This is the second time we’ve had lunch at Shin Chon Garden on Baltimore National Pike in Ellicott City but there were four of us this time and my son’s friend is Korean so we had a little help. I know I should have written down the names of everything but… I didn’t so mostly I have picture. The food was delicious and Stephen’s friend said that it was good so I’m assuming it is relatively authentic.
I have eaten most Asian cuisines and one thing that truly distinguishes Korean cuisine are the side dishes – the first course is this lovely sampling of pickles
Of course, there are several types of kimchi including cabbage, daikon, bean spouts (my favorite) and cucumber. There is also a little mound of potato salad. There was a sort of brown gelatin with green onions and a sauce on top, Stephen’s friend told us it was Muk (a gelatin made from buckwheat starch), much like tofu, it doesn’t have a lot of taste and just picks up the flavors of the toppings. I Love these little nibbly dishes and the last time we came we had different things, which really makes it an adventure.
We also ordered some fried dumplings – you can tell we were hungry! *smile* They have ground pork and vegetables inside
Now – our dishes:
Mine was Galbi Jim – a spicy stew with tender short ribs, green onions, some other vegetables, bits of egg drop (scrambles like in egg drop soup), and cellophane noodles – considering how it looked, it was not excessively spicy and was very satisfying on a very rainy day
Angela had Yook Ke Jang – a spicy beef broth soup with shredded beef and scallions and cellophane noodles at the bottom. It was very similar to mine and equally satisfying.
Stephen and Shannon shared their dishes:
This was, without question, my favorite and I hope to remember it for the next time we go because I will totally order it. Soonbudu jjigae is a soft tofu stew in a spicy broth with mixed seafood. It was delicious
Calamari Bok is sauteed calamari and vegetables in a spicy garlic sauce. This dish was wonderful because, even though it was spicy, you could really taste the garlic. The calamari was perfect and there were onions, scallions, peppers, and such. Everything also came with a little cup of rice.
Lunch was wonderful and so much easier with someone who spoke the language and could order some things that we didn’t know about. Yeah Shannon!!