The 5 Best Gourmet Kimbap Joints in Seoul Kimbap is for Koreans like peanut butter and jelly sandwiches are for Americans, fish n chips for the British, Crepes for the French or marmite and margarine sandwiches for Australians. It is a nostalgic everyday snack food that many Koreans associate with school picnics and festivals. It is a simple dish. It is just rice seasoned with some roasted sesame oil placed on a sheet of seaweed stuffed with various vegetables and meat like yellow egg, orange carrots, white cucumbers, green spinach, pink ham, brown burdock, and yellow turnip. They are then wrapped carefully, yet firmly, brushed with some more sesame oil (to prevent the seaweed from ripping) and then sliced into rainbow disks that tastes best when eaten from the fingertips. Variations of kimbap are boundless. It can be stuffed with tuna fish, kimchi, beef bulgogi, shrimp, crab, cheese, and even crispy, tiny anchovies. I have even seen dessert kimbap and "nude" kimbap...

Sandwich made from High Street's Meat and Cheese on rustic bread   High Street Market Interior Sometimes you just wanna relax in your own home and make an occasional sandwich when hunger strikes. But something as simple as a sandwich in Korea can be difficult. Often you have to get the bread at one place and then get the meat at another and the condiments at another. And if you are looking to make a gourmet sandwich, that could be even more difficult. Luckily, High Street Market in Itaewon has it all (and more) under one roof. High Street Market specializes in meats, breads, and cheese. It's a place where you can get your gourmet products without getting ripped off. I mean you could get some of these products at the Korean department store, but I am sure that you'll spend at least 1/3 to half more for the same thing. Take cheddar cheese. I love cheddar cheese (and I don't mean that yellow monstrosity that you get at Costco). I love aged, mature cheddar that is s...

I am sorry for blogging for in a way, I've contributed to the demise of such a great publication. It's a very sad day.

Oh, wow! The entire episode for Gourmet's Diary of a Foodie is up on their website. You can watch it here: I know I posted about it before, but I only gave the iTunes link, so this is for those who don't have itunes. Dan

Wow! Gourmet's Diary of a Foodie has posted parts of the episodes I helped put together on itunes. If you watch the p'yogo mushroom episode, you might see me. I'm really impressed with Gourmet's production values and I think they did an excellent job. They just did an excellent job. You'll see Michael Benzinger in the Kimchi episode and Terry Rah in the Royal Court Cuisine one. Go to this link to download the episode. Dan

http://www.gourmet.com/diaryofafoodie/video/2008/12/season_3_promo You might notice a guy wearing glasses and a blue jacket watching Dr. Sookja Yoon making ricecakes. Hmmm...I wonder who he might be.^^ And here is another video with Terry, Michael, and myself in it. http://www.gourmet.com/diaryofafoodie/video/2009/01/306_korea

If you read the article, she says, "This month marks the beginning of the third season of Gourmet's PBS show Diary of a Foodie... I'm especially proud of the stories filmed in Korea, because the food is so unexpectedly new, and so extraordinarily beautiful." Wow. I'm so proud because I helped Gourmet with that production. My friends Terry, Irene, Mr. Moon from the Agro-Trade Center, Dr. Sook Ja-yoon, Hoya, Soo-hyun, me, and many others helped production with their story in Korea. It'll be great to see it on the air. We filmed 7 segments for Gourmet in Korea and 1 more for Anthony Bourdain's show. Korea is going to get a ton of media exposure this year. My goal is to meet Ruth one of these days because she is my foodie hero. She is amazing at what she does and her personality just shines. She is awesome. Ruth, if you are reading this, please come to Korea or set aside a lunch break and I'll meet you in New York. Dan

The Grand Chef, Volume 1 of 2 Description | More Information Product Information Region Code: 1 Picture Format: NTSC Cast: Kim Rae Won, Kwon Oh Joong, Nam Sung Mi, Kim So Yeon Release Date: November 11, 2008 Language: Korean Subtitles: English Publisher: YA Entertainment Number of Episodes: 12 Number of Discs: 4 SRP: $89.99 UPC#: 880604000817 I am so in love with Nam Sang Mi. She is cute, spunky, and makes me laugh. I'll be the first out out to buy this when this gets released. I hope the Korean version will have English subtitles^^ Dan Here is a press release from Ya Entertainment. Description Starring one of Asia's most popular actors, Kim Rae...

Here is some information on the Manhwa on Shikgaek. This is the comic that inspired the movie and the drama. By the way the drama will be out on DVD on November 11th! I am so excited. I was so sad when mysoju.com stopped updating the episodes. Now I'll be able to watch all of the episodes! Here is the information on the Manhwa: About the Author Hur Young-mahn Born in 1947, he is one of the most popular manhwa artists in Korea. He has had a prolific 40-year career in manhwa, and many of his works have been successfully made into movies and dramas. Brought Hot to Your Morning Newspaper Eat Away: A Guide to the Heartland of Korean Cooking is deliciously one-of-a- kind manhwa on food, a rare subject for a manhwa, by acclaimed manhwa author: Huh Young-man. The manhwa is extremely informative with the author’s two years of research on the subject which accumulated ten thousand pages of documents, and three boxes of food pictures. The comic’s main character Sung-chan is a traveling salesp...

I recently had a chance to meet Dr. Sook-ja Yoon at the Institute for Korean Traditional Food while I was helping a US Television show do a segment on Korean Rice Cakes. Rice Cakes or called “Tteok” are important in many facets of Korean culture. These cakes are a key part of important holidays such as Thanksgiving and New Years. They are also given as gifts to mark milestones in a person’s life such as a child’s first birthday or a wedding. Dr. Yoon has long been an advocate of upholding the integrity of Korean Traditional Food and she is regarded by most as the foremost expert on rice cakes. The television crew and I were first given a tour of the institute. The building includes a rice cake café on the first floor, a museum on the second floor, several floors of classrooms to teach students, a private studio kitchen, and a food production center. This institute, which is located near Insadong, has 8 wondrous floors devoted to Korean cuisine and culture. The Institute of Korean Tradi...

It's been a fun week. I have been assisting Zeropointzero productions film their episode for Gourmet. We started out our first day in Itaewon getting some background footage. It's been really amazing to watch these professionals in action. Travis is the director, Chloe is the line producer, and Alan is the camera man. What I've learned is that making television is a lot of hard work. They are only in Korea for 8 days and they have to film 8 different stories. Most of these stories take between 5-8 hours to shoot. They've often never met the people or been to the places that they are going to film in. There is so many things that could go wrong and yet they keep trucking. In Itaewon we filmed these men playing this game on the street. Alan only wanted to film their hands. When the men heard this they told us their rates. They said it would could 100,000 won to film their whole bodies and 30,000 won for just their hands. They were just kidding, but we all got a great laug...

Cheri of www.seoulberry.blogspot.com is going to be leaving soon to return to the US. Over the last couple of months, I have been mesmerized by her food posts and Korean life posts on her blog and I want to thank her for posting her posts on Seouleats.com Thank you Cheri! You are the greatest! Cheri is a total foodie and I am impressed by her capacity to eat and her ability to write. I hope she will continue to do so in the future- either in Korea or in the USA. Food blogging takes guts. Often a blogger will get odd stares and contemptuous looks from other diners and the staff at restaurants. We do it for the love of the food. We do it for the readers and we do it for ourselves. Like Cheri says on her blog, "IF I DON'T WRITE IT DOWN, I'LL FORGET!" It is true. We want to cherish the moments we spend with friends in the restaurant. We want to cherish the flavors that appear before us. We want to swallow the care and technical experience that the chefs use in their dish...

By Daniel Gray In the last year and a half Korean food has gotten a lot of American media attention. The brash glutton, Anthony Bourdain from the travel channel was the pioneer who brought his show, "No Reservations" to tackle Korean food. Then following his trail a year later was Matt Gross, the Frugal Traveler, from the New York Times. A month ago Travel Channel's Andrew Zimmern of Bizarre foods was here and next month, PBS’s show “Gourmet's Diary of a Foodie” will be here. So what seems to be the attraction? I think it's a snowball effect of many different factors. First of all, there is a growing Korean population in the United States and with that comes an increase in the number of Korean restaurants and grocery stores. American taste buds are changing, so many seek out the spicy and sour. Also, the profile of Korea has been raised in the last decade as it has become a leader in technology and commerce. And since New York City has embraced Korean food and lab...

This Friday night I am going to Gyeongju with the Gourmet's film crew to Gyeong Ju and on Sunday we will be headed to Jeon Ju. Does anyone have any recommendations about cool things we can do in Jeon Ju on Sunday? The Korea documentary we have been doing has been going well so far and I think it'll be the best foodie show done in Korea. We'll be showing many different aspects of Korea such as streetfood, the countryside, royal court cuisine, and making traditional rice cakes. I'll post more updates later. Dan

I love this show. I don't understand what they are saying but I still love it. For example I love this girl. I don't know why, but I like cutesy girls with spunk. Oh the food looks pretty good too! I am constantly checking Dramabeans. To get my updates on the show. The website is laid out very well. It makes me jealous. Maybe I should study up on programming. Here's what Dramabeans had to say. Really cute episode. Kim Rae-won is particularly fun to watch as he blunders through courtship, which is both cute and amusing, because he reminds me of so many hapless guys trying to figure out women and faltering badly, even though the answer seems so obvious from an outside perspective. (Women aren’t really so complicated, guys! It’s just that you often approach us either by thinking that (1) we think just like you and therefore react to things like a guy does, or (2) we are aliens whom it is pointless trying to understand, so why bother trying? A little effort goes a long way,...

www.mysoju.com is my resource for watching Korean dramas. I recommend watching Coffee Prince and Gourmet. Gourmet is my new favorite Korean drama even though it has been mocked by a couple other bloggers. I am intrigued by the story and I think it has really good pacing and characters. The food element is well presented. Of course, I do think this drama was heavily influenced by Iron Chef and Tampopo. But the saving grace is Kim So-Yeon. She is gorgeous and I can watch her all day long. Check out the show!

Here is a Listing of Popular Korean Dishes with a brief description of what each dish is. The dish also has the dish's name in Hangul as well. Dan 1. 비빔밥 (bibimbap)/ Rice Mixed with Vegetables and Beef Bibimbap is a popular, healthy dish that is served in a large bowl with its ingredients arranged by color. The rice is topped with cooked vegetables such as squash, mushrooms, carrots, fern brake, beef, and fried egg. Everything in the bowl is mixed in thoroughly with red chili paste before eaten. Vegetarian Option Available. 2. 돌솥비빔밥 (dolsot bibimbap)/ Stone Pot Bibimbap This is one of the most delectable variations of bibimbap. Rice topped with vegetables, beef, and egg is served piping hot in a heated earthenware bowl. The bowl continues to cook the ingredients at the table and gives the rice a distinctly crisp texture. Vegetarian Option Available. 3. 산채비빔밥 (sanchae bibimbap)/ Mountain Vegetable Bibimbap This type of bibimbap consists of lots of freshly picked mountain shoots and...