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[그렉의 한국 엿보기] Street Delicacies
Thick red sauce bubbles in a large silver vat full of what look like oversize pieces of white chalk. Wooden sticks jut out of steaming cloudy soup and dangle off the edges of the metal counter. As I approach the inviting smell I notice swarms of people, from businessmen to teenage students filling up bowls and piling dumpling onto tiny plates. I've eaten food from trucks and carts in other cities, like Paris and New York, but the options for street food and the related culture in Korea seem completely different.
The variety of offerings available from sidewalk stalls and take out windows and mobile carts seems endless even though the price is always the same. Ham and cheese sandwiches, spicy chicken on a stick, corn dogs, and the local favorite, rice cakes in sweet and spicy red pepper sauce are all just a block away. If you're just cruising for a snack, it's easy to find wagons laden down with everything from red bean filled fish shaped pastries to sugary waffles. Most of the vendors follow the traditional pay first, eat later method but the predominant ones that sell rice cakes, fish cakes and various fried seafood and vegetables follow an eat first, pay later scheme. When you're finished eating, tell the owners what you had and they'll add up your total. As you're munching down fried dumpling after fried dumpling you feel like you're part of a community of nomadic eaters.
 [그렉의 한국 엿보기] Street Delicacies 청취
Choices and availability aren't so plentiful where I'm from. In the big cities it's possible to find sidewalk carts scattered throughout the bustling downtown areas. Hotdogs and sausages are the standard fare though its possible to find amateur entrepreneurs hawking a range of cheap ethnic foods. For example, outside of my university there was a row of trucks proffering everything from Thai chicken to greasy hamburgers and French fries all priced to appeal to a student's budget. However, take-out is the only game in town and you have to pay before you eat.
At the first time in Korea the cleanliness of roadside cuisine seemed suspect and I wasn't familiar with the procedures. However, after my first taste there was no turning back. Nowadays, I don't hesitate to grab a pizza toast for the road or a cup of rice cakes for the walk home. Sometimes, if I have a few minutes to spare, I like to linger and eat at the counter with the other passersby. Whether it's a Polish sausage in a bun in New York or a breaded hotdog on a stick in Busan the cost and satisfaction are nearly the same. Bon appetit!
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 / 입력시간: 2008. 06.24. 15:40
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