My Fix of Korean Food - Woo Jung

Was dining last night with two Canadian pescatarians (and it’s not often I get chance to say that) and we decided to go back to Woo Jung where we all had dinner two years ago. Because I can’t get Korean food in Chichester, whenever I’m in London I try to persuade whoever I’m meeting to eat Korean. Neither Sam nor Trisha is strict about not eating meat, but I was happy that the restaurant was able to accommodate their preferences.

A couple of Korean friends of mine have told me in the past that Woo Jung isn’t good Korean food, and maybe it's not high-class stuff, but I’ve always liked it as a cheap and cheerful place with tasty food and ultra-convenient location. The downstairs dining area is now even more comfortable as they’ve taken down the wall that made the room feel small, and added more lanterns.

We started with pajeon (seafood pancake), then shared modeum namul (mixed marinated vegetables), kimchi, saengsun jjigae (spicy seafood stew) and meat-free bibimbap (mixed vegetables, fried egg and rice in sizzling hot bowl) and japchae (glass noodles). All the food came out fast and was completely delicious, especially when washed down with cold Hite beers. The vegetables were crunchy and the rice freshly cooked, and the seafood stew had big chunks of fish.

Sam and Trisha were happy to try a few new dishes and are now even bigger fans of Korean food. And I made it back to Chichester on my late train, satisfied to have got my fix of Korean food. All in all, thumbs up to Woo Jung. Tasty dinner in central London for £18 a head.

Woo Jung is at 59 St Giles High Street, London, near Tottenham Court Road tube. Open Monday to Saturday 12-24, Sunday 17-24. Telephone 020 7836 3103

Recipe for Bibimbap

Bibimbap is one of my all-time favourite Korean foods. It's something I could eat every day (OK, test me). Why? It's a mix of everything good: rice, vegetables, egg and hot sauce, and it's simple, fresh, tasty and healthy. It can be adapted depending on what's local and seasonal. I want to learn to make it properly, seasoning all the vegetables in a Korean way.

And the Jeonju Bibimbap Festival is just starting in Korea! Jeonju is where bibimbap originated, and Jeonju bibimbap is known for having good quality and taste. And Mr Kim, the new director at the Korean Tourism Organization in London, is from Jeonju so I really should learn how to make it. In fact, he's threatening to film me making it, which of course will be hilarious.

Anyway, I've just found a fabulously simple-sounding recipe online, courtesy of About.com, which starts thus: Bibimbap is delicious, gorgeous on the plate, and easily tweaked for different palates... I've included 6 vegetables in this recipe, but you can easily make it with just 3 or 4 or what you happen to have in your fridge.

What's not to love? Just go for it...

http://koreanfood.about.com/od/riceandnoodlerecipes/r/Bibimbap.htm

Lovely letter from John Grove

John Grove writes:

Just read your book and loved it. I went to Korea to install a machine about a year before the Seoul Olympics. It was my first trip to the Far East and a hell of a culture shock and a temperature shock, it was winter. It started on KAL from Paris when the safety announcment was made "Your stewardess will now demonstrate" etc. Where are they? Ah they are now apearing over the seats as they unold from their deep bows!

Christmas in Korea saw the Salvation army out ringing bells and collecting money.

Jingle bells being played everywhere until you were fed up with it.

Collected every morning for work in a Ford Cortina, built by Hyundai. Finding Hyundai should be pronounced Hoondy. Kia only produced a pick up truck then that rejoiced in the name Kiamaster Bongo.

I got to like Kimchi too. It was served every day in the works canteen. My Dutch and English colleagues on this factory start up hated it.

Did you realise the 2 handed beer bottle pouring was only done to superiors? Those of the same rank or below don't get it.

Although the guide book said the Korean language was not related to Chinese there is a similarity to Mandarin? Namdeamun, the great south gate in mandarin is Nan da men. I can see mandarin in other Korean words in your book.

Thanks, John!

Free Bibimbap! Korea at World Travel Market

Message from the Korea Tourism Organization:

Exhibitor: Korea Tourism Organization (KTO) - stand number AS650

Whats New/ Participants: We have increased the space of our stand to just over 100sqm and it's a double-decker! A record 14 Ground Operators will be attending WTM 2010 from Korea all eager to do business in all sectors; Korea Association of Travel Agents and the Korea Food Tourism Promotion (Korea Food Association) will keep WTM hunger-free, with daily preparation of Bibimbap!

 

**On Monday 8th November, trade partners will be invited to a luncheon event at the Novotel Hotel Excel, for the latest travel news from Korea and a demonstration in the preparation of the famous dish 'Bibimbap'

 

What's being promoted:

Under the strapline - 'Recharge your energy in Korea' KTO is looking to promote X key areas: Cruise market (a growing sector in Korea with 11 ports); UNESCO World Heritage sites (recently Hahoe and Yangdong Historic Villages added to the UNESCO World Heritage listing; Taekwondo market (having signed a new one year partnership with Sport Taekwondo UK the performance arm of the British Taekwondo Control Board); Sports Tourism in general with F1 & 2011 World Athletics champs coming up. Online marketing initiatives

 

Anything for Agents:

Learn about our social media intiatives and sign-up at www.facebook.com/coolstuffkorea &www.twitter.com/coolstuffkorea

Agents can learn about or online training resources as we have refreshed, revised and made our online training manual www.koreatraining.co.uk more user-friendly, helpful and interesting. Redesigned under a new tagline – ‘Korea, be inspired’ – the new-look site includes five key training modules plus a new resource centre full of press cuttings and plenty more bits of useful information for the travel professional.

 

Agents Day:

Try Korean Cuisine - the famous dish Bibimbap on the stand

 

A unique opportunity to learn Korean samulnori rhythms in London

Jeung-Hyun Choi, a traditional Korean percussion player and managing director of the Korean percussion group Dulsori, is running a workshop in London suitable for anyone interested in having fun with good friends in a relaxed atmostphere.

Saturday November 6th, 4.30 to 6 pm
St Marks Church, Myddleton Square, London EC1R 1XX
Cost £5, all instruments provided, book by 3rd November.

Learn the powerful rhythms of samulnori, rural percussion dating back to antiquity, said to create yin/yang balance in the cosmos! Ms Choi has taught for 20 years and led many workshops including SOAS World Music Summer School in 2008. She also makes a mean kimchi, I happen to know :-)

To book, contact:
Jeung Hyun Choi jeunghyunk40@gmail.com 07981-298 638
or Lennie Charles lennie.charles@googlemail.com 07534-736806

Seoul in the Seventies

Wendy Godwin was one of the first people to write to me after reading my book MEETING MR KIM. It brought back memories of the years she lived there with her husband and two small children in the 70s, when her husband was involved in setting up a bank there. She said 'I have never found another place like it' - so true.
Last week she sent me a copy of some old Super 8 film they made when they were there, which she's had converted onto DVD. So interesting to see it. Seoul already had plenty of tall buildings against that stunning backdrop of craggy hills, but the streets were so empty of traffic -- a couple of boxy looking little cars, and lots of people wandering around (in their high-waisted flares) where now they would be mowed down by speeding vehicles... Poignant to watch the little kids clambering over temple steps and in forest-covered mountains. It struck me what a great place Korea is to travel with young children.
Wendy says: 'There were no private cars for the general public at all - just bright blue taxis "ponies" (that was the make of car) and black chauffeur driven government and business cars.' She adds, 'Did you  notice my daughter in her headscarf - she became very distressed with the number of people that stroked her blonde hair wherever we went and so we tried to cover it up!'
Wendy's husband Peter set up the first Merchant Bank in Korea in the late Seventies. He visited over 80 times and was recognised by the Korean government for his services to finance; he also received the CBE from the Queen in 1992. He loved Korea, says Wendy. 

'Natural Heritage of Korea, Dokdo' published by the Cultural Heritage Administration ROK

The inside flap of this book explains the calligraphy used on the cover came from a word written in blood on the national flag of Korea in March 1909 during the struggle for independence from Japanese colonial ruling.

Dokdo is a tiny, rugged island in the East Sea between Korea and Japan, and a much disputed territory. The photos in the book show it as green in spring and summer, sunny in autumn and with a light dusting of snow in winter. But the dominant landscape is simply an unwelcoming mass of jagged black rock rising from the sea. It is in fact made up of Dongdo and Seodo and 89 other rocks, formed over 250 million years ago by oceanic lava eruption, a rare example of a seamount rising to the surface according to this incredibly technical and detailed tome.

200 kilometres from the mainland, it has a rare ecosystem with many migrating birds, and is now being studied and protected, with natural reserve status for over a decade. As well as the gulls, herons, wagtails and so on there’s the peregrine falcon, cattle egret, white-bellied green pigeon, blue rock thrush, Narcissus flycatcher. The photos also show some of the sea creatures around the island, including interesting starfish; I didn’t realise that starfish with long arms are from deep sea, and those with short arms such as the sea star stay in shallow water.

This book is, as I say, a gathering of some pretty technical scientific information, perhaps as proof of how much Korea cares about this forbidding piece of land. According to my Lonely Planet, there is good diving for experienced divers on the nearby island of Ulleungdo, and visitors to Ulleungdo looking for something a little more rugged can take a ferry to Dokdo during the summer months. It looks like a place for photographers, birdwatchers and nature lovers in general. I’d certainly be tempted to take a trip.

The Korea Tourism Organization announces partnership with UK Sport Taekwondo

The British International Taekwondo Championships & UK Sport Taekwondo have confirmed a new partnership with the Korea Tourism Organization geared towards engaging with fans of the martial art, and opening up travel offers to the membership base of Sport Taekwondo UK and the British Taekwondo Control Board over the next 12 months. The Korea Tourism Organization looks forward to further stimulating interest in Korea as the ‘home of Taekwondo’.

The recent ‘British International Taekwondo Championships’ (24^th & 25^th Sept) held in Manchester provided the perfect event and occasion to ‘kick-start’ the partnership.   

In conjunction with our participation at the ‘British International Taekwondo Championships’, KTO are giving the chance for two lucky people to win an incredible trip to Korea, in partnership with Funway Holidays and Finnair. To be in with a chance of winning go to www.gokorea.co.uk/taekwondo

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