갈치조림

I took a friend to Namdaemun to get his lens fixed. We arrived just before lunch and thought we might as well get something to eat in the market. The “two” options were the tried and tested Waegoog favourites, or go see what is hiding in one of the dark side alley.

One thing that I have learned it that side allays hide some amazing food and we were hoping for the same. As you can see we are not the only people with following these ideas. We picked an alley and looked for the restaurant with the longest line. “No idea what they are selling, but there is a line of locals, so it must be good.”

The setup here in interesting. They sell ONE dish and that is it cooking right there, in the open kitchen on the opposite side of the alley from the actual restaurant. Not very hygienic looking, but then, what kitchen rally is? The dish is called 갈치조림 (Two links as explanations)

This is the same women who does the cooking, or at least the monitoring of the stuff on the stove. She also serves the food. Here she is going up the stairs, balancing the food on her head, passing patrons and even positioning shoes as needed. Photos of the shoes next.

If you look closely you will see the 1.5th floor just to her left. You have to crouch to walk in there, but who cares if you sit the whole time?

The shoes, perfectly positioned by the women carrying the food on her head and dodging patrons.

And there we have it, 갈치조림.

 

*Images linked to flicker where larger versions are available.