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

Jokbal (Pigs Feet) and Whisky in Gongdeok Jokbal Street!

 궁중족발  (Gungjung Jokbal)

서울특별시 마포구 만리재로 23

(서울특별시 마포구 공덕동 256-30)

Exit 5 - Gongdeok Station 

(walk straight until you see the street to the right)

02-718-7087

Naver Maps

www.mapo-gungjungjokbal.co.kr/

Ever since coming to Seoul, I repeatedly heard about the 'jokbal street' in Gongdeok. 

How awesome is it that they have a street dedicated to pigs feet. I admit, it doesn't look or sound very appetising, but hey sometimes the grittiest scariest looking food turns out to be the best food!

I've been wanting to go check it out for sometime but had been saving it up for a rainy day when all you could think about is a bottle of soju and 'meat'. So one evening after a long week at work, we decided to meet outside gongdeok station to head down to the street.

I swear my boyfriend and his friend must think I'm one sketchy individual after all the alleyways I've dragged them into in exchange for a good but slightly less hygienic meal. Hey, but I do always deliver excellent meals though!

So tonight I lead them to the narrow alleyway of Jokbal Street.  All the restaurants seen above in the tiny side-alleway sell Jokbal and Sundae. There are couple of more famous ones: 오향족발 (Ohhyangjokbal) being probably the most well known and 궁중족발 (gungjungjokbal) coming close. I don't think there's a big difference in quality and they all have the same price-level too.

궁중족발 actually have 4 restaurants next to each other all served from one massive kitchen half indoor and half outdoor. 

I mean look at that! (At least they wear gloves right?)

Anyways the menu is pretty straight forward. Order either the small ($26) or large ($30) and a bottle of soju and beer. The small one should be enough for 2 adults (or 3 if you're not a big eater) and large for a bigger group.  The menu comes with UNLIMITED sundae and sundae-soup. Now that's what I call a good deal. 

As it is with these soju-fuelled restaurants (look at the pile of them in the photo below), it can get pretty loud so don't expect any high-quality conversations in there. 

When you're done with dinner and stinking of pig's feet and soju, you should shamelessly walk out and head to this gem of a whiskey bar.

It's called Valinch (google/naver) and has excellent choice of single malt whiskeys and cocktails.

The place is pretty small, and run by the owner himself who actually is very helpful in picking out new whiskeys to try depending on your preferences! He certainly helped us pick ours, and we both loved the ones we got to try. The prices vary from 12 - 30+ per glass for the whiskey and 10 -15 for cocktails. Alternatively you can order a bottle and keep it behind the bar too.

He also serves a generous portion of chocolate and biscuits so if you still have any space left after dinner, you can have your whiskey-fuelled snacks here! 

My favourite whiskey of the night was Glendronach 12 years! I'll definitely be keeping an eye out for a bottle at airports! 

Buckwheat Noodles & Strolling around Samcheong-dong (by main palace)

메밀꽃필무렵

02 - 734 - 0367

서울특별시 종로구 통의동 7-23 

7-23 Tongui-dong, Jung-gu, Seoul

(Naver Maps/Google Maps)

Pancakes - 7,000 WON
Buckwheat Noodles (Hot / Cold) - 7,000 WON

Although not as beloved as its other 'gluten-free' alternatives, Koreans have been quietly eating buckwheat noodles for centuries.  Often known as 'soba-noodles', it began its Korean history in the 16th - 17th century (Japanese have eaten it in their soba form much earlier).

As buckwheat grows easier than rice/wheat in cold and dry weathers, it was often eaten in times of famine or droughts. The seed of the buckwheat flower is then crushed to produce buckwheat flour.  Usually as it breaks off easily when heated, it is usually mixed in with flour when made into its noodle form.  It’s actually highly nutritious and has 12-14% more protein than other grains!  Also it has high lysine and rutin content, which is said to prevent aneurism from strokes and blood vessel damage.

Apart from the health benefits, I love it because it packs a lot more flavour and texture than normal noodles. ALSO it’s calorific content is 1/3 of normal wheat flours – which means more guilt-free eating ;)

Anyhow, there’s couple of places scattered around Seoul that’s famous for their buckwheat foods in various forms.  Some of my favourite include Buckwheat pancakes, Soba (Hot/Cold), Kalguksoo (칼국수 -  more brothy version),  naengmyeon and even in chicken stews and such.

The one I went to is right next to the main palace (kyeongbokgung). Easiest way to get there is to get out of exit 4 of gyeongbokgung station turn around and then turn left at the road until you see the restaurant!

The place translates to “Around when the buckwheat flower blooms” or 메밀꽃 필 무렵.

It’s a tiny place with probably less than 30 seating and each time I went there seems to be a queue, so if you go during the lunch time then expect a little queue.  Also they sell out around 4-5PM and close shop when all the home-made noodles for the day are gone- so make sure you show up on time!

Waiting patiently for our lunch :)

The menu is straight forward and limited as shown above my friend and his goofy grin.

We opted out to share a buckwheat pancake (메밀전) and bibim-myeon(메밀비빔면), which is the soupless and slightly spicy! I’ve tried all the menu, and I highly recommend sharing the pancake and choosing between the 메밀칼국수 (with warm soup) or 메밀비빔면 depending on your preference or the weather!

The pancakes are much chewier and crisper than traditional flour-based ones (and a bitch to cook/flip).  The best way to eat it in my opinion is dipped in the slightly sour soy-sauce and topped with the pickled onions!

The noodles were also cooked to perfection. Buckwheat noodles can easily loose its texture if overcooked – but out of the 4/5 times I’ve been here, they’ve always been spot on with getting the noodles out at the right time.

I admit, it’s not a complex dish containing multitude of flavours but there’s something about the right balance of texture and simple flavours that keep me coming back for more each time.

I’ll make a fan out of you, I know it!

Plus once you’ve finished eating – you can take a lovely walk around the Samcheong-dong area right opposite the palace and continue to fill up the ‘saved’ calories! AT least that’s how I justified my afternoon snacking.

Authentic (and asian-ghetto) Chicken Stew (닭도리탕/Dak Doritang) in the back alleyways of Seoul

계림닭도리탕 - Gaerim Chicken Stew

 

서울특별시 종로구 종로3가 167 (돈화문로4길 39)

167 Jongno 3(sam)-ga, Jongno-gu, Seoul, South Korea

google map// naver map

+82 2 2263 6658

Open MON- SAT from 11:30 ~ 22:00  (Closed on Sunday)

Chicken Stew (닭도리탕): 19,000 WON (+2,000 for noodles/ramen/rice etc.)

Drinks: Beer, Soju etc. (~3,000 WON)

Is it weird that I actively search out restaurants that have been around for longer than my parent’s lifespan never mind mine? I understand that age doesn’t always correlate to quality, but there’s something about a restaurant that’s been around for 50 plus years and stood the testament of time that promises a good meal. Especially if it’s a nitty-gritty blue-collar restaurant tucked away in the alleys of Jong-ro.

It’s been a while since I blogged, and I think this one is a good one to re-immerse myself in documenting the travels through the hidden dark alleys of Seoul spooking all those that I’ve invited to partake in this mini adventure!

The restaurant I’m writing about has been around for more than 50 years and the authenticity of the food and the history proves that it’s not some ‘number’ made up for advertisement purposes (as well as the décor and the aged patrons downing soju like it’s sprite).

The place is a little tricky to find – the easiest way is to walk out of exit 12 of Jonro-3ga (종로3가) walk straight until you see am opening along the main road to the right in between buildings (see the map below for reference!) Sneak inside the alleyway and you’ll soon find a long narrow alley parallel to the main road. Continue walking past dodgy businesses and restaurants and you’ll soon come across a bustling restaurant with a sign!

 

Although many of you think Koreans are all about the endless numbers of banchan (side-dishes), this place only gives you two – raddish kimchi (깍두기) and beansprouts. The menu doesn’t really give you any choices either. There’s couple of lunch options but at night there’s only one thing on the menu, the eponymous 닭도리탕 (Dak Doritang) for 19,000 WON. The portion should be enough for 2-3 people, as you can add 사리 (sari) in forms of either fried rice (w/ the sauce) or addition of hand-noodles. Just a little bit of history to note, 닭도리탕 is actually Japanese/Korean stemming from the word Toriniku (chicken meat). As such nowadays people tend to call it 닭볶음탕 rather than the former name. 

The place gets filled up crazy fast after 7PM and queues begin to form (even on weekdays) so make sure you come between 6-7PM if you want to be seated straight away. 

After being seated and ordering the only thing on the menu, soon the ladies bring out a beaten pot filled with horrifying (or awe-inspring) amount of garlic in a red sea of chicken, potato and rice cakes. We did worry a little when we first went that it’ll be numbingly spicy and overwhelming but surprisingly it’s hardly spicy and the garlic flavour is well balanced by the stew! It’s really odd actually knowing how much garlic went in!

After waiting for a while – you’re ready to dig in! Actually the rice-cakes (떡) received the most compliment! Unlike the generic store-bought ones you get everywhere, it had a really chewy and soft texture. Also the stew has quite a lot of chicken. Also the CHICKEN is so MOIST and TENDER! It’s often I find the chicken in seoul to be way to dry and tough… but the chicken they use here is a perfect combination of lean meat and fat that you end up sucking all the meat off each bone…

The building spiciness usually calls for soju and beer – and although I am a bonafide ‘wine-whale’, there’s something about spicy Korean food that matches beautifully with soju and cold beer. Maybe it’s the old man inside me that craves these releases of spicy no-bullshit 아저씨 food w/ soju… Personally I blame my dad for  raising his daughter to be his drinking buddy.

Anyways – this is my favourite find recently! And despite the copious bottles of soju/beer all of us were really refereshed the next day. I think the supposed super ‘health benefits’ of garlic must’ve helped….

So for those of you daring enough to venture into the back alleys of Seoul –this is definitely the place for you!

And on that note this is the end of my entry! I’m not sure who read these anymore.. but I think I’m on a roll with going to these grungy/off-the-beaten-path Korean restaurants.. if you have any recommendations or would like suggestions just let me know… (or if you also like hunting down sketchy but ridiculously yummy korean food- let’s go together cause sometimes venturing out into dark alleys alone can be a lil scary at night)