Grilling Clams on the West Siiide

On our most recent, stomach-led adventure, we travelled to an island off of the west coast of Korea to eat at a grilled clam restaurant on the beach.  This is definitely something we should do more often back home...



These guys weren't so happy about what we're about to do them.  Along with the clams came a huge plate of raw fish.

Grilling the clams and an assortment of other shellfish. Some of the shells explode as they're grilling, so you have to be careful...

Grilling some shrimp on salt.

I honestly have no idea what this is. And didn't try to find out.

Side dish of rice wrapped in leaves. We were honestly so busy stuffing our faces with seafood that this plate was left completely untouched.

Big fire going.

These were so fresh they were still moving when we put them on the grill.

And of course, it's not a complete meal in Korea unless you gorge on some sort of rice or noodles.  This is kalguksu, which has a thick broth and hand-cut noodles.

Happy campers: Two white people, Boram, Kevin's mom, and Joon.

The lone survivor. 

Korean Thanksgiving - Part II

Although we were unbelievably excited to make the rice cake, seeing the ancestral rituals in person is not something that many foreigners get to experience.

The ritual table is set with various fruits, vegetables, rice cakes, and rice wine.

The door is left open to allow the spirits of ancestors into the house (kind of like Elijah at Passover)

The men do a number of different bows after pouring rice wine and lighting incense.

The kids usually have no interest, although they're forced to wear traditional Korean clothing.

He took most of his off as soon as he could. Little punk.

Women serving lunch while the men just sit and be bossy.  There are still some strong sexist elements in Korean society that make younger generations and foreigners uncomfortable.

After lunch, we went off to the family memorials to do another set of rituals for the deceased. This one was for Boram's grandparents.

We did the bowing as well as lighting the incense.

All in all, it was a very unique experience. It is really interesting (and will be interesting to continue watching) how old rituals and customs are still very much rooted in a society that's modernizing faster than most others in the world.

Korean Thanksgiving - Part I

We were fortunate enough to be invited to celebrate Korean Thanksgiving (Chuseok) with Boram's family.  Usually Koreans return to their hometowns for family meals and ancestral rituals.

One of the most popular presents around Thanksgiving (which harkens back to the older, poorer days of Korea). Boram got one as a gift from her office!

Thanksgiving feast! We still haven't mastered sitting on the floor yet and both get absurd leg cramps every time we try.

Korean fruit salad...with corn of course.

Learning Korean traditional games with Boram's dad.
 

Not the best poker face.

Korean breakfast, or more specifically a feast of leftovers. Usually, Koreans eat the same food for breakfast as they do at any other meal (kimchi, rice, vegetables, etc.)

Making traditional rice cake.  This is rice that has been ground into flakes and mixed with mugwort powder. We looked up what it was too...

Kneading it like dough.

Adding freshly squeezed grape juice to another batch.

Filling the dough balls with a brown sugar and sesame seed mixture....

and making little dumplings.

Finally, they go into a huge steamer and come out looking like this.  It's really hard to describe what they're like, since the rice becomes really chewy, but they taste great because the brown sugar and sesame seeds melt together on the inside.

In Part 2, we pay respects to Boram's elders, after a brief food coma...

A Summer Hike in Seoul

A quick update (and excuses why we haven't blogged in a month). As soon as Michelle arrived we've been going around Seoul exhaustively, all while searching for and moving to a new apartment. I've been studying Korean for about 7-8 hours a day (including my classes) and Michelle has been working and preparing her graduate school apps. More frequent posts to come (we promise)!

The weary traveler arrives.

The only way to see Seoul is by scooter.

Ready to ride!

Quick pit stop at an open air market.

Lovely smiling squid.

Colorful rice cakes.

Trying to find our way up one of the mountains behind Seoul.

Making progress.

Whenever you go hiking in Seoul, somehow you always happen upon Buddhist temples tucked away in the mountains.

Luckily we found an overlook just as Michelle was ready to call it quits.

I first thought this halmoni (grandmother) was having a feast of a picnic, but later learned that she was doing an ancestral ritual.

Sweaty and disgusting, I wanted to take Michelle to a traditional Korean lunch.   The main course (stew) is really a sidenote to all of the side dishes.

Brown rice steamed with mussels.

Michelle's favorite: dwenjang-jiggae (stew made from fermented soy beans)

Chewy little fish.

Beheaded big fish.