Cycle 4 – Item 97

12 (Fri) April 2013

Jaengban Memil Guksu

3.0

at E-Mart

-Seongsu, Seongdong, Seoul, Republic of Korea-

with W and DJ

The Japanese dish zaru soba is immensely popular in Korea that it’s only vaguely recognized as being Japanese, the way that most Americans don’t consciously think of pizza as being Italian.  In fact, I’d wager that 9 out of 10 Koreans don’t even know the dish as “zaru soba,” referring to it instead by the Korean “memil (buckwheat) guksu (noodles),” as it’s called on the vast majority of menus.

The food court at E-Mart recently introduced this variation.  Instead of serving the components separately, everything is arranged in a large bowl and mixed together at the table.  I really enjoyed the shredded veggies, including lettuce, cabbage, and carrots, which provided a welcome freshness to a dish that’s essentially all-carb, aside from garniture, in its original form.  While “jaengban (쟁반)” generally means “tray/platter,” the term has come to connote any flattish vessel used for presenting food, especially those that involve mixing.  Though this was my first experience with zaru soba done like this – in fact, I don’t know whether such a thing even exists elsewhere – I think that I like it better.

(See also GLOBAL FOOD GLOSSARY)

(See also RESTAURANTS IN KOREA)