Day 3 was the best in terms of eating. For lunch we were treated to a sumptuous meal at I-Jyo, a restaurant within the office building. Colleague explained that they usually make do with something simple like bibimbap and soup, but for our sake, they ordered a wide variety of dishes for us to sample. They were also not surprised to hear I have a blog, every other Korean, especially the young ladies, have their own too.
Banchan: spicy squid, zucchini and pork, westernised salad of corn and nuts. There was also a mini bulgogi, gratineed crab shells and grilled mackerel. So much food we only managed to sample a little of everything.
Bibimbap. Colleague explained that bibimbap can be as simple as rice with sprouts and soya sauce, or extravagant with exotic wild vegetables and herbs. The version here came with bamboo shoots, tender spinach, some fresh ginseng and preserved vegetables. That is how Korean ladies keep their slender finger, loads of vegetables and relatively little rice, I noticed they only mixed in about half the portion of rice.
Vegetables and mushrooms stuffed with fish paste, battered and fried. A bit like our yong-tau-foo.
Raw oysters eaten with miso paste and seaweed.
Sweet pumpkin porridge. Mousse-like rather than porridgey, it is made of pumpkin puree blended with ground rice bits and honey. Smooth and silky with a lingering mellow sweetness, some of the rice are not completely ground up so that the unbroken bits provide a contrasting texture. In Singapore one can sample this homely dish at the newly opened, well- 2 weeks ago, Cha-in 'rice cake house' at No. 9 Thomson Ridge (off Upper Thomson Rd).
Another dish I really liked was the tofu in a spicy miso soup. The Koreans love their miso as much as the Japanese, and it made very good sense to combine it with their favourite chilli paste.
Their disposable toothpicks are made of plastic. After lunch, female office workers make a beeline to the restroom, where they diligently brush their teeth. Women queue up to use the sinks, holding brushes and tubes of toothpaste while waiting for the people ahead of them to finish- I haven't seen such a sight since my school days.