Spicy Fish Soup It's the perfect cure for a hangover.

Korean Banquet Noodles with Clams

Borsch at Siberia 2 in Gyeonidan These days, I have been meeting quite a few Russian people. Last week, I took a Russian family to the fish market for a tour and yesterday we had a group of Russians that took cooking classes. I was surprised to learn that kimchi is very popular in Russia. Korea's quintessential condiment can be found at most supermarkets. The most popular kind, however, is not cabbage: it's carrot. I guess I had Russia on my mind because last night I went over to Siberia 2 restaurant for a big bowl of Borsch and a pirozhki. I love borsch not just because of the taste, but because of the color. I love to mix in the sour cream into the deep red broth to make a neon-pink hue of deliciousness. The big bowl of borsch at Siberia 2 is pretty good- well the broth is- I don't know what the mystery bits of meat were near the bottom, but I left them behind. The borsch is full of sour cabbage, green onions, and ground beet. It was excellent with the cabbage and ...

Corn, Sweet Potato, and Edamane at Bulgogi Brothers Restaurant in Seoul Bulgogi Brothers is a franchise Korean restaurant. It seems almost like a westerner decided to make a Korean restaurant "foreigner friendly." It's not awful, it's fine and I think it would work overseas. I could see Bulgogi Brothers do for Korean food what P.F. Chang did for Chinese-franchise it. There is just one problem: they are in Korea. The food is alright, but not totally authentic and it seems a bit overpriced for what you get. The banchan (side-dishes) lack freshness and punch. The styling is quite nice though and I would take some of my "not-so-adventurous" guests there. The bulgogi is pretty good though, but not as good as Sariwon or Woo Lae Oak. Also, on top of that, the prices are marked up 20% from regular Korean food prices. A Cheongukjang (a rich, fermented soybean stew) was 8,000 won and I believe the bibimbap was as well. The problem was not with the prices, but t...

I love Sundubu. I love the glistening globules of Chili Oil. I love the creamy, contrasting soft tofu. I love putting just the yellow egg yolk (I leave out the white) into the boiling broth and watch it poach in the rich, spicy liquid. I love how it makes me sweat afterward.

Tomato Soybean Stew It's good. Add a tomato the next time you're cooking Soybean Paste Stew. Cheers, Dan

Known as Sunji Haejangguk  선지해장국. This soup is made from collagulated ox blood which forms a mushy, filmy-tasting cube. This is stewed with vegetables and served piping hot. As you can tell from my wording- NOT MY FAVORITE. Apparently, the president (Lee Myeong-bak) likes it and we went to one of his favorite places to try the dish. Dan

Potato and Pork Bone Stew My friend Steve Hatherly from TBS eFM radio has been telling me about this amazing potato and pork bone place for over a year and so we finally decided to go check it out. The place is amazing and it's ALL, about the soup. They must cook the pork bones 24/7 because the broth is so thick and luscious that its what I perceive molten gold would taste like (I mean if we could drink it). It's soooo good, that I have dreams about the broth. The secret is to eat the potatoes last and you have to mash them into the broth and pork bits to make the best mashed potatoes ever. Yummmm...Check out the video. Dan The place is called Seobu Gamja-guk (서부감자국) 서울시 은평구 녹번동 181 02 356-4555 It's up by Yeonsinnae all the way up on the Orange line. Here's a map: View Larger Map