11.216

8 (Sat) August 2020

Mugeunji Gwangeo Chobab

3.0

at Sushi Seon

-Sangga, Songpa, Seoul, Republic of Korea-

with DJ

Wirye is a “new city” that’s not technically a city but rather a residential district with informal boundaries overlapping parts of three existing cities: Hanam (to the north), Seongnam (to the east), and Seoul (to the west).   We live in the Seongnam part, but many of the places where we will be shopping and dining are in Seoul.

Sushi Seon is a Japanese restaurant.  Offers nigirizushi on a conveyor belt.  Each plate only 1,000 won.

At 1,000 won per plate, I had zero expectations that the food would be any good.  DJ, who had eaten there once with his mother, assured me of its awesomeness.

Mugeunji Gwangeo Chobab is a Korean-Japanese fusion dish.  Consists of an otherwise standard ball of vinegared sushi rice (chobab), topped with a slice of raw fluke (gwangeo), further topped with a slice of superfermented kimchi (mugeunji), seasoned with sesame oil.  The most critical component is the kimchi, which must be rich and tangy but not stinky, and still retaining a touch of crisp.  The delicate flavor of the fluke is a non-factor, just the chewiness of the flesh to provide a vehicle for the kimchi.  The nutty sesame oil makes it taste more Korean than Japanese.

The food was pretty good.   Rather than keeping costs down by serving substandard cuts of pricy fish (e.g., tuna belly or eel), the kitchen was wise to focus on good cuts of inherently economically sourced fish (e.g., fluke and albacore tuna).  Everything was fresh and well constructed.  Prompt service.  I would approve a return visit.

(For more details about foods, see WHAT)

(For more details about venues, see WHERE IN KOREA)