This is going to be a two part post, so read on for the all in good fun part of the date; next post will be all about the adventure. Bet you didn't know there was a difference? Well there is.... Trust me!
Saturday night was here and it's date night for us! It started out pretty much the same. I have the babysitter booked for a non-squadron event outing, "What do you want to do; I don't know what do you want to do's" were exchanged, and after some hemming and hawing, we settled on hopping on the Metro and heading up to Insa-dong in Seoul for a street food dinner and strolling.
We've been planning to do this for quite some time and the weather was finally beautiful enough to do it - clear, a little chilly, but the moon was bright in the sky. So, babysitter gets here, we kiss the kids goodbye and off we go. We decided to try out the other Metro station by our house, just to see. The other station is closer, but this one has express trains to Seoul that we're trying to figure out the time tables on.
About 90 minutes later, we were exiting the Metro into the hustle and bustle of downtown Seoul. We tucked down some alleyways that looked promising, but none had the street food carts we were looking for. Finally we stumbled upon the mecca! Street food carts and gift carts lined the pedestrian street with art galleries, gift shops and tea houses galore on the sides. Score 1 for the Olivers!
We had heard about this wonderful concoction called Dragon Egg Bread through one of the Korean sites I frequent. It was described as bulgogi or sweet potato wrapped in a sweet egg bread. About 5 steps down the street, we found the cart. Karma maybe? We got one of each kind. And they lived up to what we thought they would be. This is what Hot Pockets needs to strive for! The bread was toasted on the outside, moist inside with tender bulgogi in the middle. The sweet potato bread didn't disappoint either - creamy and sweet with some chopped roasted nuts (chestnuts maybe) mixed in. They were wonderful!
As we were walking on air enjoying our bread, we heard a familiar "Ping", "Thud", "Ping". Any American would recognize the sound of a batting cage! We figured out where the sound was coming from, charged up there, and fed the machine 4,000 Won for four at bats. My one and only at bat, I got a piece of two pitches; Ronnie did very well (of course) and awed the Koreans around us. I think Ronnie thinks "Wow" is how they cheer for you in Korean.
Giddy after our baseball excursion, we continued on to find some chicken on a stick (dalkgalchi). And boy did we find it. We passed a cart that had some skewers but it wasn't interesting enough to stop. But the next cart down was rocking it. This guy had music going, a finesse about how he sauced everything, and even would dance a little bit. Of course we bought from him! They were SO good - think terriyaki chicken with spicy wing sauce on it. YUM!
My lips were on fire after the skewer that I told Ronnie I really wish there was a beer street vendor. A few steps away, I saw an interesting stairwell lined with beer caps, so we went down the rabbit hole. It was a wonderful hole in the wall bar that had a great beer selection. After enjoying a Becks and a XXXX, an Australian Lager, we were back on our way.
Heading deeper in the alley, we found that a lot of the art galleries and stores were closing up. But I was in search of another Insa-dong treat. Dragon Beard Candy can best be described as a honey candy with chopped nuts. Like some of the candy making places in the tourist traps in the states, they have a show and tell you about what they're doing. We're going to head back and get a video, because they were awfully entertaining!
Anyway, they make the candy by taking a chunk of warmed honey (I'm sure there's more in there than just honey, but I digress), dredging it in cornstarch, making a hole and then stretching. They make this just as we pull taffy, but they keep dredging each turn in the cornstarch so it doesn't stick together. Once they get it to the magical number of 16,000 strands. Then they cut the strands and wrap it around a chopped nut filling. Ronnie and I chose the almond as our inaugural taste. It was great, but as with all Korean treats, not as sweet as you would think it would/should be. Best way I can describe it would be a not so sweet pecan log. Like I said, really good.
We toured around Insa-dong a little more and ventured into Jongo for some more street eats. Enter the land of Gim-ddeok-sun stands, and us getting something we've been curious about for a while, ddeokbokki with the red sauce. I was a wuss because I'm not accustomed to chili pepper heat like I used to be, and I didn't have any Soju to squelch it. But Ronnie went ahead and got a serving - so glad he did. It was more of a sweet savory sauce than spicy, kind of like a tomato based curry. Wonderful!
Wandering around some more, we knew our time was coming to an end, but decided to get one more beer. How could we not when the "Beir Festival Hous" was right in front of us. A Guinness and Erdinger Heff-Weis later, we made our way back to the station.
But not quite on our way home.... TO BE CONTINUED!
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