While I was in Korea last week, I had a mental list of all the foods I wanted to make sure to eat during my precious seven days there. Sun Tubu Jiggae, Bibimbap, Kimbap, Pa Jeon.... I did manage to get Bibimbap more than once, Kimbap just once, and even squeeze in Sun Tubu for my very last meal. However, there is one food that I ate in one form or another pretty much every day: Ddeok!
"Ddeok" (떡) actually refers to a pretty wide range of snack and dessert-type foods that are made with rice flour, usually taking the form of a rice cake or nugget. As you can see, they're often very pretty and colorful. Ball-shaped ones like those above, have a bean paste filling, and some kind of powder on the outside. A package usually costs about 1,500 KRW (about US$1.25), or sometimes just 1,000 KRW if you catch an end of the day sale! You can find ddeok stands/shops pretty much all over the place, but definitely around every few corners in any local neighborhood.
All of the rice cakes in this packet of green, black, yellow and red had the same red bean filling, but I think each color had a different flavor. Hard to remember what each one was, but I think the green was green tea and the black/brown tasted a bit like chocolate! Regardless, they went great with this apple cinnamon tea that Mipa had at home. They're chewy enough to stick to your teeth a bit, but still soft enough to melt in your mouth, and sweetened just enough to be pleasantly sweet but not rich.
This form of ddeok, however, is quite bold on flavors: ddeokbokki:
Ddeokbokki (떡볶이) is made with a bunch of sugar, but it also has tons of spice! Yes, red pepper flakes AND red pepper paste (고추장). The solid tubes of white rice cakes are dripping with a sweet and spicy sauce that makes your lips burn and your nose run. I wouldn't want to eat this every day (but many people do - it's definitely a favorite food among many Koreans), but I certainly couldn't pass up eating it once during my short stay.
Although you can buy ddeokbokki at restaurants, its availability is far outnumbered among street stalls. Typically, various tempura are sold alongside it (vegetables like potatoes and yams, rice rolled in sheets of seaweed, and some meats). All of these can be dipped in the fiery red sauce. Also, ddeokbokki stands usually sell odeng (오뎅), which is fish cake. It's kind of hard to describe... Fish paste congealed/cooked into strips and fried or cooked in a broth-like soup. They're sold on a stick, but are also usually chopped up and cooked in with the ddeokbokki. We did check out multiple ddeokbokki stands, hoping one might leave the odeng out, but no such luck. We decided we could live with it, so Mipa just asked the lady to not scoop any odeng into our cup. And it was fine. Fine? I mean divine!
haha, ok, that's an exaggeration. I do like ddeokbokki. But it is those displays of multi-colored ddeok that catch my eye every time!
This one was located at Mipa's subway station, so I passed it all the time!
Some ddeok is more like a floury cake (squares in front of picture), often with raisins, fruit or nuts; others are more dense and moist, sometimes with a liquid filling (the pink, white and green on the top right). This ddeok stand also had other snacks and goodies, like nuts, seeds, dried fruits, and crunchy concoctions. Talk about an accidentally vegan snack stand!
I bought these crunchy seaweed sticks. They were actually more sweet than salty, which is interesting for seaweed... but still perfectly munchable.
I ate them that afternoon with some ddeok.
The white one is one of my favorites. My first Korean boss taught me that it's called "moshi," because of its Japanese origin. She also told me that it's good for your stomach lining. Yes... Why? Because it has such a smooth texture, like you would want your stomach lining to be. It does have a verrrry silky smooth texture, but who knows. And the powder is so fine that I usually end up breathing some into my lungs! Moshi is always a little larger than the colored ones (which means more bean filling!). I don't know if it's a little sweeter than other ddeok or what, but despite (maybe because of) its very subdued flavor, I enjoy it more than any of the colored/flavored ones!
I also bought this interesting "pine bud" drink to accompany my snack. If you've ever climbed a pine tree and got sap on your hands and then ended up licking your hands, you know that sap is bitter and gross - even if it has a hint of "pine scent." This drink tasted like pine, pure pine. It wasn't bitter, or sweet, or salty. Just cool, piney and fresh. Mipa thought it tasted like soap, but I actually liked it! Even while enjoying the familiar, there's always something new to try!
In addition to a bunch of packaged food, I did bring home something completely not mass produced.
A loaf of Mipa's homemade carrot cake! Mipa surprised me with this farewell gift as I was packing my bags to leave her apartment. I rationed it over the next few breakfasts back in my apartment.
One morning I had a few slices with some Thai fruit that I think is called langsat. It's similar to longan (ลำไย - "lamyay"), but the main difference is that it has sections; longan is just one round piece. Langsat is juicy, sweet and a little sour; nice and refreshing in the morning.
It grows on a bunch, like this. It's not too hard to peel, but the skin is extremely sticky. Even after I wash my hands and the knife, there's still a tacky residue! Ugly yellow skin, almost as bad as super glue.. but still a very tasty fruit!
You can't see exactly what I'm smiling about, so I'll tell you. This was somewhere around Hongdae area of Seoul. Lots of Korean restaurants and cafes obviously, such as the one on the left in the background. Then I saw the big yellow sign in Spanish: el Avion. Ooh, two languages I know! And THEN, I saw that the orange-signed restaurant was Thai! Ahh! Tic-tac-toe three in a row! My worlds combine! haha!
