Things ive eaten more of in the past 25 days........

Than I have in my entire life:

- Cabbage; The main vegetable kimchi is made from - which is Korea's national dish and served at every meal. Its fermented most commonly with red peppers and is slightly spicy. Doesnt sound very appetising, and isnt somthing you'd ever considering eating back home, but is strangely enjoyable and addicting.


- Raddish; The next most common form of kimchi. Can be up to 3 raddish side dishes on a table. Some with seemingly no flavouring at all, but ive definately taken a liking to it


Tofu; Oh yes, everyones favourite. Nearly always served in a soup which means its just one of 10-15 ingredients so every tofu experience has been really awesome. Even though they put in chunks the size of golf balls, I havent had any bad tofu.

Mugwort; Sounds like a weed you would see on the side of the road, and im sure it is in some countries. Used to make rice cakes - most rost cakes are made of just rice and are white - but mugwort rice cakes are made entirely out of this herb and have the colour of the little girls vomit in the exorsist. Rice cakes are exceedingly bland for an alleged "sweet" in Korea, so you could probably imagine that a rice cake made entirely out of a plant wouldnt be much better.



Seaweed; A favourite in soups and as a side dish in the form of large flakes. Can be enjoyable in soups if its not overbearing, but when it is, as I have stated previously, im not that great of a fan. On the positives, im getting more iodine than ever before.

Lotus fruit; A funky and interesting looking little side dish. Not really fruity tasting but sorta sweet and quite tasty.


Every mushroom thats not button; Mushrooms are a big part of many dishes and ive seen at least 10 varieties that I didnt even know existed. Never been a huge mushy guy, but ive turned around slightly on them. As long as they are cooked ill have a go.


I must stress that these are only things I have identified. Side dishes are regularly impossible to decipher. Some things look like the stems of thistles, wet roots and shoots and some things are deep fried and seem full of tiny bones. You often have no idea what youve been eating. I have a rule of trying everything thats laid out in front of me and luckily I havent spat anything out yet.

With that said, ive thoroughly enjoyed the food over here, overall so healthy and tasty and im sure there are many more suprises to come.