, ginseng, and ginko) and Asian cranberry (jujube). There are three days of Cho-bok (the 3 hottest days of summer). The next one will be on July 29th (according to Chinese Calendar) and the last cho-bok will be on August 8t...

Seriously, this is no joke. Last week I went to Kuryeo Samgyetang (chicken and ginseng soup) for black chicken samgyetang. You might be asking yourself, what are black chicken? Well, they are a special breed of chicken whose skin and bones are black. How they get that way, I don't know. Anyway, after eating the chicken last week, i went on 3 consecutive late night drinking sprees and I didn't miss a beat. I didn't get tired or hungover during that time. Was it the chicken? That was what I have been trying to figure out. I mean, I have believed the whole medicinal food thing that many Koreans believe. Also, many of the foods that Koreans say "restore fatigue and stamina" are generally just foods rich in spice and protein. Of course these foods will restore the body if you work out in the fields all day and protein is something that you rarely have. But black chicken, seems to be different. It works. I talked to a oriental doctor about this and she said that...