Food

After a year and a half in Asia, I would sell my soul for the delicious, spicy familiarity of a Chipotle burrito. That said, Korea has some seriously mouth-watering delicacies that I will doubtless miss when I leave. Here are a few of my favorites:

Kimchi: Ask almost any Korean person his or her favorite food and you're probably going to hear "kimchi" as the answer. It's the national dish, a super food filled with vitamins that aids with digestion, it's supposed to keep you happy and healthy if you eat it every day -- the more you scarf down, the better. Any table at any restaurant in all of Korea will have at least one plate of spicy pickled cabbage coated with chili sauce. Kimchi comes in hundreds of varieties and is at its best when made at home by a loving grandmother. Women get together to make kimchi each winter, a long and laborious process of mixing vegetables and spices in a large bowl with increasingly tired arms. Last November about twenty other foreigners and I helped a friend to make kimchi in her bar.

Korean Barbecue: Name your variety: samgyupsal, galbi, duck, chicken, eel -- all of it is fabulous. This dish is grilled on a barbecue set into the table over either a gas heat source or a bucket of charcoals nestled next to restaurant patrons' toes -- like most Korean food, this stuff is best enjoyed sitting on the floor with your legs crossed under the table. The server places a slab of meat on the grill where it pops and sizzles next to mushrooms, onions, garlic and kimchi. When it's looking browned and just a little bit crispy, you take out tongs and scissors to dice it into bite-sized pieces. Next, you take a leaf of lettuce and spread it across the palm of your hand, then drop a bit of meat into the center with your chopsticks. Add a scoop of spicy red bean paste called samjeong, a few veggies, a bit of kimchi and a slice of garlic, then wrap the whole thing with your lettuce leaf and stuff it into your mouth, all in one bite.

Chamchi jjigae: This spicy tuna soup sustained me all last fall and into the winter. It comes out boiling and bubbling in a little black cauldron, hot enough to scald your entire mouth, as I discovered the first time I tried it. The soup is orange with hot spices and full of mushrooms, cabbage, onions and tuna. It even has oval-shaped slices of rice cake, just to prove it's really Korean. Chamci chiggae always comes with a little cup of rice that I mix in with the soup to give it some density and protect myself from burning my mouth by eating it too fast.

Halloween rolls: It coud be argued that these are not really Korean, but I've only ever found them here so I'm still mentioning them. These sushi-esque rolls are served wrapped in seaweed and rice dotted with sesame seeds. Inside is the best part -- a surprisingly delicious crunchy and creamy combination of pumpkin and fried chicken.

Mandu: Korea's dumpling. These doughy balls stuffed wtih a blend of meat, veggies and rice noodles can be enjoyed in many ways. They come in soups, with ramen, stuffed with kimchi, the size of your thumb or of two fists together, boiled or fried. All are delicious and worth trying, especially dipped in the spicy sauce that accompanies them in restaurants.

Juk: Korean cuisine offers no better way to warm up from the inside out on a frigid winter day than with a heaping bowl of this rice porridge. The hearty and creamy rice has meat and vegetables mixed in. I go for tuna vegetable, but there are more interesting varieties such as kimchi octopus for the adventuresome. The meal comes in a bowl the size of your face with an array side dishes to mix in for extra flavor: spiced, dried beef, kimchi, spicy red paste. The meal usually finishes with cool plum tea to cleanse the palate.

Chamchi Doep-bab: Spicy red stew of tuna, vegetables and kimchi, served mixed with strips of dried seaweed and steamed white rice.

Kimbap: Korea's answer to fast food. These rolls look like sushi, but they're filled with pickled raddish, ham, fish paste, carrots and other vegetables, all wrapped in rice and seaweed. It comes in a variety of flavors with stuffings like tuna, kimchi, even fried pork. One of my favorites is the classic kimbap wrapped in a blanket of scrambled egg.

Soju: This cheap (about a dollar a bottle) strong (20% to 45% alcohol) clear liquor is a staple of Korean culture. Some drink it straight, others mix it with cola, cider (like Sprite), fruit cocktails or even with beer to make a drink called "so-mek" (beer is called "mekju) in Korean). You'll find a bottle or five on just about every restaurant table in the country, and crowds of old men drunk off it stumbling home each night through any area with bars.