Chef takes a glimpse of Seoul street foods

By Bae Ji-sook

While the government is pushing high-end Korean dining to the world as part of its “Globalization of Hanshik” (Korean cuisine) project, it is a far cry for many tourists visiting Seoul, who seek cheaper authentic food, shopping and sightseeing opportunities.

The street foods in Seoul, however, play a greater role as epicurean ambassadors in a sense ㅡ anybody can grab a bite cheaply, and take a glimpse into what Koreans really enjoy eating.

The Korea Times invited Nicholas de Visch, executive sous chef of the Grand InterContinental Hotel, to taste some of the highly acclaimed foods in Insa-dong and Myeong-dong, two of the most frequented spots in Seoul, to see if they could really appeal to tourists. The food was mostly recommended by bloggers and newspaper articles.

Enchanting Insa-dong

“Hotteok” (1,000 won) sold in Insa-dong is always welcomed in the chilly season. The newest trend is to deep-fry the corn flour dough with lumps of sugar in the middle. While the dough rises, the sugar melts into a caramel-syrup texture. Adding bit of nuts on the top, hotteok is both crunchy and sweet.

“I quite like it. It has the sweetness but the cinnamon works well to moderate it. It also seems hygienically safe because it is deep-fried,” Visch said. “Maybe the only thing people should take in mind is that it is too hot!” he added.

Another dessert is “Dragon’s Moustache,” (5,000 won) a silky textured candy with peanut and almond stuffing. “It is sweet but not too sweet. The peanut has some saltiness that emphasizes the two extremes and adds some uniqueness,” he said.

“Pumpkin Yeot,” or toffee, (5,000 won) as well as roasted chestnuts (3,000 won) received good reviews from de Visch for their familiarity with his home foods. “We have a similar snack culture. It is quite nice to see that Koreans eat them, too. Belgians (de Visch was born in Belgium and spent quite a long time in France) have their own roasters for chestnuts. But the taste and the smell are the same. It is heartwarming,” he said.

Visch also seemed to like “kkochi,” (2,000 won) skewered chicken with red chili sauce and vegetables. Though it is relatively mild for most Koreans, he blushed from time to time and put out his tongue to alleviate the taste of the strong spice. “It’s quite nice. The texture of the chicken is good, and the garlic flavor isn’t bad at all. May be it’s just a bit too spicy for me. I cannot imagine myself having it too much,” he said.

Myeong-dong, king of street foods

In Myeong-dong, de Visch was quite interested in fried dumplings. The waitress cut the dumplings (3,000 won) in half and served them in a paper cup. “What an interesting way to eat it,” he said. “The taste is very similar to kyoja in Japan. It is well fried and very casual. I can see myself enjoying it again,” he said.

De Visch liked “Potato Tornado” (2,000 won) where a whole potato was sliced in the shape of a Tornado and fried. “What can go wrong with this? It’s quite nice and good eye candy,” he said.

“Gyeranppang” (1,000 won) is a small piece of bread with a whole egg cooked on top. It is very much loved by people seeking a meal because it gives fullness to the stomach. “I quite like it. I didn’t really expect to taste sugar in it but somehow it does bring out a very interesting flavor overall,” he said.

“A little suggestion: if you could slice some cheese, expect for some cream cheese, it would make things more attractive. Or by adding some ham in the middle of the bread, it could be a terrific street version of croquet Monsieur. You can take it to the next level,” he said.

But what de Visch really liked was “ppopki” (1,000 won). The vendor stirred and melted sugar in a small dipper then added some caustic soda to make it swell. She quickly put it on a large pan and cooled it for several seconds. Then she stamped it with little frames. While watching it, de Visch seemed to have purely enjoyed it.

“It has everything a street food needs. It is fast, delightful to watch and wait and moreover, simple. The taste itself is very much of a sugar ㅡ nothing more or nothing less. But I really like it,” he said.

Some are far behind

When de Visch tasted a bit of “HotBar” (2,000 won) in Myeong-dong, where a handmade sausage was wrapped with a fishcake, he frowned.

“I didn’t really have high hopes for it. But it is quite disappointing. The sausage is nothing more than a sausage at a supermarket and the fishcake has too much egg white that is quite bothering,” he said. “If we had Dijon mustard, it would have been better but the honey mustard just makes things worse,” he said.

But what really astonished him was “Wang choux” (1,500 won), which was supposed to be a large choux pastry with abundant custard filling. When he cracked the pastry, the inside was nearly empty. The very little amount of remaining custard was dry and looked unattractive. “It is a custard powder with some milk and gelatin. You can’t expect too much from a street vendor but this is definitely a failure,” he said.

Way to go, street food

De Visch admitted that he isn’t really familiar with street foods but said there are couple of things he would like to recommend to his friends coming over from Belgium and other places.

“The fried potato and fried dumplings. Some of the rest are nice but maybe need some amendments ㅡ Korean foods comes as too spicy most of the times. But I do agree that the foods are attractive in their own way and can appeal to a wide demographic.”