The Taste Of Korchi
I just love it when you find a restaurant that does good, honest, hearty food for a ridiculously decent price. The Taste of Korchi is such a place - an unassuming little Korean/Chinese restaurant in a strip of shops that sways very much to an ethnic beat. I don’t know what the heck Korchi is…but whatever it is, it tastes pretty darn good!
The rain was coming down in buckets when we made the dash from car to restaurant. As we stamped the water from our boots and relaxed into the warm spicy air, we noticed the place was nearly full, and it was only 5pm on a Sunday.
The place is not that much to look at. In fact the word that comes to mind is “polite”. It is inoffensive and pleasing, yet not embracingly familiar in its ambience. The staff too were extremely polite and efficient, although a little cheerful banter wouldn’t have gone astray.
But on to the food.
First up was a tasty round of Goon-Man-Do, fried dumplings filled with minced pork and vegetables. They were juicy and flavoursome, and surprisingly, not masked by a plethora of spices. This afforded one the clean taste of freshly minced pork (none of that sausage mince slime) with real vegetable dice and no gratuitous use of cabbage extender. The pastry was crisp and tender and obviously cooked in fresh oil at the correct temperature. The dipping sauce was a little watery and lacklustre in comparison. I felt something a little heavier, sweeter and/or spicier might have been a better accompaniment.
Next up for me was Yuk kae Jang. When I ordered this dish the waitress looked at me somewhat quizzically and asked “Very very spicy. Very hot. Ok?”. I just grinned. Bring it on!
Yuk kae Jang is a hot spicy blend of beef soup and mixed vegetables. It came sizzling in a cast iron bowl, kept safe from cold hands by a neat wooden box. There was definite MOO to this dish, it is a hearty beef broth and make no mistake about it. Tinged ochre with the most amazing assortment of chilli and spices, my nasal cavities opened to full on the first mouthful. Sinusitis suffers - I have found your cure. So in I delved, chopsticks in one hand and big soupspoon ladle in the other. The spicy depths revealed glass noodles, bean shoots, carrots, spring onions, mushrooms and egg. There was a slurry of pulpy spices at the bottom - ginger, garlic, lemongrass and who knows what else. This is a dish that I will certainly crave on cold winter nights.
As per Korean tradition, the dish was accompanied by boiled rice and kimchi, which are pickles. For a history / proper definition / story / use of, go here.
I was most impressed with a sweet lotus root kimchi, which is in a bowl directly to the left of the boiled rice above. The balance and depth of sweetness vs. savouriness was just amazing. I haven’t had something quite so pleasantly tasty for quite some time.
My dinner partner had the Jjam bbong, which is a spicy seafood and vegetable soup. As with the beef soup, this broth was pure taste of the sea. With generous portions of prawns, mussels, clams, squid and octopus, it too was very stomach warming (…and super spicy!).
The whole lot cost us $28.00. The kimchi and green tea were free. And if you’re not a greedy guts (ahem…like me), then this seriously could have served four people.
Written by mellie on
April 30th, 2006 | Tags: restaurants | Category: Uncategorized
| 
Print This Post
| 
Email This Post
| Subscribe to comments | Leave a comment | Trackback URL
May 8th, 2006 at 12:08 pm
Yuk-gae-jjang is usually made with the immature head of a particular kind of fern (my mother and her friends often make expeditions into the mountains or country to collect them). In their absence, the stems from sweet potato are also used.
If you’re up for a trip to the city, then Korean Palace on Market Lane is worth a try, a bit pricier but you can also experience korean bbq at your table.
Oh, and Korchi (or ggotchi) is a vegetable and meat dish prepared on skewers
May 9th, 2006 at 8:30 pm
Ellie…you are the coolest! Thank you so much for filling in the blanks for me. The Yak-Gae-jjang did have some other “vegetable” in it, but I was unsure what it was. I’ll ask next time I’m there. And I will certainly try your restaurant recommendation.
See, you just got to love the internet!
By the way…I enjoyed reading Kitchen Wench. Would you mind if I linked to it?
May 10th, 2006 at 2:44 pm
Hehehe, no worries
I’m trying to teach my mom how to use the computer so she can blog about her fantastic Korean cooking (we’ve had her friends who are restaurant owners around melbourne come over and be blown away by her flavouring) but it’s a slow, slow process.
Please feel free to link, am glad to hear that you enjoyed reading it!
May 13th, 2006 at 1:26 am
Hi. Great blog! I’m discovering Korean places too and the food is just so tasty!
May 14th, 2006 at 8:33 pm
Thanks for that Belinda. Have you tried the Korean Palace that Ellie recommended?
By the way, I absolutely adore your honey bees
May 20th, 2006 at 4:38 am
Looks pretty tasty… I find Korean food in general a little oily, somehow…
June 5th, 2006 at 11:24 am
I’m proud of KORCHI.
June 5th, 2006 at 9:44 pm
Hi Polok! Do you work/own Korchi, or are you just an enthusiastic customer?
June 6th, 2006 at 3:53 am
i have been working in KORCHI since the opening in July 2004 together with my youngest brother. According to my boss(owner), KORCHI means KORean CHInese.
I don’t know if i am right, allow me to clarify thing here. KIMCHI itself means pickled lettuce only(left in the picture). i will check out all the specific term for those side dishes with my boss and paste it in the comment tonight.
Mel, thanks for the blog and comment. On behalf of Korchi, Thank You and we will improve ourself both in the services and food quality.
polok
June 6th, 2006 at 9:38 am
My mistake in explaining KIMCHI. “consulted” with my boss, KIMCHI is a general term for all kinds of pickles. sorry everyone.
types of side dishes (Pan Chan)
Pickled raddish —> Tan Mu Ji(yellow)
Onion —> Yang Pa
sauce for onion —> Chun Jang
These three usually served when we are having noodles, special food and alcohol.
Bean shoot —> Suk JU
Fish cake —> Oo Daeng
Lotus root —> Chu Rim
Pickled —> Kim Chi
June 6th, 2006 at 11:30 am
Thanks for that Polok - the information you provided is great! By the way, if the owner ever wants to impart the recipe for Chu Rim, I would love to learn it!
Also, another question for you. In Korean cuisine, are there any traditional biscuits / cookies / sweet treats? And if so, would you have the name and/or recipe? I have been looking on the internet, but haven’t been able to find anything as yet.
I can be emailed at montalisa AT hotmail.com should you wish to mail privately.
Thanks once again.
June 6th, 2006 at 2:35 pm
Mel, i’m noy very familiar with korean culture either as i’m not a korean. To be honest, i’m a learner still. Anyway, i will try my best to find out the answer for you. I know one of the korean rice cake supplier that come to restaurant every week. i might get some information about the cookies, cake and sweet treats that u asked.
The only sweat cake with walnut/hazzlenut paste that i know is PASHIMANA(korean)or Mua Ji(japanese/chinese). You can get this from most of the korean grocery shop. It is a small round cake(white with flour powdered) in yellow package. There are few other rice cakes that usually given to friends as gift, but i don’t really know the name.
Recipe of Chu Rim, try my best.
June 9th, 2006 at 8:54 am
Thanks for all you’ve done Polok. I really didn’t mean to put you to any trouble. I’m just glad that you were able to enlighten me a little further as to my KORCHI experience. It is always good to know the story of where you’ve been or what you’ve eaten.
Anyway, best of luck to you and Korchi. I will certainly be back for some Yak kae Jang soon, or perhaps I’ll be tempted by something else. The YKJ is just sooo good though
April 11th, 2007 at 12:32 am
Taemi, so um
anyways
I’m korean and I can quite help you
April 11th, 2007 at 1:03 am
Hi anonymous - thanks for your help. I was just interested in the recipe of chu rim, or for traditional Korean biscuits (if there should be such a thing). I can be emailed at montalisa AT hotmail.com, or you can post here. Thanks for that!