This past Sunday, I met up with Fatman Seoul and Dan Gray (Seoul Eats) in that little haven that I have grown to love this past year–Ansan Asia Town.  I’m waiting for them to post what we did, as they had their high-powered cameras shuttering so much that I just gave up and pocketed mine.

Highlights:

Best Vietnamese food in Korea

Addictive braided Chinese doughnuts

Dan found shallots

Fatman and I got some Thai and Indonesian ingredients

Finding out that the beloved Uzbek cafe is actually a family-run franchise in Korea

If you are interested in joining us in one of our occasional food outings down there, Robert Wicks has set up a Facebook group, Amalgam Ansan.

Here are some of my shots of Asia Town and its restaurants from this weekend and this past year.

Taken before they renovated the streets

That's a durian shake in the background

Something magical happens every Sunday in northern Seoul. Korea’s growing Filipino population come out and create what some call “Little Manila” on the sidewalk near the busy streets. Some say that it actually is like a snapshot of Manila itself.

Me?

I came for these.

Gorgeous, huh? These are not just any sausages. They’re longanisas. Sweet. Garlicky. Pork fat!!!

Actually they’re so full of pork fat that they’re difficult to cook without destroying your pan. But there is another option. You can eat them fully cooked yourself at the food stand that sells them.

I don’t know what it all is, but I do recognize a lot of pork, and that is a good sign.  A plate of rice and three choices goes for 5,000 won.

Check it out!  Clockwise from rice: some spicy peppery pork dish thingy, little savory meatballs, two longanisa sausages (I looked that one up on Wikipedia).

Oh, yeah!

The Filipino market also carries live fishies that are not commonly found in Korea, I guess.

And I haven’t seen long beans at my local E-Mart.

Even though the bottled and canned goods primarily cater to homesick Filipinos, there are a few items that I have heard Western ex-pats pining for, like corned beef hash and tinned sardines.

And for you Southerners out there, here’s where you can get your fresh okra fix.

I know we’re on the cusp of winter now, but I took these pics in the midst of summer.  One of the most popular treats to come out of the Philippines is halo-halo, which is shaved ice with different jellies, fruits and purple sweet potatoes.  It’s like Korean patbingsu.

This wonderful lady shaved the ice by hand from a big block using something like looked like a wood planer.  She also sold me a string of those glorious longanisa sausages and cautioned me on how to cook them at home.  The trick is to do it slowly and to take precautions to keep a black crust from permanently attaching itself to your pan.  They’re very fatty, garlicky and sweet.

Getting There

Take the Light Blue Line (#4) to Hyewha Station 혜화 역.  Go out Exit 1.  Walk straight, and you’ll hit it.

Here is a Google Earth bookmark to add to your collection.

Brant had been bugging me for a long time to go on a venture down Meat Street behind his apartment in Ilsan. It doesn’t take much to persuade me, but Ilsan is also a major journey for me. But wow, it’s great.

It’s rows and rows of restaurants grilling meats — mostly ribs — each trying to get your business.

On Easter Sunday, we finally did the Meat Street thing and had some ribs at this one joint. It was amazing. They had different styles.

The ladies liked the basic style.

The spicy style was a bit much for them. It was almost too much for me too, admittedly. I had ample Cass Red to numb much of my nerve receptors.

Let’s zoom in on that rib goodness.

Closer.

Closer!

Ooh, baby!

I think I need to take more trips to Ilsan.

Even their Dalk Ggochi (Chicken on a Stick) is bigger!