I found these today, leftover from Lunar New Year. We met up with a bunch of friends in Jeonju and went to Makgeolli street and indulged! If you ever get the chance, get to a proper Makgeolli house and spoil yourself with this alcoholic bevvie and the food and side dishes that come with it.
With each of these lovely, beat up kettle pots of Makgeolli comes a slew of food.
This picture is what came with the first kettle.
Of course, after a few kettles and a full belly some people at the table may try their hand at sculpture. …I think this was supposed to be a lamb?
There’s one korean dish that I’ve had before and it’s probably the only thing that I’ve tried and disliked (I am not a picky eater, you can flip through this blog for proof). This one dish though makes it into the list of the worst smelling food in the world; it’s called hongeo samhap. ‘Sam’ means ‘three’ in Korean and the dish has three parts: fermented skate, kimchi and boiled pork belly. It’s the fermented skate (hongeo, 홍어) that lands this dish on the list. According to a few websites, during the fermentation the skate releases uric acid and develops a very distinct ammonia smell and flavour. I had the luxury of trying it again and, I must say, it’s still hard to stomach. Initially, it tastes quite good. Being old and fermented fish though, you have to start chewing. Really grinding your teeth through the fish brings the ammonia out and the fumes start to burn out your nostrils.
I had to try it again. I can’t honestly guarantee that I won’t try it again in the future, as well. It’s not for the faint of heart or the weak of stomach, I would liken it to a mouthful of Windex.
