Fatman has already expounded on CJ Food’s recent entry into the international restaurant sphere with BiBiGo.  Fortunately, Fatman’s wonderful friends stepped in to supplement our interest in the chain by reviewing their new location in Los Angeles, California.  Let’s have a big, hearty round of applause for Han Kim for his intreped reporting!

Thank you, fatmanseoul.com, for giving me this opportunity to blog about one of my favorite passions, food. I was on special assignment to investigate the new phenomenon of Korean food globalization. The newest addition to the Korean food takeover (other than Issac Toast and BBQ chicken) is Bibigo.

BiBiGo’s newest location over the Pacific is in Los Angeles, near UCLA’s campus in Westwood Village. The modern signage is a little odd-looking, but cute. I could feel my Koreaness oozing from all my pores. “They used a spoon for a letter,” I thought, “awww, cute!”

Immediately I noticed the beers in the cooler by the entry. This “healthy” restaurant is trying to be healthy, but they have beer. At least they have some of the bori cha (barley tea) I’m familiar with. All the items available were about $9 or more. I went with the first option of Bibigo Rice, since my philosophy is the first thing on the menu is usually the best thing on the menu, else why would they put it first?I have a lot of rice options, and I get the most non-white looking rice, since I grew up hearing that the whiter rice is the worse for your health. I choose to get chicken since I thought I should lose some pounds, since I was going to be in a triathlon soon. Plus, it’s really hard to mess up chicken and I want to play it safe. My fourth choice on the menu was sauce, and I choose the citron soy since I like a little bit of soy on my chicken. But what the heck is green sesame? Undercooked sesame seeds? There were other entrees options to choose from such as Ruby Grapefruit Salad, Jap chae , or Duk boki (Spicy Rice Cakes), but I was craving rice.

Since they just opened, I wanted to give the business a chance and not judge too harshly on food prep. I could see chaos in the front as they tried to fill the orders, but it looked like only one person was putting the sides together. I noticed there were several managers running the restaurant, but only one was really helping while the others would stand there try to help but really just criticizing the workers. Dude, not in front of the customers! I wondered if he really knew what he was doing, or was just a investor who insisted on being there for the opening. If you are going to help, do your share instead of going over the mistakes that your workers might have made. After all, you’re the ones who designed the restaurant so that only one person can work the banchan station. One peeved customer waiting for 20 minutes for her food, but they only had half of the order completed. She was critical of the fact they didn’t take orders by phone to speed up the process. Korean food to me was never really fast food. If it’s fast, it usually ends up bad.

The food, on the other hand, was good and fresh. It had better be, since I I paid $9 for it. The banchan with shitake mushrooms, pickled cucumbers, and daikon went well. The chicken wasn’t that substantial, but it’s supposed to be healthy, right? The whole meal was served on top of a bed of lettuce. My non-Korean friend, Paul, got the bibimbap. He thought the bulgogi needed more flavor, but was happy with his bibimbap, even though he misses the egg. On a previous trip, I had tried the stone pot bibimbap and had one question: Where is my egg? In consolation, the broccoli and the spinach was good. All I needed was kimchi, but being in America I had to be satisfied with sliced jalapeno peppers.

The interior was nice, like a soothing, Korean, modern-looking restaurant. I feel like I could have stayed there to surf the net and chill with my friends. My friend said he could eat here once a month, as could I. It’s a nice place for a lunch date, or maybe dinner date, since they have beer. I doubt they will have a happy hour, but if this place served better anju, I’d be there everyday. I do hope for the best for Bibigo, since Korean food deserves recognition and it’s paving the way for other Korean food franchises to step into the American market.

Again, Fatman would like to thank Han Kim for taking the time to review BibiGo LA for us!

image from Chosun Ilbo ~ note the neat rows of tea bushes and compare to the wild ones below.

Only the tips (generally speaking, the three newest leaves at the end of the branch) can be harvested and made into tea, and only during a brief period in the spring from April to May. After the buds for making green tea are picked, either by hand as is done at Hwaeomsa or by machine like the larger plantations at Boseong often are, they have to be processed in less than a day, before the leaves start to oxidize (at which point you’ve begun down the path to the dark side . . . er, teas.) Then, the real fun begins.

In order to stop oxidation and dry the tea, the leaves get tossed into an insanely hot gas-fired cauldron, which is where things start getting really tricky. The leaves need to be dried, not burned, which means that somebody has to strap on layers and layers of gloves and arm protection and tie their hair back (assuming un-tonsured) so that they can reach in and gently toss the leaves and keep them moving so they don’t scortch. How would you like to slave over a 350 C stove?

The leaves are removed, and then rolled with reasonable vigor to start the process of separating and curling the leaves up on themselves. They’re then returned to a slightly cooler cauldron for another round of drying, in a process that repeats itself . . oh, only about nine times.  With each round in the cauldron, the leaves get dryer and dryer, and the work of separating the leaves and getting them to take proper form gets more and more delicate.

But isn’t it all worth it in the end?

Fatman would like to give special thanks to Hwaeom-sa (화엄사) and to Brother Anthony (안선재) for hosting and organizing a wonderful and unique opportunity to get first-hand experience in making tea. 고맙습니다! Hwaeomsa will continue to run these weekend tea-making templestays through the beginning of June.
For more information on Korean tea, please visit Brother Anthony’s tea site here (영어 링크) and purchase his marvelous book, The Korean Way of Tea. It’s hands-down the best English language resource about Korean tea culture and history available.

Yes, 500¥ . . . for ddeokpokki!!!
We can’t believe it either.
Tokyo, you truly are the city of dreams. Crazy, expensive, overpriced dreams.

Mammoth Bakery is just off the main square in downtown Andong, near the Pizza Hutt and Shinhan Bank. Baked goods start from 1,000 won, with cakes starting in the 15,000 range, sandwiches around 3,500 won, and espresso drinks are very reasonably priced at around 3,500 as well.

Read more about places to wine and dine in Andong over at our Hub of Sparkle write-up!

image from www.meish.org

Now, go bug some other website with your lovey-dovey heart-and-flower chatter  and leave the bitter, the annoyed, the cranky, the romantically disinclined, and everybody else who wants to take a break from your sugared-nonsense holiday to Fatman.

Now that the love-birds have departed, let’s get down to business:  How are you going to spend this crass, commercially driven excuse of a holiday?  The love-birds have booked every fine restaurant, cafe, and hotel room and you’re looking for a place to avoid them anyway.  Fatman has a few suggestions for a romance-free excursion that’ll turn February 14th into a day worth not celebrating.

1)  Seodaemun Prison and Garlic Fried Chicken

Built by the Japanese in 1908,  Seodaemun Prison/ 서대문 형무소 quickly developed a horrific reputation as the Japanese imprisoned, tortured, and executed members of the independence movement.  The prison now functions as a museum, and visitors can see displays of photos, documents, and artifacts from the period alongside some very gruesome displays featuring animatronics, all overlaid with a disturbing soundtrack of people being tortured.

If a stroll through these walls doesn’t kill the romantic mood, nothing will.  This place makes Alcatraz look like summer camp.

Assuming you’re not to depressed to eat, Fatman recommends you stroll on down towards Seodaemun Station.  About a block before you reach the station proper, there’s a small cluster of chicken hofs where you can slump into a chair and order up a plate of fried chicken.  And, because you won’t even be able to contemplate kissing anyone after all you’ve just seen, you might as well make it garlic chicken.   For the uninitiated, garlic chicken in Korea is not made by adding a little bit of garlic to the batter.  It is made by mincing an entire hectare’s worth of garlic crop and piling the lot on top of hot, greasy fried chicken to make its own vampire-slaying sauce.   It won’t matter how much beer you pour down your throat, either – it won’t wash away the tragedy of Seodaemun Prison or get rid of your garlic-breath.

2) Gyeongdong Oriental Medicine Market & Offal

whatcha gonna do about it, Wikipedia?

Seoul is famous for its large traditional markets like those at Namdaemun and Dongdaemun, but Gyeongdong market is a little off the beaten path unless you’re ordering up some hanyak (한약:  traditional Korean medicine).  The first thing you’ll notice is the overwhelming and distinctive smell of herbs as hundreds of vendors hawk everything from ginseng to deer antlers to dried mushrooms to pickled centipedes.  Traditional medicine in Korea involves all sorts of complex potions meant to help balance the body and bring health, and you can spend facinationg hours among all the myriad fruits, flowers, herbs, roots, and animal parts that help constitute the medicines at the disposal of Korean hanuisa (한의사:  traditional Korean medical doctor).  Who knows?  Maybe one of them can mix up a(n anti) love potion for you out of those millipedes and dried lizards.

After you’ve picked up a bag of beondaegi to boil up at home, time for some grub (pun intended.) It’s gopchang time, baby! Roll up to one of these grill joints with as many of your completely non-romantic friends as you can and sit down to a big ‘ol grill full of stomach, liver, heart, and everything else you’d normally chuck out of a cow when you make your burger. Intestines are a specialty, much loved for their chewy texture. While it might seem strange to be chowing down on things thrown out in most countries, gopchang have a really wonderful deep meaty flavor to them you don’t get from normal cuts of flesh, and offer a much greater range of textures. Some places sauce ‘em up with a bright gochu-based sauce, but this is anti-valentines day, and you should stay away from sauciness and focus on the guts. Glorious, wonderful, decidedly non-romantic guts. You’ll need that kind of intestinal fortitude to get through the day.

3) Seoul Foreigner’s Cemetery & Chicken Feet

image blatantly stolen from the Marmot's Hole because his pictures rock

Cemeteries are already pretty low on the list of places for lovebirds to flit, but this one outdoes even the normal graveyard by having been the centerpiece of a bitter dispute between churches. The cemetery was founded in 1890 when King Gojeong heard the shocking news that the foreigners were about to bury somebody inside the city walls (a very big no-no!) and so gave over some land just outside the gates. In the ensuing 120 some-odd years a veritable who’s who of foreigners have been buried there, including Ernest Bethell, Homer Hulbert, Mary Scranton, and many an Underwood. Changes in laws put the ownership in doubt, and the smaller but older foreigner congregation that had been conducting services in a chapel on the grounds found itself in a nasty dragged-out legal conflict with the newer and larger Korean congregation over who should administer and control the land. The Korean government decided neither should have the chapel, but the Korean church controls the cemetery itself, and stirred up even more controversy by threatening to remove the graves of non-missionaries who it didn’t feel were up to snuff.

Seeing as this has given you plenty to chew on, go find a place to chew on some dalkbal (닭발: chicken feet). Be sure and get the kind with the bones in, both as a way to add flavor and textural interest to what would otherwise seem merely chewy and as a way to remind yourself of what you’ve just spent all afternoon walking around and over.

4) Tapgol Park and Hongeo

image from Seoul Selections

The March 1st Movement got its start at this famous park, and it’s not a bad place for you to start out your revolt against the holiday. It’s connection with the independence movement has made it a popular spot for protests, so maybe you’ll catch a glimpse of violent police/protester clashes. Or at least noisy ones. If that fails, spend some time hanging out with the endless legions of old dudes who hang out playing baduk, gossiping, and (reportedly) hooking up.   True, it’s also picturesque and holds important national treasures like the 10-story Wongaksaji Sipcheung Seoktap (national treasure number 2, baby!), but we’re sure that remembering the violent repression of the independence movement by Japanese police in 1919 will keep you in the appropriately sober frame of mind, no matter how much soju is being downed by the cheerfully chatting 할아버지 around you.

Now that you’re all sobered up, how about something that usually needs a little alcoholic push to seem palatable?

There is nothing, NOTHING on the planet that will ever kill a budding romance, life-long attraction, or contemplation of a meaningless fling faster than the ripe scent of fermented skate, pickled in its own excretions. This Jeolla specialty has a distinctive stink of ammonia so strong that at least one of our acquaintances had his significant other boot him and his clothes to the curb until the stink diminished . . . and as far as we can tell, part of his wardrobe was eventually burned. Hongeo smells and tastes something like a freshly scrubbed urinal, only more potent. Speaking of potent, some people claim it’ll make you a bit high. We can’t verify that, but we will say that the fragrance will cling to you and everything you own for days afterward, until your pores simply ooze out the scent of shark pee while you are left completely and utterly alone. It may be only for the adventurous, but the taste is addictive and the idea of being left by your lonesome is just what you’re looking for today, right?

image from wikipedia commons

Speaking of the fortress, near the north gate is one of the most famous examples of Suwon’s premier product.  Suwon was home to a large cattle market which in turn meant Suwon had some of the best beef eatin’ in Korea.  한우, 한우 . . . as far as the eye could see!  And thus Suwon became the place for wang galbi.  Wang galbi is a slightly different cut than standard galbi – a large, single segment of rib is sliced, and the rib meat itself flows off like a streamer.  Grilled plain or with just a little bit of salt, this meat is usually tender and delicious enough to just eat plain.

But what fun would that be?  Suwon wang galbi has a slightly sweet marinade with a suprisingly subtle garlic kick.  Ginger, soy, and myriad spices play around with the normally assertive vampire repellant, but instead of becoming forward and assertive, the whole mix becomes a mellow companion to richly marbled shortribs.  There’s plenty of Suwon galbi restaurants all over town, but the most famous of these is Yeonpo Galbi/ 연포갈비.

This venerable institution starts things off right with high quality charcoal. Koreans have a bit of an obsession with charcoal for grilling, but what a glorious obsession to have. The kind of flame used to cook has a great influence on the flavor of food, and there’s many a fellow who will turn up their noses at the mediocre char of gas grilled galbi. True connoisseurs will always go for the burning black coals, but even then there’s a hierarchy. Big briquettes are common, but here they use only high quality sticks of oak.


In addition to the marinated Suwon wang galbi, Yeonpo also serves unmarinated cuts, like this marbled beauty.

Although not of uniformly high standard, the banchan here show more variety and attention to detail than many places in Seoul. Standouts included a bright, vinegary jellyfish salad and marinated seaweed. The wait staff here are unusually dedicated, and will take over the entire process of grilling the meat for you if only you’ll yield the scissors.

If you still have energy gorging on both meat and the view of the fortress right outside the window, Suwon has other delights. Soccer fans should head to the Suwon World Cup Stadium where you can catch a Samseong Bluewings game. Right next to Ajou University, the stadium itself is a pleasant place to while away the time, with prettily groomed park-like grounds.
Remember poor Prince Sado? King Yeongjo spiffed up Yongju Temple (용주사) for just that purpose. Right next door are the tombs of Sado and his long-suffering wife, Lady Hong, whose memoirs still form one of the most complete pictures we have not just of the Eulmi Incident, but also of Korean court life of the time. (get your own copy in English or in Korean) The temple also houses some outstanding paintings and a massive bronze bell decorated with dragons.

image courtesy buddhapia

Finally, we should also mention the immense pride that Suwon takes in its beautiful restrooms.

Suwon can be easily reached from Seoul by express bus(Gangnam, Sadang, Nambu Terminal, or Guro Industrial Complex Stations), train, or by subway (line 1 to Suwon Station).  Fatman suggests starting your tour of the fortress at Paldalmun, but if you’re lazy or like really cute trams, try taking a ride on the Hwaseong trolley. Prices for Suwon galbi run about 20-30,000 won per person.

Bags of dried peppers and different grades of pepper powder fill the air with a spicy tingle and bring a welcome touch of fall color now that most of the leaves have fallen.

One of the great things about old-fashioned markets is the sesame oil vendor. Sesame seed oil is an essential ingredient in Korean cooking, and so having a vendor who presses the seeds fresh every day is a wonderful thing to have in your local area. Another bonus: Nothing beats the aroma of roasting sesame seeds – it’s like popcorn, but deeper, richer, better.  Fatman found this fabulous example in 수원/ Suwon.

Kimchi Summit Invite

Elaine Tin Nyo is also the editor in chief, photographer, and conceptual artist behind Touch and Taste: A Hungry Cook’s Field Guide, the ultimate visual field guide to Korean foods. Fatman is pleased to be a contributor to this collaborative art project!