Titillating K-Food: Something old, something new
Dressed in a pink and red hanbok, the South Korean ambassador to Sri Lanka Miyon Lee welcomed us in to her elegant residence down Horton Place. There were oriental screens with mountain scenery and the room swelled with diplomats, Korean alumni, scribes and others. It was time to celebrate the cuisine of this land of dragons- now fast claiming fans in Colombo.
Trendily called K-Food Showcase, here a chef, specially flown in from South Korea pulled out all the stops to give an entrée to an ancient tradition.
Coriander Fresh Kimchi. Pix by M.A. Pushpa Kumara
Korean cuisine with emphasis on rice, vegetables and seafood, has a regular accompaniment in kimchi – pickled cabbage with seasoning and the spread was a mélange of recipes from traditional to modern street food.
For the non-initiated the most flavoursome dish is the fried chicken – boneless chicken deep fried with Korean sauces. Next in line comes Tteokbokki – a street-wise street soul food popular among Korean students, where sliced rice cake sticks are stir-fried in a spicy sauce, with vegetables and fish cakes.
Japchae is a dish of stir-fried glass noodles with beef, assorted mushrooms and vegetables. Older than Tteokbokki, it was invented in the early 17th century for King Gwanghaegun’s palace banquet. The dish so pleased the king he promoted its creator, Yi Chung, to a high-ranking position.
Dakgalbi is stir-fried marinated chicken pieces in a Korean spicy paste (gochujang) in a flat grill pan with cabbage, sweet potato, carrots and tteok (rice cakes). This became popular in the 1960s as an inexpensive anju or accompaniment to alcohol in taverns.
Mandu is the crispy Korean dumpling made of thinly rolled dough folded with a filling of ground meat and vegetables. Originally created in the 14th Century and part of the Korean royal court cuisine, Mandu comes with a variety of stuffings.
Gimbap is rolled seasoned rice with salt and sesame oil with fried vegetables and pickled radish in a sheet of gim or dried seaweed. It is served in bite-sized pieces after sliced.
The dessert corner was crowded with those packet Korean bite-sized sweets from cheesecakes and brownies with a distinct twist, but the ‘queen of puddings’ was obviously patbingsu, delicious shaved ice with boiled red beans and a choice of topping of fruit, rice cake and sweetened condensed milk – a real summer cooler.
Accompanied by Korean soap operas on a giant screen it was the perfect evening of titillating the taste buds with something exotic.
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