이남장 - Lee, Nam Jang or Nam Jang Lee

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas!

I'm not doing much cooking out here in the Motherland only because I have a wonderful MIL who bans me from entering the kitchen. No, really. She doesn't let me cook at all. I <3 my MIL.

Anyhow, let me begin this post by saying I am not in anyway affiliated with any of the restaurants I'm recommending. If I were - I'd be rich doncha think? =P These restaurant reviews are strictly because I love food and I feel it's my duty to share good food finds with everyone else.

I'm not sure if you've noticed, but our family is a big fan of sulung tang. The one thing the MR, Munchkin and I can agree on when we're stumped on what to eat is always sulung tang. The following restaurant might just be better than my two other favorites - Ham Bat and Jun Tong AKA E-Moon Oak in La-La Land.


The name is simply Lee Nam Jang and the sign states that they have been doing this for over 30 years. The restaurant is divided into three floors. The first floor is most suitable for families and small parties.

The second floor caters more towards folks that are drinking alcohol. It gets pretty loud. You know how Koreans get when they're imbibing themselves. =P

The third floor is composed of ondol rooms (heated floors, shoes off) and caters to larger parties or to people who want to eat in more privacy. However, the third floor also gets pretty loud because there are a lot of larger groups drinking soju while eating sulungtang and soo-yook - which is basically the delicate meat that has been boiled in the broth and served separately.


Upon sitting down, you are greeted with the green onions and kimchi. Their kimchi is a bit on the sweeter side, but it's still yummy nonetheless.



The MR ordered neh-jang tang.



While I ordered good old fashioned sulung tang. Unfortunately I can't seem to find a picture of the soo-yook from our last visit in April so I'll have to end the pictures here. We've already been to this restaurant twice in two weeks. It is one of the best sulung-tang places I've ever been to.

I will be back soon with more restaurant reviews. Until then, hope you have a GREAT rest of the year. Here's wishing that 2011 brings more joy and happiness than all the previous years.

Greetings from Korea

Street Foods. You can't go wrong with this. =) Hope everyone has a very, Merry Christmas!

Cow Parts

MOOOOOOO.  That’s me being a cow.

Hello all!  I hope everyone had a nice Thanksgiving break – yes I realize I’m a bit late.  Anyhow, I thought I would do a short little blog on cow parts.  I made beef tang no less than four times already this winter so I thought I would share some of the different parts of cow you can buy at the butcher shop so you can see what it looks like.

 

Knee caps.  If you go to Jinju Gomtang, they have a great do-ga-ni tang - though I confess that I haven’t been there in a very long time since I’m not out and about in K-town like I was in my twenties.  =P  They give you kitchen shears and a big plate of knee caps with soft tendons falling off the bones.  I loved eating all the tendons and dipping into their soy sauce/wasabi mix.  Squeamish?  Don’t be.  Give it a try and you might become a fan!

 

This is where the marrow is.  Even if you don’t use other parts, I suggest adding some beef marrow to any gook or tang you make.

 

Ox tails are always a favorite in tangs.  I always separate my meat after boiling for a while and store it for easier access.

 

Beef brisket.  After boiling for a few hours, I will take this out of the soup and let it cool down.  Then you just take a sharp kitchen knife and slice the meat into thin strips.

 

Beef Feet.  This is definitely not for the weak of heart, but I guarantee your gook will be much more milky and flavorful if you add some feet.  Try it.  I promise you won’t regret it.

 

I normally use all the ox tails and then use about half of everything else.  Let it drain in water and then boil and throw out the water.

 

You can store the remaining cow parts for another time.

 

Remember, boil and throw it out once!

 

Then wash and clean all your bits and pieces and add water and boil, boil, boil.  You can see the more in-depth how-to over HERE and HERE.

Hope everyone has a great holiday!  We will be heading over to the Motherland again to spend Christmas and New Year’s in Seoul.  And yes, food pictures from the homeland will be coming up again so get ready to salivate. 

And can someone please tell North Korea to tone it down a little while we’re over there?  Thanks.