FatManSeoul

Fatman is taking a little Chuseok break, but will be back with the traffic to Seoul. Have a great holiday, ya’ll!

Korea’s answer to McD’s and BK, Lotteria is undoubtedly the leader in bringing new flavors to fast food here in Seoul.  Their latest menu addition is “Shake Shake Chicken”:  Basically, it’s the same as the setup for their seasoned fries – a small foil packet of cheese, onion, or chili flavored powder is emptied into a bag full of hot chicken nuggests by you, the consumer, shaken like a polaroid picture (sorry, Outkast!  couldn’t resist), eaten, and then the remaining powder can be licked off by those of us without a proper upbringing.  Mmmm.  Just pretend that you’re dancing around shaking them hard enough to burn off the fast food calories.

2,200 won for a hot bag of 12.

At the risk of losing any modicrum of respect we might have earned . . . Fatman was the featured guest on this week’s episode of the Seoul Podcast!

The Seoul Food Festival wrapped up this past weekend, and Fatman has the pics right here!

Mother and son learn how to make fancy rice cakes

using an old fashioned wood press to imprint patterns on rice cakes

sweets to accompany tea

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image courtesy wikipedia commons

It was a poorly kept secret that Julia Child, the beloved French Chef, had been an OSS (Office of Strategic Services- a precursor to the CIA.  No, not that CIA) spy during World War II.  Too tall to join the military (188cm!), she served her country by working at OSS headquarters and in the field (she met her husband while working for them in Ceylon, now Sri Lanka), and even developing shark repellent.  No, really.  Fatman wouldn’t joke about the French Chef.

Last month, classified documents were formally released to the public revealing that the woman famed for dropping a bird carcass on the floor and nonchalantly dusting it off before continuing with the recipe was also a secret agent.

Watch it here (ABC News- 영어 링크), read about it in the Wall Street Journal (영어 링크), or read the AP’s coverage (여어 링크), or watch at gonews (한국어 링크). In the meantime, enjoy watching Julia break a couple of eggs . . .

When you’re eating out at a Korean pub, dried fish is definitely on the menu. Eating some of these is a straightforward task, but some fish need a little finessing. Nogari are small walleye pollock fish that are first dried and then briefly roasted and charred before serving. But while some fish are small enough to just pop in your mouth and chew, these are just large enough to require a little work before the hot, chewy morsel can be successfully eaten.

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Since we’ve been talking about the perils of bad service . . .

Stephen Colbert and Steve Carrell show us a valiant attempt that goes very, very bad in this skit from the short-lived Dana Carvey Show: Waiters who are Nauseated by Food.

Berries have been the “it” flavor this season, but as the weather starts to transition it’s been harder and harder to keep the berry thing fresh. The solution has been to turn to a flavor that’s really been coming into its own for the past few months: Cranberry!

베리는 이번 시즌 맛의 아이콘으로 급부상했다. 하지만 계절이 바뀌어감에 따라 그것을 신선하게 유지하는 것이 어렵게 되었는데, 그 해결책을 크랜베리에서 찾을 수 있다.  크랜베리는 기존의 베리와는 조금 다른데 일단 지난 몇 달간은 반응이 괜찮다.

Now, this sweet-tart tidbit has been showing up in foods for a while in Korea. It first started with dried berries being slipped into baked goods, but now its everywhere from sandwiches to frozen yogurt. And unlike the soft berries of spring and summer, the bog boy can hold out through fall and winter thanks to its later harvest season and winter holiday associations in North America. It’s a healthful, hearty little bit of tartness that stands up to savory as well as sweet dishes, making it truly versatile.

지금 한국에서는 이 크랜베리로 만든 빵이 인기를 끌고 있다. 처음에는 단지 구운 빵에 말린 크랜베리를 넣는 것으로 시작했지만 현재는 샌드위치에서부터 요거트에 이르기까지 점점 그 활용 영역을 넓혀가고 있다. 봄, 여름에 나는 다른 베리와는 달리 크랜베리는 늦은 수확시기 덕분에 가을, 겨울에도 즐길 수 있다.  그리고 크랜베리는 몸에 좋고, 다른 달콤한 음식만큼이나 식욕을 돋우기 좋은 음식이라고 할 수 있다.

Paris Baguette has been throwing some handfuls of cranberries into several of their baked goods, but nowhere is it more welcome than in their cranberry chicken salad sandwich.  The sandwich includes white meat chicken chunks and chopped cranberries in a mayonayse sauce, with tomato and lettuce rounding out the fillings.  The sandwich is made with a very good rye bread, with flecks of the whole grain visible.  All the fillings tasted very fresh, and the lettuce was especially good as a crisp contrast to the creamy salad.  Unfortunately, the sandwich was a bit heavy on the mayo, which tended to overpower the other ingredients.  Because the sandwich had to be wrapped and refridgerated, too, the texture of the bread and the tomato suffered a bit and became soft.  Like most commercially made sandwiches, the filling is lumped into the middle so the last few bites of sandwich are all mostly bread.

파리 바게뜨는 자신들의 여러 제품에 크랜베리를 첨가하기 시작했는데 그 중 가장 으뜸은 단연 치킨 샐러드 샌드위치이다. 치킨 샐러드 샌드위치에는 닭고기와 크랜베리가 들어가는데, 여기에 마요네즈와 토마토,  양상추가 더해진다. 그리고 빵으로는 영영가가 많은 호밀빵을 사용한다. 빵 안의 재료들은 모두 매우 신선한 것을 사용하는데 특히, 양상추는 다른 어떤 음식에서 사용되는 것보다 더 아삭아삭하고 신선했다. 하지만 아쉬운 점은 마요네즈의 강한 맛 때문에 샌드위치 전체의 맛 균형이 흐트러졌다라는 것이다. 또, 샌드위치가 포장되어 냉장보관 되기 때문에 빵과 토마토가 다소 물러졌다. 일반적으로 판매되는 여느 샌드위치오 ㅏ마찬가지로 속 재료가 가운데에 뭉쳐있어서 마지막 몇 입은 거의 빵만 먹는 것이나 마찬가지였다.

Still, as sandwiches go, this one is pretty yummy.  Prominent rye taste in the bread gives it some moxie, and the ingredients are all fresh and (except for too much mayo) in good proportion to give you a bite of chicken, a twinkle of cranberry, and a crunch of veggie each time you sink in your teeth.  Fatman wouldn’t mind tucking this into our tuffin.

하지만 이 샌드위치가 맛있다는 데는 변함이 없다. 호밀은 샌드위치를 더욱 돋보이게 해주었고, 모든 재료는 신선했다.  또,  마요네즈를 제외한 각 재료가 적당한 비율을 유지하고 있었다.

Slightly overpriced at 4000 won, available at Paris Baguette Cafe.

가격은 약간 비싸다고 생각될 지도 모르겠다. 4000원. 파리 바게뜨 카페에서 만나볼 수 있다.<Korean by MAXZEST>

Chicago Gluttons have posted what might qualify as the world’s most hilarious and hyperbolic restaurant review, covering the glory to be had at their local galbi joint, San Soo Gap San. Because we have too much time on our hands Because we love our readers so dearly Fatman has taken a stab at identifying the many wonderous side dishes on offer. Some of the items are up for debate, but we’re sure you’ll let us know if we’re wrong!

반찬 galore - from www.chicagogluttons.com

top to bottom, left to right: 어목 볶음/ eomok bokkeum (stir fried fish patties), 김파래무침/ gim parae muchim (dried marinated seaweed – we’re pretty sure that’s your awesome black stuff), 콩나물 볶음 (무침???) / kongnameul muchim (or maybe bokkeum – in any case, mung bean sprouts), 호박 볶음/ hobak bokkeum (stir fried zucchini), 어떤 나물(?)/ more nameul stuff (greens! would need a closer pic to identify with more certainty), 미역철기볶음/ miyeok cheolgi bokkeum (mixed marinated kelp), 무 처림/ mu cheorim (daikon radish), 오이김치/ oi kimchi (pickled cucumber), 외도라지무침/ oi doraji muchim (cucumber and bellflower root . . .but we’re taking a bit of a leap here), 콩처림/ kong cheorim (beans in marinade), and the egg disk things are probably either some kind of jeon (friend stuff) or gyeran mari (rolled omelette) 전(?) 계란말이(?). Coming up next is 버섯 볶음/ beoseot bokkum (stir fried mushrooms), 상추김치/ sangchu kimchi (fresh pickled lettuce), 두부저림/ dubu cheorim (spicy tofu), 배추김치/ baechu kimchi(pickled cabbage), 감자 샐라드/ potato salad aka mayo with assorted starch and veggies, and what is either fresh 도라지/ doraji (bellflower root) or dried cuttlefish 마른 오징어. It’s a little hard to tell what some of the items are, but we’re confident somebody will give us grief if we’re wrong. Finally, the brown goo is called 쌈장/ ssamjang, and is a mix of fermented soy bean paste and seasoned pepper paste, and the oil is sesame oil (참기름).

WHEW!

hat tip to Zen Kimchi‘s Korean Food Journal!

From the comedy group Improv Everywhere.