The Vast Array of Foods

We've been able to eat a variety of foods here in Korea. There are many stands that sell little pastries filled with a bean paste. I'm sure you're thinking, "bean paste? ewww" but it is surprisingly a little sweet. I think my favorite little pastry so far has been Korean pancakes. They are filled with taro paste I think and have a slight cinnamon and sugar flavor. The best is to get them when they are warm.

We've partaken in American style foods at the stands as well like corn dogs. Unfortunately they aren't quite the same. The outside crust is more like a doughnut, but for less than $2.00 I guess it's not too bad. Last night we even took part in some American pizza; although they have various types of foods it is always done Korean style. We didn't end up getting a Korean style pizza this time, settled on Hawaiian. Every meal comes with various sides; for Koreans eating is all about the taste so the more little side dishes you have I guess the more it cleans the palate. Dishes are also visually appealing such as the Korean style pizzas. This one shown even has shrimp wrapped in bacon on it!

We ate at our first Korean restaurant too... it was quite an experience. There were tables with an electric pit in the center of the table. Our food came to us in a skillet uncooked; the workers come by and continually stir your food until it's ready. They gave us little aprons to wear but I don't think it was with the intention to keep your clothes clean while you ate but rather to keep you from getting splattered when they come by and stir it! After waiting quite a while we figured it was ready so we started to dig in after observing other tables doing this too.... but we were quickly reprimanded by a man speaking in Korean until he eventually said, "not yet, not yet". I think they were worried we may get sick from not fully cooked chicken. Overall it was quite tastey and fairly cheap as most food here. This dish had chicken, cabbage, these chewy rice sticks and of course chili paste. This dish has inspired Greg to create many other creations like this at home.