13.014 Sundae in Ddeokbokki Sauce

Cycle 13 – Item 14

19 (Wed) January 2022

Sundae in Ddeokbokki Sauce

2.5

at J-Mart

-Changgok, Sujeong, Seongnam, Gyeonggi, Republic of Korea-

solo

A food cart – an actual cart on wheels, selling junk food classics – recently set up shop in the neighborhood.  Quoting Deon Cole, one of my favorite stand-up comedians (seriously, check out his Netflix special Cole Hearted): “Thank you, Jesus.”

Located in front of (on the property of?) J-Mart, next to the pastry cart (see 12.307 Ingeo Bbang).

Although food carts on the street are pretty much banned these days, except in special tourist areas (see for example 13.003 Ddeokbokki), I suspect that these carts are allowed to operate as outdoor vendors owned/managed by J-Mart.

The cart offers sundae + ddeokbokki + odeng.

Marginally, the sundae might be the best in the area.  The other 4 (brick-and-mortar) joints offer a blander version of the dish, with less blood, lighter seasonings, probably in deference to the milder palates of the kid customers that dominate the local scene.

What I’ve been harping on over the past few weeks – obsessive media coverage concerning Korean success/recognition at the global level (see most recently 13.006 Gul Jjambbong) – has a name, which I just learned from the newspaper this morning: “gukppong” (see “Gukppong YouTubers get high on international validation“) – how very meta.  The neologism translates to loosely as “national (guk) drug (ppong),” a metaphor for the addictive nature of such content, sometimes exaggerated/falsified to keep readers hooked.

(See also GLOBAL FOOD GLOSSARY)

(See also RESTAURANTS IN KOREA)

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