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Skewered Beef With Mushrooms and Carrots (Sanjeok) (4)

By Kim Yong-ja This used to be a dish for special occasions. But it is a very simple dish that one can make easily, so there is no need to wait for a special occasion. If "songyi" mushrooms (very highly prized, even in Korea) are not available, you can use others like shiitake or porcini (Italy) or Steinpilze (Germany). INGREDIENTS (serves 4) 8 oz/225 g BEEF (rib eye- club steak), cut finger-sized 1 large CARROT 3 SCALLIONS 2 SONGYI MUSHROOMS or 5 large SHIITAKE MUSHROOMS 6-7 medium-length BAMBOO STICKS VEGETABLE OIL MARINADE: 4 tablespoons SOY SAUCE 1 tablespoon SESAME OIL 1 GARLIC CLOVE, crushed fine 1 teaspoon SESAME SEEDS 2 teaspoons SUGAR ground BLACK PEPPER 1 Cut the vegetables into pieces the same as the meat. Combine the meat with ⅓ of the marinade. 2 Steam carrots until they are semi-cooked. Blanch the white parts of scallions, dip in ice water and drain. 3 Put the meat and vegetables on the skewers. Drizzle some oil in a heated frying pan and grill them until lightly browned on both sides. 4 Drizzle ha

Oct 8, 2009

Hotel Lobby

The Ritz-Carlton Seoul "The Garden", a European restaurant at the Ritz-Carlton Seoul, will welcome Chilean chef Matias Palomo from Oct. 21 through Nov. 6. He will offer Chilean cuisine and hybrid delicacies. Palomo studied cooking at a culinary school in Santiago and has worked at numerous restaurants, including Arzak in San Sebastian, Daniel and El Bulli. Palomo will be using the traditional Chilean spice "merken" to add originality to his dishes. Guests can try the salmon with black potato filled with curanto and the halibut with scallop sauce, quinoa and basil oil. For more information, call (02) 3451-8271. Hyatt Regency Incheon The Hyatt Regency Incheon is launching new wedding party concepts: the Garden Wedding and the Sunset Wedding. The garden weddings are held in a gazebo in the hotel's wildflower garden, while sunset wedding are conducted against the backdrop of a beautiful west coast sunset. For the services, the hotel offers nine menus, including five Western cuisine choices priced between 55,000 won and 100,000 won. Four buffet options are priced fro

Oct 8, 2009

Hotel Spas Offer Urban Relaxation

By Bae Ji-sook Staff Reporter Getting a massage is more than comforting one's body. Some call it a spa treatment because it is known to relax the body and soul, stimulate blood circulation and affect the whole inner body. Especially after the hard house chores of the Chuseok holiday, getting some good massage therapy can diminish stress and fatigue. Hotels are gearing up to provide the creme de la creme of spa experiences. The Korea Times looked into Park Hyatt Seoul's in-house "Park Club" spa programs. At the front desk of the club, the club manager greets individual guests and tries to create a tailor-made environment. Guests can choose their favorite genre of music for the service, ranging from classical to Mediterranean, Indian and others. The guests can also inform the massage therapists of a particular need or areas to work on. The massage starts with a cup of soothing chamomile tea, a pedicure pampering the feet with peppermint powder, cream and scrub. The staff create a meditative mood, but can be good chat mates as well. One massage therapist, "Jane," s

Oct 8, 2009

Hangeul Week

Events to Celebrate Hangeul Day By Chung Ah-young Staff Reporter In August, ``hangeul,’’ the Korean alphabet, was adopted as the official writing system of the village of Bau-Bau, Indonesia by the Cia-Cia tribe for their native language. The adoption has given the Korean native script a fresh spotlight. Promulgated in the 15th century by Sejong the Great (1397-1450), one of the greatest rulers of the Joseon Kingdom (1392-1910), hangeul consists of 14 consonants and 10 vowels. The combination of a consonant and a vowel forms a syllable and thus, hangeul is capable of creating thousands of words and expressing virtually any sound. For its simplicity and relatively limited number of characters compared to Chinese characters, hangeul was devised for commoners, especially for women during the Joseon era, to gain literacy. Due to the ease of learning this alphabet, South Korea has one of the world's lowest illiteracy rates at 1.7 percent, according to statistics published in 2008. The Korean language is the world's 13th most-spoken language. More than 77 million people

Oct 8, 2009

Cafe Sobahn Adds Twist of Its Own to Bibimbap

By Han Sang-hee Staff Reporter ``Bibimbap'' is one of the easiest and most simple Korean recipes you can find in local restaurants. Cafe Sobahn run by CJ Food has moved a step forward to recreate the famous dish by adding style and special ingredients. Located among the tall office buildings in Jongno, Cafe Sobahn has been a favorite among busy office workers and female customers. Compared to the busy, crowded and hot atmosphere of regular bibimbap places, Cafe Sobahn features modern tables, chairs and sofas, stylish interior and hip music. Along with the original, Cafe Sobahn has invented various bibimbap recipes to satisfy both first-timers and aficionados of the dish. Bibimbap is usually mixed with a spicy red pepper paste, but at Cafe Sobahn, you can find various styles that do not include the spicy sauce, but are mixed with others such as soy sauce and ``doenjang,'' or soybean paste. One of the most popular dishes is the teriyaki chicken bibimbap (7,800 won). A small helping of rice is topped with colorful ingredients, including shredded vegetables

Oct 4, 2009

Soybean Paste Soup With Clams and Spinach (Jogae Sigeumchiguk)

By Kim Yong-ja It is best to get young and tender spinach leaves, which you can judge by the length of the stems. Korean spinach is very short and has a sweet flavor. It is a calcium-rich vegetable and goes very well with the taste of denjang (soybean paste). You may have to adjust the amount of bean paste according to the brand. INGREDIENTS (serves 4) 2 bunches SPINACH, washed and ends trimmed 2 dozens MANILA CLAMS (reduce the number if using larger clams) 4 tablespoons DENJANG (soybean paste) 5 cups WATER ½ teaspoon MYOLCHIGARU (anchovy powder) 1 teaspoon GOCHUGARU (chili flakes) 2 PUTGOCHU (green chili pepper), sliced 1 GARLIC CLOVE, crushed 1 Prepare the spinach. Wash the clams with cold water and soak them in lightly salted water. 2 Put denjang (soybean paste) in a sieve which you then immerse in the 5 cups of clear water. Press down the denjang with the back of a spoon until it dissolves. 3 Bring this broth to a boil. Add myolchigaru (anchovy powder), gochugaru (chili flakes), putgochu (green chili) and garlic. 4

Oct 1, 2009

Hotel Lobby

Lotte Hotel Seoul Lotte Hotel Seoul's premium restaurant, Pierre Gagnaire a Seoul, celebrates its one-year anniversary Oct. 1, presenting a special "HOMAGE A SEOUL" menu to convey appreciation to its patrons. Offered from Oct. 5 through 28, the course is composed of Pierre Gagnaire's most-loved dishes. Prices start at 160,000 won, escluding tax. For information, call (02) 317-7181~2. Grand Hyatt Seoul Grand Hyatt Seoul presents a selection of fruit cocktails for the autumn season, offered exclusively in the lobby lounge. The lounge will be decorated with baskets of seasonal fruits including apples, pears and grapes. The fruits are processed into an array of both alcoholic and non-alcoholic cocktails. The alcoholic varieties feature a variety of premium spirits such as rum, vodka and sparkling wine mixed with different ingredients. The menu includes a Pear Colada and a Mulberry Bellini. For the non-alcoholic selections, try the Chestnut Pear Smoothie or Pear Shake. The event is ongoing through October and drinks are priced from 18,000 won, excluding ta

Oct 1, 2009

InterContinental Globalizing Korean Food

By Kwon Mee-yoo Staff Reporter "Jabche," or stir-fried potato noodles with vegetables, is served in a beautifully crafted, transparent bag, and the dish is decorated with roasted sea scallops. The taste is the same as the traditional Korean dish, but the presentation is stunningly modern. And it is the first dish of "Made in Korea," a seven-course modernized Korean cuisine served at the Sky Lounge in the COEX InterContinental Seoul. "It is offered in seven courses to allow guests to taste and enjoy each dish," said Bae Han-chul, kitchens director at InterContinental Hotels Seoul. The menu, which was originally planned to be only a one-month promotion, became permanent at the Sky Lounge due to the enthusiastic reaction from customers. The "Made in Korea" menu costs 70,000 won, a rather moderate price for a course dinner at hotel restaurants. "We want people to come and enjoy. So we priced it cheaper," the executive chef said. The menu is not only popular among expatriates but also for locals looking for a new culinary experience. The promotion is part of an ef

Oct 1, 2009

Enjoy Flavors of Songpyeon

By Cathy Rose A. Garcia Staff Reporter Dining tables throughout the country will be laden with many delicious dishes for the ``Chuseok'' thanksgiving holiday, which starts Friday and lasts through Sunday. Chuseok is also known as ``Hangawi,'' which falls on the 15th day of the 8th month in the Lunar Calendar. It also marks the day when Koreans would thank their ancestors for the bountiful harvest and share the blessings with family members. Koreans usually celebrate the holiday with a big feast at home. But if there's one particular dish that is a must for any Chuseok celebration, it is ``songpyeon.'' Songpyeon are half-moon shaped rice cakes specially made by Korean families during Chuseok. The rice cakes were traditionally made using freshly harvested rice, and then offered by family members to their ancestors during ``charye'' or ancestral memorial ritual on the morning of Chuseok. In his book ``Seasonal Customs of Korea,'' David E. Shaffer said families always prepare rice from the freshly harvested grains, as well as fruits like persimmons, apples, dates, p

Oct 1, 2009

Hotel Lobby

Grand Hilton Seoul Grand Hilton Seoul's Chinese restaurant Yeohyang presents an array of Shanghai-style cuisine through October. The lunch and dinner set menus include authentic Shanghai specials such as saut and eacute;ed sea cucumber with abalone, deep fried bean curd with minced shrimp and fried lobster with chili sauce. The set costs 59,000 won for lunch and 100,000 won for dinner. For reservations, call (02) 2287-8787. nterContinental Hotels Seoul InterContinental Hotels Seoul announced its winning of the 9th Black Box Culinary Challenge on Sept. 17-18, hosted by Meat and Livestock Australia (MLA). The hotel also won last year's competition. The InterContinental team consisted of head chefs Yoon Tae-goo, Lee Young-soo, Lee Jin-goo and Kang Ji-young. The winning dish was a four course meal, while the team's sous vide cooked beef flank, and its smoked and slow roasted beef were especially highly recognized. Seared sweet potato and lemon vinaigrette were also added to enhance flavor and aroma. "It was the best opportunity for people to recognize and see t

Sep 24, 2009
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