Cycle 5 – Item 294

26 (Sun) October 2014

Chadol Doenjang Jjigae

3.5

at Jang Yunjo Gamasot Gukbab

-Oksu, Seongdong, Seoul, Republic of Korea-

with the Family, Dad

Home Visit 7: To Abdicate the Abode (Day 2)

• • Day 1 (5.293 Beoseot Jeongol)
  • Day 2 (5.294 Chadol Doenjang Jjigae)
  • Day 3 (5.295 Hangjeongsal)

In town to sign the papers for leasing out the Oksu apartment.  I am now a landlord but no longer a resident of Seoul.

By coincidence, my parents moved today.  From Bundang to Oksu, into an apartment in a neighboring complex.  By another coincidence, the same complex as KH and JH.

Come to think of it, I don’t know why they didn’t just move into our apartment.  Presumably, discussions were held and decisions were made in my absence.

Anyway, my mother spent the day supervising the move, while I babysat my father.  For dinner, we took him to his favorite restaurant in Oksu, which now happens to be the closest restaurant to their new place.

4 families with close ties to mine have recently moved to Oksu, whether by my influence or not, even though my own family is no longer there: my parents, my best friend from high school, and two couples from my camping crew.

The restaurant’s best dish is their doenjang jjigae.  Whereas I usually make mine with a seafood base, they use bits of brisket (chadolbagi), which makes the broth rich and beefy.  It can be somewhat heavy, especially in combination with other meat dishes, but great on its own, every once in a while.

(See also GLOBAL FOOD GLOSSARY)

(See also RESTAURANTS IN KOREA)