Korean Food Adventure ( in Korea this time)

Most of you know that I had the luck to be selected for a Korean Studies Fellowship to travel to Korea for two weeks.  Not only did we tour the country, but we also had an opportunity to eat many different types of Korean cuisine and get a sense of the culinary tradition of this country.  I definitely enjoyed myself with the many adventures and want to share a few with you.  Above, the national dish, Kimchee (pickled cabbage) is pictured.  Every version of kimchee that was served was absolutely delicious.  Korea, being a peninsula and criss-crossed by rivers, also has a long tradition of serving seafood and the fish below is an example of how it was served to us.  At the first restaurant we visited the server deboned the fish for us.  After this we were left to our own devices, which was not always so elegant.  I can't remember the word (maybe someone can help me) for bon apetit, but I do remember the translation, "eat now!"

Another traditional dish we tried was cornish game hen prepared in a stone pot.  The hen was stuffed with rice, ginseng root, a chestnut, and a date.  Then it was cooked for several hours and served in the pot.  It was served with a side of salt and hot sauce so I could spice it myself.  We ate this on a cold day that capped a lot of walking around, which was the perfect dish for me when I was tired.  On a side note, I shared this with Yongjin, the Director of the Fellowship program, she ate the accompanying chili peppers by first dipping them in hot sauce, wowwee!