A culatello-eating meetup suddenly came together, so off I went. We settled on Maknae Hoe Center in Singil-dong, where one of the members of our food club is a VIP. With tons of bottles being brought in and lots to prepare, it made sense to go somewhere we know well.
Today’s sponsored drinks
There were wines brought back straight from abroad, and even a BDM (Brunello di Montalcino) made an appearance. Not in the photo, but there were two more bottles of white as well.
And a bottle of single malt
It’s a Balvenie 12-year-old, the DoubleWood, which they say is aged in regular whisky casks and then moved into sherry casks for a finish. It tastes on the sweet side. Balvenie is an easy-drinking single malt to begin with, but maybe thanks to the sherry oak it’s become a flavour even beginners can get right away. It actually reminded me more of Johnnie Walker than of a single malt.
Today’s star, the culatello
It’s a pricey ham brought over straight from Italy. Apparently it’s the finest of hams, made from an especially tasty cut even among prosciutto. I couldn’t even begin to imagine what this one chunk would cost if you ordered it at a restaurant.
Salami bought at a market
I can barely remember the last time I had anything of this quality. And I hear it was cheap, too.
The culatello, sliced thin
Nicely chewy, with no gamey funk at all. Just what you’d expect from a pricey ham.
With melon…
A ham this good couldn’t just be eaten on its own, so I quickly went out and bought a melon.
Wrapped up like this.
Paired with a nicely ripe melon, the ham tasted even better.
Sea cucumber
The freshness is killer. It’s too slippery to eat with chopsticks alone, so you have to work a nice combo play with a spoon.
Chonggak kimchi (ponytail radish kimchi)
It wasn’t quite fermented yet, but it was tasty that way too.
Flounder
The colour looks like sea bream. They say it can be like that when the fish is big.
Brown sole sekkosi (thin-sliced with the bones)
Normally I’d have been thrilled, but this day so many other delicious things came out that it ended up neglected.
Dak-saeu (big spiny prawns)
I’ve been to Maknae plenty of times, but it’s been ages since I saw prawns this huge. Really meaty.
Kimchi
Maknae’s kimchi is always good.
They even made us some nigiri…
The freebies just kept coming today. We were already full on ham alone, they really didn’t have to…
Ara-daki (simmered fish head)
Properly it should be made with a fattier fish to really shine, but for Korea it was pretty well done. Come with a VIP member and the freebies are endless.
Finally getting ready for the jjukkumi (webfoot octopus).
My life is so busy that I hadn’t even hoped for any seasonal food, so this was a really great chance.
Jjukkumi meeting its end
Apparently you have to press it down firmly or it’ll squirt its ink.
Slowly cooking through now.
Jjukkumi served on a plate
Perfect with soju, I’d say. This alone is good enough to be a main.
The head, packed with eggs
This has to be the tastiest part of jjukkumi shabu-shabu.
Dodari ssukguk (flounder and mugwort soup) made in a huge pot
They made a massive batch. The mugwort was picked by hand on Ganghwa Island, and the aroma is really intense. Someone who has had dodari ssukguk in Tongyeong itself said this was better than Tongyeong’s.
Served into a bowl
I thought this spring would pass without me getting any dodari ssukguk, so what a relief. Not that spring’s arrival meant much anyway, since I’d just been holed up at home like a hikikomori.
As always, we finish with ramyeon.
It’s ramyeon full of jjukkumi ink; think of it as a special spring dish.
Over at the next table they were cooking up their own risotto.
Their passion for food is truly amazing.
Cherry blossoms I happened to snap on the way home.
So this is how this spring goes by… I hope the busy stretch ends soon so I can get out and travel.