Snacks' Special.

Commonly in the K-Dramas (Korean tv novels) there are this types of snacks, so I decided to do a list with some of them.

A Tour of Korean Snack Foods.

1-    Nongshim Tako Chips.

This is a snack release on 05/August/1983 and costs $2.85. Tako chips are a cute octopus-shaped snack. Their savory and salty flavor arouses the appetite. The ingredients of this are: Wheat flour, yellow corvine, palm oil, rice powder, sugar, salt, octopus flavor, paprika and red radish powder.

2-    Pepero.

Pepero is a biscuit stick covered or filled with chocolate as well as other sweets and nuts such as vanilla, strawberry, cheese and/or crushed almonds. This snack is so popular in Korea that it even has its own holiday named "Pepero Day" and its observance is similar to Valentine's Day which is celebrated in America. Pepero Day is held on November 11, since the date "11/11" resembles four sticks of Pepero and it is observed mostly by young people and couples, who exchange Pepero sticks, other candies, and romantic gifts. Pepero is available in different flavors such as regular chocolate, strawberry-flavored, almond chocolate, nude (chocolat in the center), nude lemon cheese, cocoa, and much more.

3-    Shrimp Flavored Crackers (Saewookkang).

Saewookkang is considered one of the oldest and most popular snacks in Korea. It is about two-inches long in length, packed with savory andreal high quality shrimp flavors as opposed to artificial additives. It is slightly salty in taste and each piece is baked, forming tiny pores inside each cracker which makes it crunchy with every bite. Different variations from sprinkled herbs to hot & spicy shrimp flavors exist as well.

4-    Choco pie.

Choco pie is Korea's second most popular snack next to saewookkang. It is manufactured by Orion Confectionery which consists of two small round layers of cake with marshmallow filling, with chocolate covering, similar to a Moon Pie. Orion supplies the South Korean military with choco pies, which are given out to soldiers after their first week of basic training.

5-    Onion ring chips.

Yangparing is a popular onion ring snack enjoyed by all ages and it's the Korean version of Frito Lay's Funyuns. It is made with premium ingredients and these playful rings have a crisp texture which are packed full of zesty onion flavors. It contains no MSG and it actually has 100mg less sodium than Funyuns per serving. This onion snack is so delicious that it must be experienced.

6-    Goraebap (고래밥).

Goraebap means ‘a whale’s food.’ Goraebap is a package of small fried chips with chili seasoning. As the name of the snack shows, the small pieces are shaped in marine animals such as goldfish, squid, shark, and star fish. Even though they all taste the same, you may find a certain shape tastier.

7-    Nongshim Banana Kick.

This snack is a corn-based product, with the flavor and shape of the banana. Children are especially attracted to its crunchy sound and delicious taste.

8-     Pumpkin Monaca, Baked Biscuit.

The outside is rice based, but the inside is a sweet, thick paste-like center made from pumpkin powder and flavoring. The filling is very sweet, so you really only need one at a time, which is probably why these come individually wrapped!

9-    Sweet Potato.

Sweet Potato Snack is the perfect combination of sweet potatoes and maple syrup. The naturally vitamin enriched and mineral rich sweet potatoes are lightly sweetened with maple syrup. This is ideal for those who are looking for a snack that is not too sweet but full of nutrients.

10-  Veggie crackers.

These vegetarian-friendly chips are made with a variety of veggie extracts — onion, broccoli, tomato, kale, red cabbage, paprika, and onion.

Bonus

 Chilsung Cider.

The most refreshing soft drink from Korea — a title Chilsung Cider has held for a long time since it launched in 1950s. One can of this refreshing lemon-lime drink is perfect for a pick-me-up on a warm day.

Enjoy this funny video.

Korean street food.

Today, we have a top 5 of Korean street food that I would like to try.

1.     Spicy Rice Cakes/ Ddeokbokki (떡볶이).

This is a popular street-food dish, is a garlicky, richly spiced dish of rice cakes bathed in red chili paste. The sauce is a sweet and spicy combination with dried chili powder and sugar stewed in dried anchovy and sea kelp broth. For advanced ddeokbokki eating, try adding ramen noodles, mozzarella cheese and a hard-boiled egg. In Korea, this snack is commonly purchased from street vendors much like hotdog vendors in New York City. However, it can be found in Korean fast food venues as well as some restaurants outside of Korea.

2.     Fish Cakes/ Odeng/Uhmook (오뎅/어묵).

Okay so don’t be freaked out by the title. A Korean fish cake is not a sweet dessert cake; it’s a savory fish noodle. Typically Korean fish cakes are made with surimi, wheat flour, carrots, onion, salt, sugar and other additives. These ingredients are mixed, kneaded, shaped then boiled, steamed or fried. I don’t know about you, but in general, the perception is that packaged Korean fish cakes typically available from Korean grocery stores are “not healthy”. But nonetheless, it’s cheaper and more convenient that making them yourself.

3.     Ice Cream-filled Waffles (와플).

Waffles are a popular dessert in Korea and more when are full of ice cream. The first step to make this dish is toasting the waffle, immediately spread with butter and cut the waffle in half. Place a scoop of ice cream on one half. Drizzle the ice cream with any topping and gently press the other half to seal the sandwich.

4.     Tornado Potato/ Hweori Gamja (회오리 감자).   

Like potato chips, but way more fun to eat. This crispy spiraling potato chip is served flavored with an assortment of seasonings like powdered cheese or chili. Also, the potato hot dog is a simple hot dog spun into a twisted potato, skewered, dipped in a light flour batter, and deep-fried to a golden color.

5.     Croissant Boong-uh-ppang.

This variation is made from flaky croissant pastry dough pressed in hot goldfish mold pans. Filling range from savory flavors like pizza, to sweet flavors like apple and mango. This one comes from a bakery called, “The boonguhppang that returned from Paris.”

Bonus

One of the slightly strange but famous Korean products is Banana Mat Milk, this is a simply banana flavored milk drink. It’s basically available at every market, supermarket or convenience store across Korea partly due to it’s popularly and also due to its long shelf life. It’s cheap at around $1 and is a healthier option over a soda. 

It comes in a few other flavors including Strawberry and Melon. This is something everyone who visits Korea should try at least once.  

Here is a video of some dishes of 2016.

Haejangguk vs Gyeondyo-bar

Two dishes to combat the hangover, which would you prefer?

I would like to report about the lastest food trends in Korea.

Vs

Today i’m going to introduce you to Haejangguk (해장국) or “hangover soup”. It is a korean broth that you’re supposed to eat to cure or prevent a hangover when your condition cannot worsen, usually is mixed with kimchi for a better effect or result. This soup is made from boiling ox bones for hours and hours until all the meat dissolve and create a bone broth. This kind of soup is very nutritious and undoubtedly good for you, and Koreans of all ages eat it to improve their health. There are various types depending on the main ingredient of the soup (there are 4 common ingredients that are used as a main, Kongnamul/Soybean sprout, Seonji/congealed ox blood, Pork backbone, and Buk-oh/dried fish), the place of origin, or how it is made.

The regular ingredients to make this dish are: Heads of baby napa (Chinese) cabbage, soy sauce, water, sesame oil, doenjang (Korean miso) paste, garlic, beef broth, peeled ginger, dried gosari (fern sprouts), red pepper paste, oyster and shiitake mushrooms, soy bean sprouts, salt, ox (beef) blood, and some vegetables such as: zucchini, onion, green onion, red and green chili peppers, and a small Korean radish (Daikon). It is usually eaten with rice and other side dishes.

Various people enjoy Haejangguk, regardless of the urge to cure a hangover, and given the Korean setting where drinking is rather common, a remedy would seem probable. And there is no scientific finding that this soup would actually cure a hangover, it doesn’t change the fact that it is a delicious dish that ought to be tried by drinkers and non-drinkers alike.Also, this soup is very common in treks, because in Korea it is a tradition go to mountain or places outside the city to learn how to work as a team or to tidy up unfinished business between colleagues.

"Life is often compared to a voyage". Someone said this once and it's true. Try different dishes is a great journey of taste.

Here is a video with a traditional recipe of Haejangguk, enjoy it!!!!

On the other hand we have an ice cream that will cure your hangover. This is not a joke; it’s real and a terrific idea. Besides, I venture to say I will taste it in the future.
 It is called “Gyeondyo-bar”, a grapefruit-flavored ice cream that was created to help you out on those hellish mornings-after. This excellent option contains Japanese raisin tree fruit juice, which has been traditionally used to fight the side effects of drinking since the 17^th century (according to Reuters). South Korea is known for the huge industry of alcohol, drinking more than 12.3 litres per year according to reports by WHO (World Health Organization) on 2014; South Korea occupy first place in consumption in all Asia and the Pacific area.

The local supermarket chain Withme FS distributes this product and its name means (Come on, don’t give up). Korea is a country with much alcohol intake and it is usual develop this type of food from Korean home remedies. Now these products are so famous, and have been a vast discovery. They already are at the beginning to export it to countries such as: China, Japan and Viet Nam.

You can not only buy this product in supermarkets, there are some tiny places where they are available, these places maybe are not very nice at first sight but it is worth visiting them at least once. In places like these where there are almost always vacancies for students who need a part time job, it requires a good timekeeping, good presence  (nothing vague), a widely quantity of available time, have a good treat to customers, because they are the ones who leave a tip and it depends on the good or bad service they receive and to be always able to continue orders.

Are you willing to try this hangover-fighting ice cream or maybe the soup?

Korean recipes. My favorite this week.

     My name is Eliskar and this is my blog dedicated to Korean food. Someday i'll visit Korea and the many beautiful places with that exotic food. 


   I'm going to explain step by step my favorite recipe from this week.
         

   Ready to start? Go.

 Bibimbap ( 비빔밥 )

                                                                 

  

      This dish has an English name: rice mixed with vegetables, meat, egg and chili pepper paste. It is also necessary to know that Bibim ( 비빔 ) translates as "mixed" and bap ( 밥 ) "cooked rice", so bibimbap means literally "mixed rice". Before you eat it you need to mixed all together. 

Bibimbap is a well-known korean dish, made up by ingredients such as: rice, seasoned vegetables, carrot, spinach, zucchini. You also need, garlic, eggs, fernbrake, beef, red pepper paste, sesame oil, sesame seeds, shiitake mushrooms, bean sprouts and vegetable oil.

   

Now we have step by step the preparation:

1. Prepare dried fernbrake: 

In a large saucepan add 1/2 ounce of dried gosari or fernbrake to 7 cups of water. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat and boil fot 30 minutes. Cover and let stand until cool, about 2 to 3 hours. 

Rinse the fernbrake a couple of times, drain and put in a bowl. Cover with fresh cold water and let soak for at least 8 hours or overnight in a cool place, changing the water 2 or 3 times during the soaking.  

Taste the gosari: It should be soft. If it's tough, boil it again in a fresh pot of water for about 20 minutes and then let it sit, covered, until soft. 

Drain. It should make 4 ounces.

    2. Make rice.

    3. Prepare and cook the vegetables: 

• Cook the soy bean sprouts for 20min in a pot with 4 cups of water and 2 or 3 teaspoons salt. The cooking water will be used as soup then. 
• Cut up the blanched spinach and put it in a bowl. Mix by hand with 1 teaspoon of garlic, 1 teaspoon sesame oil, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1 teaspoon of sesame seeds. Also, it is necessary mix carrot with salt. 
• Cut the zucchini into matchsticks and mix with 1/2 teaspoon of salt. 
• Cut the cucumber into halves lengthwise and slice thinly crosswise. Mix with 1/4 teaspoon salt.

     4. Beef: 

• Cult the beef into matchsticks and put them in a bowl. 
• Mix with 1 tablespoon minced garlic, 1 tablespoon soy sauce, 1 tablespoon of honey, 2 teaspoons sesame oil, and 1 teaspoon sesame seeds with a spoon.

       Fine, let's cook!!!!!

     In a pan over medium high heat, add vegetable oil and cook the carrot for 1min.  Then, add the cucumber with garlic and sesame oil. Clean the pan and put red hot pepper paste. Clean the pan again and cook the zucchini with garlic, green onion and sesame oil for 1 min. Lastly, add bellflower roots, stir dried fernbrake for 2 minutes until a little softened, mix that with garlic, soy sauce, sugar and put it on the plate. Serve with soup.

This is not bibimbap if you do not mix everything together and ......... Tada!!!!!!! Enjoy.

Here is a video to learn how to make Bibimbap in the easiest way.