Tuesday, May 27, 2008

Jeotgal 젓갈 Part 2




Seeing and eating the jeotgal reminded me of a great experience when I was in Seoul last November. Professor C and I went to Noryangjin Seafood Market노량진수산시장 to see the sights and eat some fish. The professor escorted me around while I took tons of pictures and then we got down to the business of seafood. We stopped at a live fish monger and picked out a couple of strange looking fish. They were sent to a restaurant in another part of the market to be cooked for us later. We also stopped and bought several varieties of jeotgal. I was overwhelmed by the display and the quantity. Some of the small shrimp vats were as big as barrels. My favorite from that day was the oyster jeotgal. My mouth waters just thinking about it. I was planning on bringing some back to Mount Vernon but decided that customs might have a problem with raw seafood. We ate the jeotgal little by little over the rest of my stay.

Sunday, May 25, 2008

Jeotgal 젓갈 at Aurora Market

I drove down to Shoreline and Lynnwood to buy Korean groceries. The first stop was Aurora Oriental Market at 15202 Aurora Ave N in Shoreline. It's across the parking lot from Old Village Korean Restaurant. I've shopped at this market since the early 90's. I think that is why I developed a taste for jeotgal. Jeotgal is raw seafood preserved by salting and fermenting it. Aurora has a self serve case with many kinds that you use tongs to pack into plastic containers. My favorites are raw squid strips and baby octopus. I've also eaten prepared fish intestines, oysters and clams. Naturally it's all very salty and not meant to be eaten in great quantities. I think a few pieces with steamed rice is best. Aurora Market is a great place to shop and seems to have better prices than the bigger Korean stores farther north in Edmonds and Lynnwood.



Friday, May 23, 2008

Shigumchi (Spinach) Namul 시금치나물



I made Shigumchi namul today. It's a Korean side dish that both of my foreign students really like. It's basically blanched spinach that's been wrapped in a towel to dry and then cut into bite size pieces. A soy sauce / sesame oil dressing is then added. Washing the spinach is a bit of a pain but other than that it's an easy way to get tasty vegetables on the table. Sorry for the Ziploc container but that is what functions as a serving dish in my house.