1.222
15 (Sun) August 2010
Happy Family
2.5
at Hwanggeum Ryong
-Seongsu, Seongdong, Seoul, Korea-
with the Family
Happy Family is a Chinese dish. Consists of various seafoods (e.g., squid, octopus, shrimp, sea cucumber), with veggies (e.g., onion, bamboo, bokchoy, broccoli), in a garlic sauce, a bit spicy. In Korea, it’s called “palbochae (팔보채),” which breaks down as “pal (eight) + bo (treasure) + chae (sliced).” I suspect that the name, in China, refers or once referred to a vegetarian dish but underwent a semantic mutation when Koreans got a hold of it, much like samseon. In any case, it’s one of the Top Five most popular non-noodle dishes in the Korean-Chinese tradition. For some reason, when the dish is served over rice as a meal, and not on a large platter to be shared by many, it’s called “japtang bap (잡탕밥),” which loosely translates to “japtang (hodgepodge) + bap (rice).” Good stuff.
CORRIGENDUM
22 (Sat) January 2011
I was wrong about this dish being Happy Family, which is a different dish entirely. This dish is in fact palbochae.