Intercultural Life

Tag: tteokbokki

Exploring Korean Markets and Delicious Street Food

Exploring Korean markets and delicious street food!

We have shown Mangwon markets before in videos but we haven’t really been able to do it justice. This time we had Yoojin filming and Joel also got some good shots for us. I always find Korean open markets to be really fascinating and it’s a great way to see local culture. The street food places at the markets usually have somewhere to sit down inside which is more comfortable than standing and eating at the cart street food like in other places. I really like the tteokbokki there!

Local markets are a great place to do grocery shopping as the prices are a lot cheaper than the bigger stores. We generally buy our fruit and vegetables at the markets and only buy foreign items like cheese and butter at HomePlus or Emart. If you go to the markets in the evening the prices often drop even more.

Another reason to go to the markets is of course the food. There is great street food at the markets but also other small restaurants with great food and cheap prices. Since they are operating out of a small area and people can just take and eat as they walk, they can keep the prices down. Korean people eat out A LOT and these types of places allow people to do it regularly and cheaply.

If you are visiting Korea make sure you check out some markets as there are many around. Korean tourism often tries to push people to Gangnam or other modernized areas of Seoul but if you want a more authentic experience go to where the local people are shopping and socializing.

Mangwon markets also merges into the World Cup markets so it’s technically two markets in one. The Mangwon area is also an up and coming area with many small, quirky business and great food moving in. Once you are finished at the markets you can check out some of the great cafes in the area. Also the Han river is not too far away which is another important aspect of people’s lives in Seoul.

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Cooking Video – Tteokbokki

Another cooking video! We didn’t show the recipe exactly because there are lots of recipes online and they are all pretty similar. We wanted to show the extra things you can put into tteokbokki which can make it even better.

By the way, it wasn’t three of us eating all that tteokbokki! There were many people eating it, we just didn’t show them.

It can be interesting observing the Korean hierarchy sometimes. You’ll notice in the video I pointed out how my husband acts in relation to his sister sometimes. She is only one year younger than him but it can make all the difference. Of course she has to call him “oppa” but also, she can’t really be on equal terms with him. It’s very different to the relationships I have with my siblings where age doesn’t make much difference. My sister-in-law however, will listen patiently to lectures from my husband and will be respectful to him even when he does annoying things like take her food. My siblings wouldn’t put up with me doing that.

My husband was the eldest Korean in the house while we were there. Typhoon (who you have seen before and get a glimpse of his tattooed leg in the video) learnt the slang phrase “top dog” from some Australian friends and felt that was the best way to describe in English what my husband’s position in the household was in regards to them. So before we arrived he was talking about the “top dog” coming back.

Anyway, back to the food! It was really good! It was a combined effort. Adele was behind the camera but also giving some directions of what to put in. I really liked the cheese version as well. If you have trouble eating really spicy food it’s a good way of eating tteokbokki without it being too spicy. The cheese really takes away the edge and melted cheese is always delicious.

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