One "side effect" of watching Korean dramas is that I want to eat what the Koreans are eating in some of the drama series. You see the photo above? That bowl of noodles dish (top left) is Pyongyang Naengmyeon and the bowl of soupy dish (bottom left) is Sundae Gukbap. Read on to find out what these dishes are about.
Thanks to Mr Google, I stumbled upon Lee Ga Korean Noodles Restaurant when I did a search for "Korean cold noodles in KL". The first restaurant that topped the list was Lee Ga Korean Noodles Restaurant @ Desa Sri Hartamas.
Location: 34G, Jalan 27/70a, Desa Sri Hartamas, 50480 Kuala Lumpur.
I read the Google reviews and found out they also have Sundae Gukbap! Sundae means Korean blood sausage, and Gukbap means soup with rice. I have always wanted to try this dish but I have no clue where to have it in KL. So you can imagine my excitement! I texted my sister and off we went to have a hearty dinner at Lee Ga.
Story time. When I was watching Tale of the Nine-Tailed (you can find this K-drama on Netflix), there was a scene in which the character of Lee Rang (played by Kim Bum) was eating a bowl of Pyongyang Naengmyeon. So, I did a Google search and found out that Naengmyeon means cold noodles. Pyongyang Naengmyeon is a traditional North Korean cold noodle dish. Interesting huh?
It was this search for "Korean cold noodles" that brought me to Lee Ga Korean Noodles Restaurant that serves authentic Korean dishes for the past 10 years or so.
Korean Bapsang has a very good article about what naeongmyeon is. In short, naengmyeon is a cold noodles dish with thin, chewy noodles made from buckwheat or potato starch.
Pyongyang Naengmyeon is served in ice-cold clear broth (beef-based) and topped with kimchi, cucumber slices, radish kimchi slices, and half of a hard-boiled egg. It is very refreshing and it has this unadulterated taste that I find quite difficult to explain. You have to try it.
Let's take a look at the kimchi: cabbage kimchi and two types of radish kimchi. They are absolutely delicious and not too spicy. The sourness and acidity of the kimchi provide relief to the otherwise heavy, meat-based dishes such as the Sundae Gukbap which I will talk about later on.
And look at this! In Malaysia we call it cincalok, right? I was super excited to find this condiment in Lee Ga! In Korea, it's called saeujeot (fermented shrimp in brine). To find saeujeot in a Korean restaurant truly means this restaurant is authentically Korean.
We are very used to Korean restaurants that serve kimchi jjigae, soondubu jjigae, doenjang jjigae - basically all sorts of jjigae, right? I believe we too have our fair share of dining experience at Korean BBQ restaurants with refillable banchans (side dishes).
But trust me, if you want to try Korean dishes that are not your typical BBQ and jjigae, you gotta try what Lee Ga has in store.
And now let's talk about my beloved Sundae Gukbap.
Oh. My. Gawd. Okay, let's dissect this dish. Sundae Gukbap basically means "Korean blood sausage soup with rice".
The word "sundae" means Korean blood sausage made by steaming cow or pig's intestines stuffed with vegetables, rice, noodles, and minced meat, whereas the word "gukbap" means soup with rice.
The soup is a super flavorful broth with blood sausage (sundae) chunks, pork slices, offals (mostly cheeks and tongue), vegetables (leeks, chives, green onions), and some mysterious ingredients which I couldn't recognize. Nevertheless, this hearty bowl of awesome goodness is truly irresistible!
I poured an entire bowl of white rice into the piping hot sundae gukbap and I was in heaven.
The next time you're in Desa Sri Hartamas, look out for Lee Ga Korean Noodles Restaurant. You will come across Korean customers speaking in Korean, really yummy authentic Korean dishes, and you will leave the restaurant with a happy tummy.
Posts
No comments