ShinShin (신신) - Spicy Beef Stew to sweat out your frustration

신신 辛辛 (ShinShin)

서울특별시 중구 남대문로 64

02-773-4842

64 Namdaemun-ro

Jung-gu, Seoul

Naver Maps// Google Maps

"You sure? It's really spicy" She said quickly glancing at Lee and his full-scale (glittering) paleness. For a minute, I wasn't too sure myself. Could Lee really handle level 3? A level they said corresponds to 3 times the spiciness of Shin-ramen?  Then I thought why not - it would be incredibly racist of me if I didn’t subject my boyfriend to his fair share of spiciness right? Plus he did manage to eat level 2 without weeping or breaking down…

I’ve returned to 신신 (辛辛) – ShinShin (Chinese character for spicy) in myeongdong couple of times, always seeking that thrill and odd sense of release you feel after sweating through a meal. Unlike other restaurants specializing in spicy food, which sometimes I find totally lack any other flavors besides the painful burning sensation,  ShinShin’s beef stew has a good blend of flavors and delicious to eat!

If you choose to go for the spicy beef stew / 매운갈비찜 (M (35,000) for 2-3 ,  or L(45,000) for 4-5), there are 5 levels of spiciness you can choose from  (1 – equivalent to Shiramen, 2 – 3 times Shinramen , 3 – Imagine Shinramen with Extra chili flakes  + Chilies and so forth). Last time we had gone for the level 2, which was still surprisingly spicy but enjoyable for the both of us (although I admit, lee is better than lots of Koreans with spicy food).

The stew come to the table ready to eat with fresh scallions piled on top. Usually the server removed the bones from the beef and even cuts it into bite-size pieces too! I think shinshin's portions are proportionate to the price you pay, as you get a fair share of beef as well as copious amount of bean sprouts, scallions and other vegetables. I usually end up pretty full by the end of the meal (although it may be the beer we chug down as a necessity to alleviate the spiciness). The best way, in my opinion, to eat this is by making a mini sweweed-roll, radish roll (무쌈) or throw it all in roll. The owners refill the seaweed and side-dishes without a fuss so don't worry about asking for more. If you're feeling extra adventurous, you can dip the beef into the hot-sauce they give (because... well if you're going to tear up you might as well go all the way). 

By the time we're half way through our table is usually littered with beer and tissues. We usually begin fishing for beef / bean sprouts in the sea of ominously red soup and soon after Lee begins to dive into the path of self-destruction by 'attempting' to drink the soup. Despite the schadenfreude i feel watching him sweat, this is usually when I intervene and ask the owners to take the soup away and make us fried rice. 

After waiting for few minutes during which you partially regain control of your tongue nerves and begin to sweat slightly less, the fried rice arrives (with the big bowl of left over soup). The fried rice is surprisingly not spicy at all (or it may just be our numbed taste-buds) so we usually pour some of the soup back and eat it together.

Shishin is definitely one of my favourite dinner/lunch places around this neighborhood to go to. Despite being centrally located in Myeongdong, it's never really too crowded (but always occupied) and still has that sense of your secret weapon to show off to naive visitors who think they are good with spicy food.

The Aftermath

Miko: Japanese Molecular cuisine in Cheongdam-Dong

Miko (미코)

서울특별시 강남구 도산대로85길 14

122-7 Cheongdam-dong

Gangnam-gu, Seoul

02-3446-1227

(Naver Maps // Google Maps)

Once a year, Hyundai Card holds a 'gourmet week' during which quite a large number of well-establisehd and renowned restaurants in Seoul/Busan offer 50% discount on special menus/dishes for members. Having missed it last year, I made sure it was my one of my top-priority to choose a speical restaurant that is normally not as easily accessible/affordable.

The list was actually quite extensive for Seoul both in terms of locations and cuisine. There's quite a lot of French restaurants and modern Korean cuisines, and if I were a little more sparing with my spending, I would've probably tried a couple more! After researching couple of options, I was torn between Miko and 콩두 (congdu) - Korean modern cuisine overlooking Duksugung palace! Although I'm pretty sure sooner than later, I'll have Lee try out 'fancy korean' in addition to all the grungy back-street versions I get him to try.

Miko is restaraunt run by the renowned chef 신동민, who is knwon for molecular cooking in his previously acclaimed haute-japanese molecular restaurant 슈밍화 (closed now). Miko was opened as a slightly more 'casual' version of 슈밍화, and it's already gaining popularity from either previous fans of 슈밍화 or new diners (such as myself!).

I admitt, I didn't (and still don't) really know enough about molecular cooking. It occupies the same space as 'haute-cuisine' or 'modern' / 'fine dining', which usually means incredibly expensive meals for protions so teasingly small that you finish the meal feeling confused as to whether you've had a full meal or not. Having said that, the dinner we had that night was actually really enjoyable and casual whilst maintaining its 'uniqueness' that it left us thoroughly impressed and actually rather full (although...lee did eat most of my noodles and rice).

The special dinner course for Gourmet week was 120,000 won (60 k each with 50% discount) for a 10 course meal (and fresh king oyster in the start as service :D )

1. Appetizer
2. Salad
3. Sashimi
4. Syphon Soup
5. Rose King Shrimp
6. Beef Tadaki
7. Sea Urchin Rice
8. Udon
9. Dessert A
10. Dessert B

The meals were spectacular & we got to dress up a little  (which means.. Lee wears his beloved bowtie)



Oyster (Service) - Incredibly fresh and lightly seasoned. It was a delight to begin the evening with an oyster!

Appetiser: Chinese Yam Tofu, Abalone with gingko nut, Watermelon Soup, Cherry tomato with balsamic dressing

Salad: Noodle Salad with roe, ginger, tomato and yuzu dressing

Sashimi: Seabass, Salmon and Halibut 

Syphon Soup served with Shrimp Wonton and Lotus Root Dumplings

Who knew you could use this besides brewing coffee!! 

Rose King Shrimp Tempura: One of my favourite of the night despite the fact that I usually am not the biggest fan of fried food! The shrimp had this unbelievable chewy texture and flavours that went beautifully with the tomato-based sauce. Absolutely divine.

Beef Tadaki - Lee's favourite meal of the night. The steak was incredibly juicy and plus who doesn't like cooking their own steak to their preference? The two types of soy sauce (fruit/ wasabi) were also fun to alternate between. 

Udon & Sea Urchin Rice Bowl - After the spectacular dishes before, it paled in comparison but nonetheless excellent quality and freshness (also I should note that both the udon and rice was cooked perfectly) . I was actually quite full by this point, and Lee happily ate most of the 'meals' (although I did scrape off and happily eat every last bit of sea urchin leaving him bits of sauce and whole lot of rice)



Taking a quick photo break

Dessert - Sesame Pudding & Ice-cream with nitrogen-frozen Yuzu-Puff (sadly I ate the pudding before taking the photo - which is a pity because it was I was thoroughly impressed with the subtlety of the flavours!) . Oh but the best part about the nitrogen-frozen puff : if you eat it, you can puff out nitrogen smoke from your nose like you're puff the magic dragon.

They also gave us dark chocolate (which we still ate despite being full) and also had promotion on what they called a 'premium belgian beer' that's made in Japan. I know it's pretty silly but despite in the end was rather delicious (but definitely not worth the $16 they charged). 

Overall, it was a great meal and despite it being a splurge we could relax (and even take selfies!) and joke and laugh about the food. If you're looking for a fine-dining experience, I would suggest going else-where but from time to time it's great to be able to eat really excellent food whilst joking around about it with your loved ones :)