Yurim 유림 of Seoul
In my limited experience, I believe most Korean dishes are spicy in heat. The hearty nature in the food, fills the stomach, though in forgo’ing taste and appearance. At Yurim, they have a hot pot style meal featuring chicken.
Mr. B really likes his food spicy. I mean really spicy. Prior to my trip Seoul, I thought I prepared myself for the spiciness of Korean food with Hunan and Sichuan cuisine. But I realized that it was not enough. As I write this, my taste buds tremble with instinctive watering as it remembers the painful spiciness.
The diced chicken is thrown in a shallow pot in a red broth filled with onions, peppers, fish cake, and rice cake. This dish is called 닭도리탕 or 달복음탕, or commonly known as Ddakdoritang. Mr. B specially asked for the “hottest” spice mixture, since his girlfriend got me a pint of milk to prevent any more additional pain that I might incur. I think I consumed a few gallons of milk, beer, and water – just to cool down my tender palate. I can’t believe he thinks this added heat makes food taste better. The pain I have in trying to eat actually hurts. .. .HURTS You can actually see peppers with seeds in the broth.
Another neat dish that Yurim serves is Dog. We had dog in a soup, 보신탕 or Bosintang, and a sliced dog meat, 수육 or sooyook. I tried both. The dog meat had a gamey taste and a beef-like texture and appearance. Almost like venison in flavor, the gamey taste might be a little off-settling, even more, if you knew it was dog. The texture and mouth feel is tender and a little chewy. But I figure the preparation would want to maintain its texture. I was told that dog meat has a medicinal effect. I was even told that after you have dog, dogs would know that you had it and would fear you. Though I am not sure of this story. Yurim has renown for its preparation of dog as many celebrities and stars would have its famous dish.
