First Time Experience of Eating Raw Crabs

We spent some time trying to locate the restaurant that served Ganjang Gejang (Raw Crabs Marinated in Soy Sauce) in Seoul. The outlet called Jinma Sikdang in Seoul has no fancy signboard and the interior is simple and plain. It is tucked in a very obscure location and is rather difficult to find. Surprisingly, it is an outlet that is accredited with Michelin Guide for five years from 2017 to 2022 except 2019 because of the raw crabs they serve. 

A search in the internet shows that this dish takes quite an effort to prepare. A marinade of soy sauce, sugar, sesame oil, scallions, ginger, garlic and red chilli pepper paste is boiled first before being poured over the salted crabs. Crabs are thoroughly cleaned and then salted for about six hours. An hour later, the marinade is removed and reboiled and poured over the salted crabs again. This process is repeated a few times before the dish is chilled and eaten cold.

There is no specific way to eat this marinated raw crabs. My niece demonstrated how she normally eat them. The salted raw crab meat is squeezed out from the crab over steamed rice spread over Nori sheet or seaweed sheet. Depending on individual preference, one can add in kimchi and mixed vege before wrapping up for consumption!

This is one dish I do not consider as a dish I am particularly fond of. This is probably my first and the last :)

Gyeongbokgung Palace & Secret Garden in the Rain

We were fortunate to enjoy good weather throughout our 9-day tour of South Korea except on the 5 May 2023. On that particular day, it was raining intermittently from 9.30am to 12.30pm when we toured Gyeongbokgung in Seoul. 

Entry to the Secret Garden however is a guided tour. We joined the very first group who was led by a Korean lady who spoke perfect English.

The original Gyeongbokgung (景福宮) built in 1395 was the royal palace of the Joseon Dynasty. The original palace was destroyed in a fire during the Japanese invasion of Korea in the 1590's. 

During the reign of Daewongun in 1867, the royal palace was reconstructed within a massive compound that occupied almost 433,000 sq. m (43 Ha) of land. The massive complex consisted of 330 buildings and 5,792 rooms. It was then the pride of the Korea.

But similar to many countries ruled by monarchy, monarchy could not stand the test of time. The Korean monarchy too was disposed after the defeat of Japan at the end of World War II in 1945. 

In the 19th century, a very significant number of these destroyed buildings were restored. The design of these restored buildings was based on the architecture of the ancient Korean royal court.

In early 20th century, much of these restored buildings were destroyed again by the Japanese during the latter aggressive expansion of the Japanese Empire.

What we see today within the walled palace complex are buildings restored since the 1990's. Since Korea was once ruled by Kublai Khan under Mongol Empire or the Yuan Dynasty in China, much of the Gyeongbokgung has the architectural features of the Chinese old buildings of the Yuan Dynasty.

In terms of size, grandeur and extravagance, it dwarfs against the Forbidden City of China.  The Forbidden City occupies 720,000 sq. m (72 Ha) with 980 buildings and close to 8,900 rooms!

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A significant time spent in the Palace compound was touring the Secret Garden of Changgyeonggung (昌德宮). The kings of the Joseon Dynasty loved Changgyeonggung Palace. It is surrounded by spacious gardens and a series of lotus ponds. 

Buyongji.

An ingenious old design of door hinge.

Beautiful pavilion built next to the lotus pond.

Aeryeonji.

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Injeongjeon (仁政殿) is the throne hall where the kings had audiences with ministers, official ceremonies and receptions of foreign envoys.

This compound of Injeongjeon is quite different compared to the Forbidden City in China. There are specific designated areas for each grade of civil servants or government officials to line up and assemble. Apparently, in the old days in China and Korea, there are eighteen grades or ranks for government officials. To climb the ladder upward, an official needed exceptional quality and possessed the skill to manoeuvre through the network of bureaucracy and even the hidden power held by the concubines!

Food Galore in Jeju

Before our trip to Korea, the only Korean food that we are familiar with is Kimchi and Bibimbap. In this trip, our niece introduced many other Korean dishes which are not readily available in Sabah. These are all popular food in Korea.

Gogigui (Korean BBQ)

Our dinner after touring Dongmun Traditional Market (Read here) is Gogigui. The restaurant that serves Korean BBQ is within walking distance from Hotel Leo at Sammu-ro, Jeju-si, the hotel where we put up for our three-night stay in Jeju Island.

Unlike BBQ outlets in KK which use gas stoves, Korea still manages to keep the tradition of using charcoal-fired grills. The grill with exhaust suction pipe to remove the smoke is set up in the dining tables for barbequing food at the restaurant.

We had raw beef sushi and barbecued black pork. Eating raw beef is another new experience for me. Surprisingly, raw beef tasted good. Black pork is not black but normal pork meat colour cut out from black-haired pigs. Koreans are proud of their black-haired pigs - a breed found in Jeju Island. 

Not surprisingly, black pig is chosen as the

restaurant's symbol.

Raw beef sushi.

Black pork.

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Grilled Abalone

Myeongin Jeonbok Abalone Restaurant at Haemajihaean-ro, Jeju-si at the north-eastern tip of Jeju Island is known for serving a variety of abalone dishes.  We tried all their well-known dishes - grilled abalone, abalone stone pot rice and abalone porridge. Grilled mackerel was offered for free.

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Grilled Cutlassfish

We had lunch at Chunsimine after our visit to the "Mysterious Road" at the central northern part of Jeju Island. Chunsimine is known for the grilled cutlassfish or hairtail fish. Cutlassfish is a long-bodied marine fish having a whiplike scaleless body and sharp teeth. That was my first experience of eating a grilled cutlassfish.

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After visiting Hanhwa Aqua Planet Aquarium, my niece took us to a small restaurant. This restaurant is tucked in a back lane and the compound perimeter fence and the small entrance is well camouflaged by plants, creepers and vines. It was therefore difficult to identify it in the first glance. Once inside, we chose a table at the centre of this medium size restaurant.

The main dishes we ordered are Korean pancakes, porridge, beef, raw prawns and raw abalone.