Monday, March 18, 2013

Seoul 11.12 - Nolboo budae jjigae

One of the best things in Seoul is that many restaurants open 24 hours a day, and there are fun and exciting choices for all!

Near by our hotel there was a Nolboo. It's a popular chain restaurant that serves budae jjigae. Budae jjigae literally translated to "military/army stew," and it originally came about when, after the war, food was not readily available, and people uses the surplus food items that the U.S. Army bases supplied, mixed with chili paste and kimchi to make this "fusion" dish!

At the second floor.

Look who greeted us at the door!

There were different meats, vegetables, mushrooms, and rice cakes, and the ajuma was pouring broth into the pan.

These little rice cakes were my favorite. They were so cute!

Like Myeongdong Kyoja, the chopsticks and long spoons were in the drawers.

Of course there were some kimchi.

View from above the pan.

We let everything cook for a while, and then everything turned red! There must be some gochujiang (hot chili paste) hidden underneath from the beginning! Oh it was spicy and delicious!




The Budae Jjigae pan looked gigantic in the photos, but the pan itself was pretty shallow so there wasn't a ton of food, but with the rice, kimchi, and other sides that come with the jjigae it was a very satisfying meal.

And I really enjoyed these "eating while cooking for yourself" style of restaurants in Seoul!

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