South Korea Voyage: The FOOD (Part 3 - Last installment)

Note: This is the last part for The FOOD of my South Korea Voyage. After this will be updates on other aspects of the trip.

GWANGJANG MARKET

The morning we went to Gwangjang Market (광장시장), it is not the big bustling market that I expected it to be. I expected to see middle-aged people doing their marketing and haggling over their buys, storeowners peddling their wares by shouting and a slow-moving human traffic. I am supposed to hear the deafless din of a market, to smell the unpleasantness of raw food and the see LOADS of grandmas and aunties clogging up the walkways. No such luck. Not that I would have ventured into the market if Gwangjang met my expectations.

The breakfast-ing crowd.

It is my mistake. It is clear that I did not do any research on Gwangjang prior to the trip (the only fact I knew was that their pancakes were amazing). According to a brief search on Google, Gwangjang is popular with tourists for cheap street food and if you want to purchase a Hanbok (traditional Korean dress) or get their local produce. My bad.

So, Gwangjang market is a neat orderly market. There are four? (correct me on this one) alleys, each lined on both sides with shops that sold dried goods, preserved/pickled vegetables and seafood. Then in the middle of each alley are food stalls where locals and tourists alike sit and chow down on the local grub. The sheer amount of street food on display got my mouth watering almost immediately. The smoke rising out from those thick and long Korean blood sausages (Sundae/순대), the sparkling gleam off the mountains of hand-rolled Gimbap (김밥), the lingering aroma emanating from the various stores frying up pancakes (Bindaedeok/빈대떡), the large glass boxes of frozen seafood, the bubbling bright orange sauce with floating rice cakes and the satisfied joy radiating from those who are partaking in the street feast. I want to be part of that joy! We also discovered that the second floor of the market houses a multitude of shops that sells household goods, Korean silk cloths, and even made-to-order Hanbok.

Rows upon rows of food stalls in an alley like this.

Gimbap and Sundae seller. 

Noodle and mandu stall.

Pancake seller.

What an adorable stall owner who smiled for the picture. 

I see seafood!

Vegetable stall. 

Another vegetable stall.

Sweet confectionery. 

Hanbok for kids.

We settled upon this pancake store at the middle of the market where a chubby and sullen-looking lady with a blunt-fringed bob was frying heaps upon heaps of pancakes on a hot oil-filled griddle. I have no idea why we chose her. But her stall has the most appetizing golden pancakes on display! So we bought two pancakes from her, one has mince pork in it (Golgiwanja/고기 완자) and the other is just the plain green bean pancake. I will use the invented word yummy-licious to describe the pancakes. You have to take my word for it. It rocks. If I live in Korea, I would get a pancake for breakfast every day. I exaggerated. Maybe not every day, but majority of the days in a week.  It is a piece of crispy and moist confectionary that simply bursts into your mouth with flavours so awesome and delightful! There are pancakes sold elsewhere, but those at Gwangjang seemed to be thicker, which makes for a better pancake-eating experience.

Pancake stall that we patronise. She is one sullen-looking lady.

The pancakes are made of green beans grounded into paste.

Encouraged by the delicious pancake, we began to greedily eye the other food around the market. We sat down at one of the myriads of noodle and dumpling stalls.  Why we chose that store was due to the chubby smiling bespectacled aunty behind it. She is really friendly and her joyful smile won our hearts. Besides, her quilted covered bench looks welcoming and cosy, beckoning me to plant my butt on the comfortably heated seat. We ordered kimchi dumplings (kimchi mandu/김치 만두), cold buckwheat noodles (Bibimnaengmyeon/비빔냉면) and a bowl of noodles in hot broth. This stall also requires you to order enough for the whole party. The Bibimnaengmyeon is delicious. I am not one for cold noodles or Japanese cold soba, but this cold buckwheat noodles drenched in a slightly spicy sauce, fragrant sesame seed oil and a crop of vegetables just hits the right note. It is soothingly cold and chewy enough to make it enjoyable. If only it was a hot summer’s day outside.

Noodle and mandu stall.

The noodles are made by hand and sliced. 

Kimchi mandu. 

I love this - cold buckwheat noodle.

Kimchi mandu soup.

The noodles in hot broth are hand-made. The lady just chopped up the noodles in front of us and throws it into the pot. Then she started putting in garnishes and ingredients into the bowl, puts in the cooked noodles, pour some soup in it and voila! Winter goodness! Sometimes in extreme weather, all you ask for is an uncomplicated dish; like noodles in hot clear soup. No-frills and fuss-free. I did not really like the kimchi dumplings. Yes, because I do not like kimchi, but the combination of kimchi and dough just do not work. My travel buddies did not like it either and we left two big bowls untouched, which is a mighty waste. If only we can just order a little to share and not have to order for everyone. It is also unfortunate that after this meal, we were too full to try the other offerings in the market. I would have absolutely loved to try the Sundae and the Gimbap, and maybe a pig’s tongue or two. But oh wells, this calls for another trip to South Korea! 

A little bit more pictures of Gwangjang Market:

Dried fish. Not sure what type of fish they are.

This is not the end of Part 3. To be continued.