Tosokchon Samgyetang, Gwanghwamun, you said what now???

Samgyetang; A whole chicken stuffed with sticky rice and all sorts of other goodies, a traditional Korean classic dish that cleverly blends medicine and things that are good for you and things that taste good. Apparently one of the best in Seoul is in Gwanghwamun, a place called Tosokchon Samgyetang....... we can't pronounce any of this but we're gonna give it a go. After a quick slightly hair raising cab to the vicinity a quick orientation, one wrong turn and directions from a jewellery store owner we were there.



Despite the small nondescript shop front the restaurant sprawls back from the entrance with half a dozen rooms off a large cobbled central courtyard with trees and ponds all under the roof.



We're led to a room at the far end, ditch our shoes at the entrance and find a seat at the long communal table. I'm not much of a fan of floor seating (near instant numb limbs) but it's all there is. Finally wedged in we survey the menu, surrounds, table etiquette, the people.. we're complete gawking tourists but this was to be our first meal in Korea, curiosity was great and the expectations were high.

We were here for the braised chicken so one of those was our first choice, we go one step further and order a black skinned chicken stuffed and cooked, we tried to order something else as well but were brusquely rebuffed by the stern waitresses, we guessed they thought we should try one and see if we wanted another, could have been they were sold out or a myriad of other reasons but we couldn't speak to any one and we were happy to sit back and see what happened anyways.

Despite the massive size of the place within seconds we have half a dozen small plates of kimchi's and raw garlic and other accompaniments and moments after that the chicken arrives bubbling away in a cast iron pot, a few pieces of black skin break the murky surface of the broth other than that nothing else is given away as to what inhabits it's depths.



First off a tentative taste of all the sides, the apple kimchi is awesome; chunks of raw apple coated in a spicy puree lightly curing the apple but still leaving a bit of crunch, and the raw garlic is mild and not at all as scary as the prospect of eating raw garlic sounds.



With the tasting out of the way it was chicken time, after a bit of fishing around with our chopsticks we start to pull out pieces of chicken, the hours braising leaves the flesh falling from the bone, but it's when we get to the stuffing that the real action happens.



The rice is unctuous full of flavour from the stock it was cooked in and full of treasures; red dates, gingseng root, walnuts, pinenuts, chestnuts, ginko nuts, sunflower seeds and all sorts of other goodies giving the soft glutinous rice a lovely texture. The broth surrounding the chicken is the best of chicken broths - I wish all medicine could be this good! We spend a good half an hour draining the bowl and leaving nothing but a stripped carcass sitting in the bottom.
The pondering is long and hard about whether or not we should order another chicken but we decide on a wander of the streets to see if we can't turn up another morsel or two.

The plastic tab that is our menu doubles as our bill, the whole experience costing us 20,000 won, or a mere 20 dollars.



on the way out we find a poster displaying the amazing amount of ingredients in the samgyetan.



It is a grand introduction into Korean cuisine.

Tosokchon Samgyetang
Seoul-si Jongno-gu Chebu-dong 85-1

Checking in on an old friend, Tian Tian, Singapore

On our recent trip back to Singapore, Tian Tian Hainese chicken at Maxwell food centre was on our to-eat list. We had visited previously, and were well impressed with their chicken rice.. the finest example we have found of this classic dish. We wanted to check in on this old friend, the succulent boiled chicken, plump slices sitting on a fragrant rice with a bowl of the peppered cooking broth.



Our friend is doing well, and still as delicious as ever. All washed down with a glass of fresh sugarcane juice from the stall across the way. We will see you both next time we are in Singapore!

Tian Tian Hiananese Chicken Rice
Stall no. 10
Maxwell Food Center
11 S Bridge Road, Singapore 058656

11am - 8pm, closed Monday


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Marrakech Tagine

So we were on our way to lunch. Meeting with I and H and they're LATE.... I guess It's understandable y'know being in a strange town in a strange country and all. On the plus side it gave us time to read the menu of our chosen dining venue and watch the type of clients who were dining there. In this case it was tourist groups and it dawned on us maybe this wasn't the type of place we wanted to be eating. So we started to scout around within minutes we found what we were looking for, an alley with a line of tagines up against the wall a steady steam of these were being picked up and carried off for delivery lunches.



Basic math; Busy with locals = good food. So when I and H arrive we veto our current plans and head down the alley. It's a simple affair, a dozen tagines sitting over glowing coals, a choice of chicken or lamb, with or without bread. You order a tagine it is whipped off the coals and placed in front of you. Another is then made by the hugely funny teen assistant (swimming in his butchers coat that he'll grow into in about twenty years) and replaced on the coals. The teen asks if we're American, to which we reply "no", his answer of "good" earns him a clip around the ears.



A lift of the lid reveals potatoes, carrots, peas, tomato and herbs plus your protein of choice it's fragrant and simple....simply delicious.



We have no trouble finishing our portions, but in case you can't you just save half of your bread and it's split open, stuffed with the remainder of your tagine and wrapped for a later snack.



We eat there several times in our stay, each time the various locals eating there greet us with a nod that seems to say "I see your not eating at the tourist trap next door....well done". If you seem to be coming back often enough you are invited to pre-order for the next day, with a seafood or special vegetable tagine on that menu. Maybe next time.

Putting down a Hāngi at the Brick

Last night the community was treated to a traditional style Maori hangi at the Brick. People trickled in all afternoon, inspecting the coals and pile of mud in anticipation.

Games of frisbee and cricket were played on the street and many beers were drunk. Until there was movement ... shovels ... and the unveiling began.

This was my first experience of a Hangi ... I wasn't too sure what to expect as they were shoveling away the dirt, but then came sheets of cloth ...

Followed by layers of heshen sacks.

Then wire baskets were removed from the steaming pit. The top one containing potatoes and cabbage. As the next baskets were being removed, it was as if they were holding little treasures. Each one clearly containing something different, but everything was wrapped in Fuku leaves, which are a type of wild plant that has a stem like rhubarb and giant lilly like leaves.

The first basket to be attacked contained the potatoes and cabbage.

I did manage to take a plate and chopsticks from the pile, but somehow completely failed to get any salad at all ... must have consciously been saving more room for meat!

Oh, the meat. Whole chickens with stuffing, roast lamb with rosemary and roast pork with pumpkin, cinnamon, thyme & sugar.

Lucky I saved all that room with no salad, as the first plate disappeared in a flash, and seconds ... then thirds, soon followed.

The roast chicken was so moist, steamed under the earth with so much natural flavor. The pork and pumpkin combo just perfect. The roast lamb, ahhhh, reminds me of home. The potatoes, would have like to have some sour cream and chives to slather on top, they were just lacking any character - possibly due to the fact they are last seasons harvest ... We are eagerly awaiting delicious new season Kutchan potatoes. But the cabbage, oh ... my ... goodness. This humble little vegetable was the standout amongst the crowd for the whole night. The core was removed and filled with butter and Mae Ploy Thai Green Curry Paste. The cabbage was meltingly tender, oh-so-buttery and with a nice hint of spice. Genius!

When Waza - Niseko's resident Kiwi - is on point, he has some moments of sheer genius. Take his bagels for instance .... don't even get me started on the Jalapeno popper bagels.

Let's hope we can convince Waza to make this a regular thing during Summer.

the Brick

Open Tuesday nights in Summer for darts and burgers

Open late Winter, serving kebabs, burgers and 500yen drinks

& sporadically throughout the year for random dance parties and Hangi

It's a force ... pulling us in! Back at Cyan, the Met., Bangkok

Only hours have passed and we find ourselves drifting back towards the Met. for todays lunch. Also hard to beat the fact that they too are offering crazy lunch deals like we had been finding here and here. Cyan was offering a 3 course lunch set for around 700B. We like lunch deals like this, it let's us go crazy on wine and other extras ..... to which we started out with a glass of white and of red wine.



They came in cute little cylindrical glasses, the white even in it's own ice bucket. These were then poured into our wine glasses waiting on the table, which allowed us to share first the white wine, and follow with the red.



A basket of bread is then placed in front of us, with 2 slices each of sour dough, rye and 7 grain. So soft and fluffy, a scraping of soft butter the perfect accompaniment.



We then tackle our choices. The first choice, salmon carpaccio. The salmon beaten out to a perfect this circle, topped with lemon, capers, parsley, olives and 2 slices of grilled bread. Another familiar dish from our days in paradise but a fine example of great produce speaking for itself.



Next up, an incredible salad of buffalo mozzarella, grilled zucchini ribbons, roasted peppers, parsley, basil pesto and pine nuts. The pesto running down through the salad and coating each bite. Another fine example of exemplary produce.



For main course we choose the chicken and the beef. The chicken is a perfectly cooked breast supreme, crispy golden skin but so moist and succulent on the inside. It's sliced into long lengths, and layered with pieces of crisp prosciutto and a salad of rocket, red grapes, pine nuts, herbs, more pesto and pearl barley. A very satisfying dish, so tasty and delicious. Great comfort food!



The beef, Australian Angus cooked to a blush pink in the centre but the taste of the coconut charcoal grill apparent on the crisp outside. There are 3 'chips' of golden polenta, fried to a golden crisp, but encasing a creamy centre with a touch of parmesan. A medley of grilled vegetables is sitting underneath, including asparagus, red onion, red & yellow peppers, mushroom and a few leaves of fresh rocket give it some life. A caper and anchovy butter giving a nice little bit of saltiness and extra richness as it slides down and over each component.



We had selected our desserts, but Shannon brings out 2 little coconut pannacotta with strawberries, and to hello. A few other 'special' things are on the way ....



The blueberry cheesecake, oh wow !! A biscuit like base but full of nuts holds a creamy cheesey centre, resembling a curd ... plump blueberries are then suspended in a rich blueberry syrup, sprinkled with roasted pistachio nuts with a scoop of blueberry sorbet adding to the decadence.



Sticky date pudding. A classic, but often stodgy and way to heavy. What graces our presence is indeed a show of Shannon's genius; a super light, fluffy, cloud like pudding. A piece of pudding is resting on a chunk of grilled pineapple with caramel sauce and ice-cream. Wow, the pudding though, how to describe the lightness ... definitely some molecular gastro-geniusness.



The last sweet treat to grace our table, something that looks rather familiar. At first glance looking like a profiterole filled with ice cream and topped with chocolate sauce. But it was so damn good, I was seriously in a daze of gastro-pleasure and can't really remember what it was but it wasn't as it seemed. There was some delicious hazelnut, some praline, flavored pastry cream and mmmmm



Another outstanding meal had within the Metropolitan hotel. But now I need to lie down ..............

Cyan Restaurant
the Metropolitan Hotel
27 South Sathorn Road
Tungmahamek
Sathorn
Bangkok 10120
Thailand

Suan Lum Night Bazaar and fried chicken

We always find time for a stop at Suan Lum Night Bazaar when in Bangkok, and on our first night at the Met. this is where we were headed. There's been lots of talk that Suan Lum was closing making room for massive high rises, so we were glad to see it still there !! There does seem to be quite a lot of movement at ground level, there weren't as many shops as we remember and food courts had moved from one end of the plot to another. So we decide to head down to Soi Polo for a quick fried chicken fix before heading back for more exploring.



We take a seat and place our order. Within moment we are graced with a larb muu - spicy pork mince salad and little baskets of sticky rice.



Then the fried chicken arrives, in all it's golden glory, smothered in deep-fried garlic.



And a som dtum - spicy papaya salad.



It's all covered in alternating spoons of the 2 sauces, a home-made sweet chili and a nam jim jiaw.



With our bodies now fueled, it's back to the Night Bazaar ..... Our favorite find in the little corner of local artists, was GumBKK, an aspiring artist with a very artistic use of gold and rabbits.



He also does some creative things with some Doraemon characters ....



Some of the rabbits are just too cute ... he even does custom shoes / bags / suitcases.



We get our little hot chili rabbit and a few other goodies to declare another sucessful and enjoyable trip to Suan Lum Night Bazaar.

Where we always end up on a visit to Chatuchak Markets ...

A trip out to Chatuchak markets is a great way to spend the weekend. The BTS sky train takes you all the way to Queen Sirikit park. On this particular stroll through the park we are greeted by a rather peculiar ring of mushrooms ....



Anyway, I digress. We're quickly stopped by some piping hot Khanom Krok. Sweet little pancake like things filled with coconut cream and specked with bits of taro and sweet corn.



Next we spot a row of woks, all parts of chickens and pork being fried away.



The bits are glistening away under some oh-so-bright lights, but we're both immediately drawn to the little wingettes that have been fried along with a stack of pandan leaf.



We wander some more through the markets, picking up some goodies and munching away on our little chicken wings.



Before we end up where we always do, Green Chili.



Green Chili is run by Chef Ann (Dararat Wisaijorn) who opens at Chatuchak Markets on Saturdays and Sundays. Monday is the only day off Chef Ann and her team have, they then go back to work first thing Tuesday morning trawling markets and starting preparation for the impressive 27 varieties of curry prepared each weekend. Tuesday after hunting down mountains of garlic and shallots, her team sets to then peeling them all. These are used in the various curry pastes. Tuesday they are also grilling sun-dried salid fish and shredding it for salads.



Wednesday see some of the garlic and shallots meticulously sliced and deep-fried as well as the massive amounts of nahm prik (Thai fish sauce and chilli condiment which accompanies the kanom jeen) prepared.

On Thursdays they make the various chili relishes and peel eggs ready for the kai palo. The simmering of the pork broth takes place on the Friday. Some people say Chef Ann may be going over the top, especially with all the conveniences to make life easier (peeled garlic / shallots / ready made curry paste etc.) yet Chef Ann says "Well I think I am more meticulous about what I eat than many other things in life. Preparing real and traditional Thai dishes requires lots of artistry and knowledge".



Even the fluffy white rice is organically grown in Ubon Ratchathani. Pretty impressive!



Today we start with a chat to the ever friendly Chef Ann, and within moments, 2 coconut bowls holding bael fruit tea placed in front of us.



Then the smorgasbord of food commences. There's a salad of dok khae, an edible Thai flower, that's packed with pork floss, shallots and chili.



A little pot of simmered pork with boiled egg and tofu is next to arrive.



Khun-Amanda, who first referred us to the delightful Chef Ann, all time favorite is the gaeng som. A sour orange curry packed with mackerel and green papaya is of course on the list ...



One of the mild selections for the day, sweet crab meat mixed with egg and spring onion. The chunks of crab delectable and sweet with the ribbons of egg and spring onions adding another dimension ...



Chef Ann's pad prik king is unlike any other we have tried ... shreds of chicken are smothered in a rich red curry paste and cooked until almost candy-like with little shreds of kaffir lime appearing throughout.



Last to arrive, panang curry. Tender chunks of pork simmered in a mild coconut curry until they're falling apart.



And then the feasting begins!



You really can see how 4 days goes into the preparation for all these dishes. And you can taste the passion and love in which they've been made with!



We bid farewell to Chef Ann, and all the other girls at Green Chili.



..... Until next time !!