three continents' worth of food p***
it's almost halfway through 2023 christ
2023’s been an absolute whirlwind. My girlfriend and I woke up one day and decided it was time to leave Korea, so we packed our bags and were gone within six months. From there:
We headed to sunny LA and ran around San Diego and Vegas
I got a new job and several new clients
We hopped on a plane, moved to Melbourne, Australia, and found a house in the middle of a full-blown housing crisis
Finally, and most importantly — we published a 600-page English-learning textbook and sold it to over 2,000 people in the first month
It’s really felt like we haven’t had a single minute to sit down, decompress, reflect, and simply let our minds turn to mush in ages.
But more importantly, I’ve finally found some time to kick back and write and cook. I made an eggplant parm the other night? And I’ve never had eggplant parm before. Nature is healing.
I was going through old photos over the past year to reflect on everything that’s moved so fast and decided to document the best of the best food over three continents — from Korea to the States to Australia.
Korea 🇰🇷
Our last few months in Korea happened to fall on a particularly chilly winter, but the colder the weather, the tastier the food. It’s science.
Every time December comes around, it’s bang-oh-hwe season, aka yellowtail sashimi. You’ll find lines that literally go for blocks full of heavily-coated bystanders, waiting to bite into that rich, thick, fresh fish. Here, you wrap it with gim (seaweed), assorted veggies, and a spicy-sour sauce.
It’s also oyster season, so naturally, we went to a restaurant that serves like 15 different types of huge fresh oysters. You can see here gul-jeon, which is kind of a savory pancake filled with oysters and veggies, dipped in a soy-based sauce. Lots of soju to go along with it, as well.
When you walk the frosty streets of Seoul, nothing warms you up better than stopping into a pojangmacha, which is a little outdoor tented “restaurant.” You just walk in, order, and start eating. You can see here one of the most widely-loved foods in all of Korea: tteokboki, which is a rice cake doused in spicy sauce and assorted types of twi-gim, or fried stuff (here are peppers and dumplings).
But easily the best cold-weather-warmer-upper, and maybe one of the foods I’ll miss the most from Korea — eomuk. These are fish cakes that you eat off a stick, that sit in a jacuzzi of a delicious broth. You can pour yourself an unlimited amount of the soup-y goodness and just chill and drink it. In icy weather, every breath you take after a sip gives you dragon breath in the night air. I’ll miss that a lot.
When we decided it was time to move on from Korea, my parents finally decided to come out and visit before it was too late. We took them to all of the best restaurants we could find, including this one that specialized in ganjang-gejang — or raw, soy-marinated crab, one of my mom’s favorites. All of the banchan (side dishes) were absolutely on point here.
After finishing up with my parents, I also went down to Jihyun’s hometown and stayed at her parents’ house to meet them for the first time. To say they cooked a lot of food for us would be an understatement. I legit probably gained 10 pounds over two days. Here’s jeon-bok (abalone) — half baked with butter on top, the other half sashimi-style.
Yes, meeting my girlfriend’s parents went well. Heads up, for anyone dating someone with Korean (or Asian) parents, there are pretty much only two things you need to do to impress them: eat really well and drink really well. Safe to say they liked me after.
We ate crab, too. Not much else to say. Just look at the pictures in silence.
Obligatory final barbecue pics. I’ll miss you, Korea.
‘Merica 🇺🇸
After packing our bags, Ji and I escaped the frosty winter of Seoul and landed in sunny California.
Besides mom’s home cooking, there are three things I absolutely need to have every time I head back to Orange County: In-N-Out, birria tacos, and Darya — the best Persian food around.
For the Super Bowl, Ji and I headed to my sister and her husband’s house for a day full of drinking, football, and absolutely destroying our insides with the Hot Ones challenge. Robyn (my sister) backed down at the 7th sauce and Jihyun made it to 8. David and I cleared all ten and were dying for hours after. Spiciest shit/vomit combo I’ve ever experienced in my life. Good times.
San Diego consisted of lots of ceviche and fish tacos. Like multiple rounds of each. Plus a huge chicharrón (fried pork rinds) dipped in guac.
Kicking myself for not capturing my favorite restaurant in San Diego and what Jihyun said was literally one of the greatest meals of her life. If you’re ever in the area, go to C Level. You won’t regret it.
Up above are a couple of snaps from our trip to Vegas. Best onion soup I’ve had outside of France and a crispy, soft-shell crab burger. Yeesh.
I lied. Two continents took way more space than I originally planned. I lied to you to get you to open the email.
Third continent coming soon.
Hope you’re eating well. ‘Til next time.
elliott
Great photos and travel log Elliott! It will interesting to see how Australia influences your cooking. Happy cooking and adventures!
Awesome! Looking forward to learning about some Aussie dishes!