The Art of Doenjang - the Korean Bean Sauce Paste

Sometimes, it just needs a bit inspiration and innovation to make a difference.

The same thing applies to Doenjang - the Korean Bean Sauce Paste. Couple of weeks ago, my fireind Su and I went to a restaurant in Jongro where we found this nice restaurant - 된장예술과술.

The main menu is a set of  rice, vegetables, various side dishes and doenjang cooked with tofu,. What you have to do is to mix things up according to your own taste.

Lattice,green onion and pepper

The whole set and Deonjang in the middle

 Now, it is time to mix & match. Personally, I love Korean vegetables and adding a little Deonjang to the general Bibimbab(Korean style rice mixed with vegetables) makes it more classic.

This was my work:)

A closer look

Warm rice soup is served instead of water

One thing I respect Korean people is that they are devoting time and efforts to keep food taste original and traditional. This deonjang bibimbab is - nothing special about ingredients but simply an art of Korean food.

Hoegi - the spot of green onion pancakes in Seoul

If you walk out of Hoegi station exit 1 and take the first left, there is an alley full of restaurants whose main menus are same - Pajeon, the green onion pancakes. If you happen to be there on a rainy day, get ready there might not be any vacant seats since in Korea, people say we should eat pajeon on a rainy day.
There are approximately 10 restaurants inside the alley, the settings are also a special - usually crowded and smoking is allowed. Some restaurants are bit dark and dirty (well some seem purposely make the place old and dirty), and the one of them I went to has a squeezed second floor where we cannot stand up fully since the ceiling is very low; we have to walk with bending knees.

The incredible sencond floor

The ice water is also a special - pull water into a bowl with a big ice in it

There is a reason for this place famous for pajeon - very cheap price and very delicious pajeon and Korean rice wine. Within the Korean rice wines, I loved the Dongdongju more than Makgolri.

Rice wine served in its bowl

Pajeon is not just made of green onion, it always come with squid inside.  Every restaurant has different style of their own ajungmas' cooking - try and compare which is your style.

Pajeon with rice wine, perfect! Wanna be better? You can order some other dishes which can company the pajeon to improve the experience. Additional recommendations.

Spicy chicken soup with potatos in it - eat the crispy pajeon, drink the hot soup

Korean style salad - turbo and vegetables with sour and little spicy sauce

If the squid in pajeon cannot satisfy you, get another fried squid!

Looking forward to the next rainy day, squeezing in the pajeon restaurant with a bowl of Dongdongju~ha