Friday, November 7, 2008

Variations of a Theme

Bibimbap is the "safety" food I order in Korea. It's simply rice, vegetables, egg, the occasional meat, and red pepper paste. The variations, though, are endless. Bibimbap even varies according to region. Jeonju Bibimbap tops the list of varietals; many restaurants specialize in this style.
Jinju Bibimbap is famous for its small quantity, and Tongyeong Bibimbap uses a lot of salted raw seaweed and seasoned cooked radish. A region's speciality produce can usually be found in a bowl of its bibimbap. This hearty, hot version contained squid and mushrooms. Mom and Aunt Bev ordered it by themselves at Seoul Tower.
The big black bowls contained large helpings. This version included the typical vegetables. Sandy and I found this place during one of our evening walks in Itaewon.

This cold bowl contained ground beef and few vegetables. I had to ask for a meat-free bowl. We ate this dish at a rest area during the DMZ tour.


These cold bowls tasted great after a hike to the summit of Bukhansan!



And, finally, a healthier bibimbap nouveau - note the colorful, fresh vegetables. Instead of white rice, barley and mushy cornmeal were served. This place was hidden on a side street in Samcheondong.




6 comments:

HappyMommy02 said...

omgoodness, I don't know who's in the headless picture, but those arms are buff! do they have to work out w/weights, or is that natural? that's motivating!!

MandyKat said...

LOL - those arms belong to me (see the last picture too). They just look muscular because I'm flexing. Definitely NOT natural. I swim and lift weights regularly. : )

Trvlgyrl said...

Yeah, I have to agree - your arms do look buff!

MandyKat said...

Nah...just the photography!

Unknown said...

Yummy.. that was my squid bowl! I remember that leggy, little morsel fondly. btw.. Aunt Bev would never put those into her mouth :-)
Mom

Unknown said...

hi

i love your blog. i am a frequent visitor & i am an indian.
i have a question , i watch lot of korean dramas their they erve lot of side dishes do they make it everyday or make ahead & keep in the fridge. if that is the case how they

reheat it. i know lot of questions but i don't have any

korean friend to ask. i'm a working mom & i want to feed my

family well like korean do. pl help me
thanks a lot in advance.

suji