Mungtigi is basically raw beef, and I had always figured that raw beef is raw beef, much the same wherever you go. Yukhoe or sashimi at best, right? But that day something just clicked and I wanted to try mungtigi for once, so I paid a visit.
Inside
I went early, so it was quiet. There are several things on the menu, but for this visit I ordered just the mungtigi.
Fritz
Turns out there is a place like this here too. I have spent a fair amount of time in Yangjae, but this was my first time deep in these back alleys, and there are some intriguing shops around.
Cherry blossoms on the way home
Mungtigi
You can tell at a glance how fresh it is. Looking at this alone, mungtigi seems like a dish built around fresh meat. But that on its own would make the flavour far too monotonous.
The set for the day
Once I actually ate the mungtigi, it turned out that what made it famous was not the meat so much as the sauce, which is unbelievably good. The mungtigi sauce tastes a lot like taberu rayu, the crunchy chili oil you eat by the spoonful: a nutty richness with heat and a hint of sourness. Dipping the fresh beef into it sets off an explosion of nuttiness in your mouth, a flavour from another world entirely. The sauce was so good that I caught myself planning to mix the rest into rice later.. Honestly, who on earth was the first person to think of serving raw beef with crunchy chili oil?
Yakju from Baekkyung Distillery
Baekkyung Distillery is a recently opened distillery for traditional Korean liquor, and the clean, junmai ginjo-grade finish was impressive. Like Hansan Sogokju it carries the aroma of nuruk, and its sweetness goes nicely with the bold, punchy flavours of Korean food. Drinking it alongside the mungtigi was a really good match.
Dipped in the sauce
A thoroughly delicious meal. Every now and then you need a flavour like this.
Join the Discussion