Steamy Kalguksu at Seafood Kaljebi
By Han Sang-hee
Staff Reporter
When it is chilly, nothing is better than a warm dish of hearty noodles. With the rain and wind coming and going this spring, we paid a visit to a small noodle restaurant near Chungmuro, the homeland of Korean cinema, to brush off the chill.
Opened in 1982, ``Seafood Kaljebi'' offers various noodle dishes, well known to the Korean public as ``kalguksu,'' or hand rolled noodles with a thick broth made with seafood, chicken or anchovies.
The word ``kaljebi'' is a combined form of ``kalguksu'' and another local recipe, ``sujebi.''
Kalguksu is made of noodles that are hand rolled and cut with a sharp knife, ``kal'' in Korean. ``Guksu'' means noodles.
Sujebi is known to have stemmed from kalguksu and is made with flakes instead of noodles. Instead of making noodles, the maker would tear off small pieces of the dough, which is made with wheat, flour or even potatoes and barley, and serve it with the same steamy hot soup.
Thus, kaljebi has both noodles and flakes in one dish.
The restaurant is small with about 10 tables, and the kitchen is open for patrons to see their food being prepared. Perhaps because it is located in Chungmuro, guests can find movie posters hung up on the walls and even a scene printed on the menu-board.
The menu includes the basics: From seafood kalguksu and sujebi, alongside bibimbap, mandu soup, naengmyeon, or cold buckwheat noodles, and even ramyeon.
We ordered the most popular: Seafood kaljebi (4,500 won) and the ordinary handmade kalgukso (4,500 won). On the table you can find bowls of kimchi that you can take out yourself and as soon as we made our order, the waiter brought us a small bowl of rice and kkakdugi, diced radish kimchi, to enjoy with the hot dishes.
``The kkakdugi is also one of our specialties! We can guarantee that you'll love them,'' the owner said, and indeed they were delicious.
The kaljebi and kalguksu were more than we expected. They came in a large bowl, which was too hot to even touch, sprinkled with dried seaweed flakes.
The seafood kaljebi was delicious, perfect for rainy days and the shrimp, mussels and small clams complemented the whole dish. The noodles were chewy and the flakes were just the right size, not too thick or thin. It might have been a more scrumptious dish if there was a bit more seafood, but nonetheless it was a warm treat.
The handmade kalguksu, however, was a bit plain, compared to the kaljebi. With bits of onion, squash and also sprinkled with the seaweed flakes, the soup was tasty, but nothing surprising.
Overall, the trip to ``Seafood Kaljebi'' was a treat, but follow the name of the restaurant to feel the true taste of one of Korea's favorite noodle recipes. The two dishes are also served in a spicier version, so be sure to tell the waiter which one you prefer.
``Seafood Kaljebi'' is located behind the Kukdong Building near Chungmuro station on subway line 3. It is closed on Sundays ― opening hours are from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. For more information, call (02) 2277-5355 (Korean).