11.295

26 (Mon) October 2020

Pyeonbaek Jjim

3.0

at Dotori Pyeonbaek Jib (E-Mart)

-Seongsu, Seongdong, Seoul, Republic of Korea-

with Mom and Dad

Dotori Pyeonbaek Jib (도토리 편백 집) is a Korean restaurant chain.  Currently 27 locations across Seoul.  Specializes in pyeonbaek jjim, both beef and pork.  The name, which doesn’t make much sense in Korean either, means “Acorn (dotori) Cypress (pyeonbaek) House (jib).”

Pyeonbaek Jjim (편백 찜) is a Korean dish, kind of.  Thinly sliced meat and vegetables laid out in a box made of cypress wood (pyeonbaek), steamed (jjim), then dipped in sauces, eaten with rice.  Essentially the same thing as, if not an outright copycat of, Japanese seiromushi, which uses bamboo boxes.

The food was good.  The beef – probably Australian – was tender but flavorless, which was okay with all the dipping sauces – I used ponzu + chilies + lemon.  Fresh sprouts and mushrooms, enhanced from the fat drippings of the steaming beef.  Did I detect a trace of perfume from the wood?  Maybe.  Super light and healthy.  Although it’s not a traditional Korean dish, it does feel like it, kind of.

(For more details re food, see WHAT)

(For more details re venue, see WHERE IN KOREA)