Gourmet Popcorn has been one of the big trends this year. It is highly portable and giftable so I feel there are many advantages for it in the market. Now they did have soft serve ice cream with popcorn last summer but I think it was more a gimmick than a hit. Dan via Instagram http://ift.tt/1LiYrG6

As a married man I have actually tried to make our home a home. Being a homeowner makes me feel settled. For the first 8 years in Korea and the 5 years as a youth, I always felt like a transient. I lived in furnished apartments and only had enough that would fit in a few bags. Things I brought before only had to last a year so I never really bought anything nice. It just had to be functional.  I am really impressed with the homeware trends in Korea. For example we had our furniture custom made and it cost less than what I would have gotten at a store (I think that IKEA should watch out).  Some of the new things we have bought (not my choice, but my wife) is one of the new homeware trends: Room Tents. It's a tent for the house.  Other things I have noticed are these cool picture hangers (see above) that are put into the wall paper. There are 5 needles so it is more than strong enough for a picture. Plus you don't have big holes in your wall. Pretty cool stuff.  Ok, wi...

In Korea everyone is juicing. Right now I am doing some orange juice but the popular drink is haedok juice or detox juice. It's green and made from onions, turnips, carrots, anything green and much more. I don't have a recipe yet but my wife is going to make me some tomorrow since she says I need to lose 20kg. Yeah right.  Anyway, if you need to get an expensive gift for your Korean foodie, then a good juicer is the cabbage patch kid of 2014. Good ones start at 300,000 won. We got ours from hurom. 

One of the hot issues in Korea is how restaurants have been serving unclean gopchang or pig intestines. The food inspection bureau found out that many of the restaurants were not properly cleaning the intestines so there was an excess amount of fecal matter in the food.  The food inspection bureau inspected 25 restaurants but 18 of them failed the cleanliness test.  Another issue is that a group selling site "wemakeprice" sold coupons for many gopchang restaurants and many a very customers are demanding a refund.  Pig intestines although cheap require lots of soaking and scrubbing to properly clean. Restaurants were skipping repeated cleanings so they could cut down on labor costs.  If you pass by a pork intestine barbecue place and you see a notice, it's to prove that they were tested and the place is clean. 

It is all the rage these days and I am trying to figure out why. I mean they do have a savory, sweet flavor with a more of a buttery taste than honey. I guess that could be it. I mean it does taste a bit like Outback's Honey butter. Maybe it's nostalgia or something but these little guys are all sold out everywhere. Convenience stores are putting out signs that say, "we don't have them" to stop having to answer the question if they do.  I guess Korea just likes food fads and the mad dash to get them. I mean look at Churros and softserve ice cream.  Dan

Korea is the land if foodies and the people and the media are constantly talking about food. The focus of the food is how it is trendy and new or the health benefits it has. There has been a backlash against power bloggers as they are being criticized by the "netizens (Korean Citizens on the net and...they are very different on the net than online. It's where many Koreans let their Mr. Hyde out.). Some of these power bloggers get paid thousands of dollars to endorse a product or restaurant.  In the past many Korean people would quickly search for a restaurant by searching for an area and writing 맛집 (restaurant) and picking up the results. The problem is that power bloggers are taking up all the search terms.  It is actually quite easy to find bloggers and invite them to restaurants and starting (therefore hungry) bloggers (those with 800-2000 visitors a day) can easily be invited for a free meal or "taxi" fare (20-50,000 won). As this abuse of the net is happening, ...

1. Corn is becoming a big import as a snack and it is being imported from Thailand and Vietnam. Korea has always enjoyed boiled corn as a snack but local corn prices have been going up and much of it is being exported. Foreign corn (except from China) are seen as exotic and corn on a stick covered in Butter, cheese and spices is and grilled is becoming a popular restaurant item and street food.  2.  Waffles on a stick: This is emerging as a new snack at major social hubs as a street food. The waffle is topped with whipped cream and toppings. It's just a new iteration of the waffle sandwich. I don't think this will last beyond the season.  3. The Selfie Stick: Everyone and their mother has a selfie stick these days and it is the must have social-outing accessory. The trend is that Koreans want the convenience of the stick and it is a "uniform" that lets others know they are out to have fun. The selfie stick is much more convenient than a tripod and the trend is moving ...

Churros are so hot right now. They are last season's Bubble Tea and the season's before's lemonade. They are essentially hotteok that is a stick that is easy to eat on the go. Churros will have a thousand copycats and only one or two will survive. The survivors might even franchise.  The guys at Street Churros have the stuff to make it and let me tell you why. They are: 1. Young and hungry 2. They understand social media 3. They differentiate enough to make themselves stand out.  4. They have good sauces 5. They seem to offer lots of free "service" but they aren't really.  Let me explain.  1. Being Young and hungry makes young people want to come. Most Koreans I know all dream of owning their own place and this is a way of living vicariously through others while secretly thinking of copying them and starting their own venture. Old people want to feel young so they will also stop in as well. Plus, in Korea, a crowd always draws a crowd.  2. Social media: They a...