FROM KOREA

Korean food in Seoul restaurants is, surprisingly, not very different from that in Los Angeles. There isn’t the sort of gap that exists between Mexican restaurants in the United States, with their limited menus, and restaurants in Mexico that explore the great variety of that nation’s cuisine.

In Seoul, barbecuing at the table is as common as in Los Angeles, except that the grill will probably be fueled with live coals. In addition to the barbecued meats, menus offer the same soups, stews, dumplings, noodles, rice dishes and relishes that can be found at Siyeon (see Let’s Eat Out on Page 37), Woo Lae Oak of Seoul, Hyang Mi, Dong Il Jang, Ho-Ban and other Korean restaurants in Los Angeles.

The accompaniments may be different--a bowl of raw garlic cloves to grill alongside the meat, slim green chiles to dip into soybean paste, barley water to drink and sugar-sprinkled tomato slices for dessert. But the basics are the same. At least this is the impression one gets from Seoul restaurants that accommodate English-speakers with bilingual menus.

To investigate Korean cuisine more thoroughly requires a lot of courage or a knowledgeable Korean guide, for there is a significant language barrier in Seoul. Dropping in to a middle-priced restaurant such as Hanil Hoekwan, crowded with office workers at noon, is awkward, for no English is spoken.

During lunch at this restaurant, I learned more about eating customs than about cookery. After the food was served, my two companions, both just out of college, sat quietly without speaking or eating. Growing hunger led to a shy explanation. In Korea, one eats without talking. And elders--it took a while to realize they meant me--must take the first bite.

For humble food flavored liberally with local color, there is no better place than the markets. At night, the enormous South Gate (Namdaemun) Market becomes a bedlam of shoppers milling about sidewalk displays of clothing, plastic kitchenware, sunglasses, baby outfits, shoes, purses, heaps of vegetables, seafood and startling rows of pig’s heads.

Wandering into one jammed, narrow alley, I came across food stalls offering grilled chicken on sticks, vegetable pancakes, sushi-like rice rolls and other snacks. Market eating may be suspect in some countries, but seemed safe here. To ensure cleanliness, the proprietress of the stall where I ate spooned her chive pancakes and chap-chae (Korean-style chop suey) onto little plastic trays over which she had slipped a fresh plastic bag. The customers plucked paper-wrapped, new chopsticks from a pot and after eating passed around what served as napkins--a roll of toilet paper.

For dessert, I bought a package of honey-soaked, deep-fried cakes called yak-kwa from an old woman squatting beside a small pile of neatly wrapped sweets. These same cakes are available in Los Angeles, either imported from Seoul or freshly made at Korean bakeries.

“Tourist” restaurants are big, pretty places like Raipang Garden, which resembles a large-scale A-frame mountain cabin. Raipang’s table tops are highly varnished cross sections of logs where customers cook their meats over pots of fiery charcoal. For hot weather, the restaurant has an outdoor terrace equipped with a waterfall.

Koreans seem to love rustic garden eating. Another example of this is Neulbom Gongwon, a sprawling array of greenery and water. Here, an open-air pavilion extends over a pond stocked with colorful fish. Part of the pavilion is floored in glass so that you eat as if on a glass-bottomed boat, with the fish cavorting under your feet.

At any level, Korean food seems to be robust, simple and farm oriented. Vegetables are magnificent and used heavily. Beautiful fresh lettuce and herb-like greens such as sukkat and minari accompany meals.

Seasonings are straightforward and pungent. Sam Gae Tang, a chicken soup served at the Seoul International Hilton, is peppered with a head or more of garlic cloves. Soy sauce, soy bean paste, chiles, red pepper paste, sesame oil, sesame seeds--and garlic--permeate the food. Green onions, vinegar and sugar are other common seasonings. Kimchi, the red-hot Korean pickle, is almost always on the table.

Rice, the staple of the diet, appears in many forms. As a meal accompaniment it may be combined with other grains and beans. It also is used in desserts such as Yaksik, a steamed rice “pudding” flavored with sesame oil and soy sauce and embellished with chestnuts, dried persimmons, jujubes (dried red dates) and pine nuts. Befitting its importance, rice is a key dish in the celebration of Chusok, the Korean harvest festival. A major national holiday known as the Korean thanksgiving, Chusok is observed this Sunday.

The earthy Korean diet with its emphasis on vegetables and grains is very nutritious, according to Korean cooking authority Chung Hea Han. A pioneer in introducing cooking classes to Seoul, Han founded the Han, Chung Hea Cooking Institute, which offers professional training as well as classes for home cooks. Frequently seen on television, she has written 12 cookbooks in the Korean language and one in English.

Cooking for Health

“Cooking should be done to improve health,” Han said over cups of ginseng tea floating with pine nuts and sliced jujubes. So strongly does she believe this that the subtitle of her English-language book, “Korean Cooking,” is “For Your Health From Korea.”

Han said that Koreans prefer natural to chemical seasonings and devote considerable expense to making their own soy sauce, soy bean paste and red pepper paste, each family boasting its own formula. Such costly ingredients as white ginseng root, pine nuts and sesame oil are worth the price because of their healthful qualities, she added.

While in Los Angeles to teach cooking this spring, Han tried the city’s Korean restaurants and found the food to taste the same as that in Seoul. Los Angeles has the advantage over Seoul in that beef, and especially beef ribs, which are especially prized by Koreans, is less expensive and more tender, she said.

(A check of the supermarket in the Lotte department store in Seoul showed beef in many forms, including strips cut for the marinated raw meat dish called yuk hwe ).

A Developing Industry

A new development in Korea is its fledgling wine industry. Vineyards in the southeast are producing grapes for a European-style white wine called Majuang. Developed by Sun-Tschu Lie, who trained as a wine maker in Germany, Majuang is produced by the Oriental Brewery Co., maker of OB beer. Whereas the beer is available in Los Angeles, the wine is made in too small a quantity for export. It can, however, be found on restaurant and hotel wine lists, in shops in Seoul and on sale at Kimpo International Airport.

When giving a dinner party, food critic Peter Hyun offers guests a choice of wine, beer or soju , a fiery liquor that he prefers with Korean dishes. Hyun, whose books and articles on Korean topics are distributed internationally, lived for a time in the United States but now resides in Seoul.

Korean cooking, he said, has as much variety as French and Chinese. That may not be apparent to the casual visitor relegated to hotel coffee shops and restaurants catering to foreigners. To experience the scope of the cuisine, one must have access to home cooking and visit a variety of restaurants known for their regional dishes and other specialties, Hyun said.

The following recipes from Seoul include marinated carrots, spinach and bean sprouts (Saemsak Na’mul) from Hyun’s recent book, “Koreana,” published in Seoul by Korea Britannica. Hyun’s late wife, Judy, an American, wrote “The Korean Cookbook,” which was published by Follett in 1970 and is still in print in the United States.

Additional recipes include a shrimp-noodle soup, clams baked with spinach and Sam Gae Tang from the Seoul International Hilton. Chung Hea Han’s Sanghi Bulkoki Ssam is typical Korean grilled beef, eaten wrapped in lettuce with rice, soybean paste and sukkat. This recipe and the rice dessert, Yaksik, are from her book, “Korean Cooking,” published by Chung Woo Publishing Co. in Seoul.

The special ingredients called for in these recipes, including sukkat , dried persimmons, chestnuts, pine nuts, red pepper paste, kimchi, green chiles, white ginseng root and jujubes are available in Korean markets in Los Angeles. For those going to Seoul, the addresses of the restaurants mentioned are Hanil Hoekwan, Chungmu-ro 3-ka; Raipang Garden, 66-24, Nonhyun-Dong, Kangnam-ku, and Neulbom Gongwon, 99-12, Nonhyun-Dong, Kangnam-ku. SAM GAE TANG

(Chicken Soup With Ginseng)

1 piece dried white ginseng root

1 (22-ounce) game hen

1/3 cup glutinous rice

3 jujubes

2 chestnuts, peeled

3 cups chicken broth

6 to 8 cloves garlic

Bottled red pepper paste

Chopped green onions

Mixed salt, pepper

Kimchi

Cover ginseng with boiling water. Let stand several hours or overnight, until softened. Drain. Stuff game hen with uncooked rice, drained ginseng root, jujubes and chestnuts. Sew cavity. Place game hen in large pot. Add broth. Bring to boil, cover and simmer gently until game hen is tender and rice is cooked, about 1 hour. Cook garlic cloves in simmering water in small saucepan 15 minutes. Drain.

To serve, place game hen in large individual soup bowl. Add broth and garlic. Place red pepper paste, onions and salt and pepper in condiment dishes. Season soup to taste at table with condiments. Accompany with serving of kimchi in separate bowl. Makes 1 serving.

SANGCHI BULKOKI SSAM

(Broiled Beef With Lettuce)

1 1/2 pounds beef tenderloin

Soy sauce

3 tablespoons sugar

5 tablespoons chopped green onions or leek

1 tablespoon minced garlic

2 tablespoons crushed toasted sesame seeds

2 tablespoons sesame oil

2 tablespoons rice wine

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Leaf lettuce

Seasoned Bean Paste

Cooked rice

Sukkat leaves

Cut beef in thin slices. Mix thoroughly with 1/4 cup soy sauce, sugar, green onions, garlic, sesame seeds, sesame oil, rice wine and pepper. Let stand 1 hour. Wash lettuce well and separate into individual leaves.

Just before eating, grill or broil beef or stir fry quickly in skillet until just browned. Pour soy sauce into small bowls. To eat place dab of Seasoned Bean Paste on lettuce. Add some of meat, rice and sukkat leaves. Roll into bundle. Dip in soy sauce. Makes 6 servings.

Seasoned Bean Paste

2 ounces minced beef

1 1/2 teaspoons sugar

1 tablespoon finely sliced green onion or leek

1/2 teaspoon minced garlic

1 tablespoon crushed toasted sesame seeds

1 1/2 teaspoons sesame oil

1/3 cup canned soy bean paste

1 tablespoon hot bean paste

2 tablespoons chopped onion

1 tablespoon finely sliced small long green Korean chiles or other green chiles

1/2 cup water

Mix beef, sugar, green onion, garlic, sesame seeds, sesame oil, soy bean paste, hot bean paste, chopped onion, chile and water in small saucepan. Bring to boil, turn into bowl and cool.

WANG SAE WOO KAL GUK SOO

(Shrimp-Noodle Soup)

2 tablespoons oil

3 jumbo shrimp, peeled and deveined

1 1/2 cups shredded Chinese cabbage

1/3 cup slivered green pepper

1/2 cup mushrooms, sliced

1 fresh red chile, slivered

3 cups chicken broth

1 teaspoon sesame oil

Salt, pepper

1 ounce dried Chinese egg noodles, cooked

Chopped green onion tops

Bottled red pepper paste

Kimchi

Heat oil in 3-quart saucepan. Add shrimp and saute just until pink. Remove from pan. Add cabbage, green pepper, mushrooms and chile and saute until tender. Return shrimp to pan. Add broth, sesame oil and season to taste with salt and pepper. Simmer 3 to 4 minutes, until shrimp are fully cooked. Stir in cooked noodles and reheat. Turn soup into large individual serving bowl. Serve chopped green onion tops and red pepper paste on side to add as desired. Accompany with kimchi. Makes 1 serving.

DAE HAP GUYI

(Baked Clams With Spinach)

3 large clams

1/4 pound spinach

2 shallots, minced

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 fresh red chile, seeded and minced

1 1/2 teaspoons toasted sesame seeds

1 1/2 tablespoons soy sauce

1/2 teaspoon sesame oil

Open clams. Remove meat. Wash and reserve 3 shell halves. Blanch spinach in boiling water and drain well. Divide spinach among shells. Place 1 clam on spinach in each shell. Combine shallots, garlic, chile, sesame seeds, soy sauce and sesame oil. Divide mixture among clam shells. Bake at 450 degrees 5 to 8 minutes. Makes 1 serving.

SAMSAEK NA’MUL

(Tricolored Vegetables)

2 carrots

2 1/2 tablespoons sesame oil

1/4 cup soy sauce

1 tablespoon sugar

2 tablespoons minced green onions

1 teaspoon minced garlic

1 1/2 teaspoons Korean ground red pepper

2 1/2 tablespoons ground toasted sesame seeds

1/2 pound spinach, washed and drained

1 tablespoon vinegar

1 1/2 cups bean sprouts, washed and drained

Cook carrots in 1 tablespoon sesame oil until tender-crisp. Add 2 tablespoons soy sauce, 2 teaspoons sugar, 1 tablespoon green onion, garlic and 1/2 teaspoon red pepper. Cook until liquid is absorbed. Stir in 1 tablespoon sesame seeds.

Cook spinach in boiling salted water 2 minutes. Drain well and cut into strips. Add 1/2 teaspoon sesame oil, 1 tablespoon soy sauce, remaining 1 teaspoon sugar, vinegar, 1 1/2 teaspoons green onion, 1 tablespoon sesame seeds and 1/2 teaspoon red pepper.

Cook bean sprouts in 1/2 cup water 10 minutes. Drain and combine with remaining 4 teaspoons sesame oil, 1 tablespoon soy sauce, 1 1/2 teaspoons green onion, 1 1/2 teaspoons sesame seeds and 1 teaspoon red pepper. To serve, place vegetables in separate groups on serving platter. Makes 6 relish size servings.

YAKSIK

(Sweet Rice Dessert)

2 1/2 cups glutinous rice

Water

1 cup brown sugar, packed

4 teaspoons soy sauce

2 1/2 teaspoons sesame oil

5 chestnuts, peeled and halved

3 dried persimmons, cut up

8 jujubes (dried red dates), halved

1/4 cup pine nuts

Wash rice, place in bowl, cover with water and soak 5 hours. Drain well. Line colander with cheesecloth and set on rack over water in large pot. Place rice in cheesecloth. Cover pot and steam 30 minutes. Pour 1/2 cup cold water over rice twice during steaming. Turn rice into large bowl. Add brown sugar, soy sauce, sesame oil, chestnuts, persimmons, jujubes and pine nuts and mix thoroughly. Pack rice mixture into 1 1/2-quart heat-proof bowl. Return to rack in steamer and steam, covered, 45 minutes, stirring frequently. Serve at room temperature. Makes 8 servings.