Chicken in chuncheon
Trip Start
Oct 23, 2006
1
23
27
Trip End
Oct 25, 2007
Chuncheon, Korea Rep.
Wednesday, August 8, 2007
Unfortunately the rain was having a substantial effect on the decision maing process. We wanted to get inside as quickly as possible. Miraculously, the clouds were able to hold out the entire train journey from Seoul to Chuncheon (2 hours), but as soon as our feet hit the platform, the rain began to fall
dak galbi stage 1
. And fall. And fall. Then the lightning started. Then the thunder. Then the wind. For about half an hour we bore witness to a good old fashoined hot, steamy rainstorm. It was actually pretty spectacular. I learnt later that 10 Koreans were killed by the lightning and a further 5 hospitalised.With the rain still lightly tumbling, the decision was eventually made to dine in the busiest restaurant in the street. With photos from time spent on TV shows, plus celebrity signatures and a packed dining floor, it was the logical move. We hadn't come all this way to take a chance. Indeed, the want to eat dak-galbi was only motivation for the entire journey.
I had eaten dak galbi plenty of times in Seoul, and enjoyed all of them, but whenever I spoke to people about it, the reply was always the same - "If you want real dak-galbi, go to Chuncheon". I wanted real dak galbi, and the time had finally arrived. I was going to savour this meal, and due to the weather, there was no need to rush. We scored a prime window seat for people watching, made the order, accepted the offer of aprons (I foresaw a mess) and then settled into our cushions.
I like eating dak galbi, not just because it tastes bloody good, but also because it's a meal of stages:
Stage 1 - All the ingrediants are dumped into a huge hot plate/wok to cook. These ingrediants include chicken, sweet potato, leek, hot sauce, cabbage and rice cakes. Thoroughly mix them together and let it cook for a while. Hunger building.
Stage 2 - Begin using your enormous ladle to mix and stir (or let the waitress do it - which we did)
dak galbi stage 3
. The smell starts to grow and the meal begins to take shape. Hunger still building.Stage 3 - Just when it seems you can't wait any longer, you get the go ahead from the waitress. This "OK" is important because they are better judge than us if whether the chicken is cooked thoroughly enough. Food poisoning is average.
Stage 4 - Eat, eat, eat. Pick from the hot plate or from your own bowl, it doesn't matter. Wrap the chicken in lettuce. Anything goes, and it's all good.
Stage 5 - Order some rice or noodles and throw them into the hot plate to soak up the left over sauce. Brilliant.
By the time we'd finished, the rain had passed and the sun was shining. This made me happy (for some crazy reason, my travel partner loves the rain) as we left the restaurant, but I was also a little sad because I knew then that I'd never be able to enjoy dak galbi in Seoul ever again. It was that good. It made me think about a line from that old TV show, 'Get Smart', when Max says - "That's the second best meal I've ever eaten. If I eat one better, that'll be the best." It was without a doubt the second best dak-galbi meal I'd ever eaten.
This entry's "Pointless Korean Fact" is actually to do with North Korea for a change. North Korea does have an official homepage - check it out at http://www.korea-dpr.com/ to satisfty all your blatant propaganda needs. Not bad for a country with only one registered internet cafe (which is in an embassy).
