Though I've boycotted the recent Bizarre Foods episode because of the intentional omission of the Scoops segment, I still heard from sources (namely Josh) that Zimmern ventured to Koreatown for an truly bizarre meal at Western Soondae. As adventurous eaters, we had to make this place a stop. Also, I hadn't had really good soondae in a long time. Soondae (other commenters may elaborate), is a Korean blood sausage that's stuffed with a special kind of noodle or rice. There are two main kinds, one that is stickier/softer and another called
chap-sal, meaning sweet rice (my gf Christine explained this). I'm pretty sure the kind we had here was the sweeter kind. Other meats on the gargantuan platter included pork feet, ears, liver, tongue, and other miscellaneous innards and organs. It was an offal party, to say the least and the brave souls tried most of these sections, some with more enthusiasm than others. Even the liver was a hard one to put down, but ultimately this dish was a gustatory slamfest of hardcore foodie meats. A challenge for anyone who considers themselves worthy of Lucullan glory.
A large plate of kimchi and kak-du-gee (pickled korean turnip?) as well as a mound of seasoned flat
boo-choo leaves (like chives) flanked the beastly offal plate of blood sausage and pork innards.
Considering that the meat's probably boiled, it's actually a bit underseasoned. A little sea salt,
sam-jjang (ubiquitous spicy fermented soybean paste), garlic, and japaleno (the mysterious ingregient that has pervaded all Korean food in LA).
Close-up of the sliced pig foot, one of the better meats on the plate.
It would make offal lovers proud. Instead of where's Waldo, think - Where's Pig Ear?
Western Soondae543 S Western Ave
Los Angeles, CA, 90189
(213) 389-5288
5 comments:
soondae is not stuffed with rice but with some sort of noodle
orginated from china, the clear noodles (one that is used for jap-chae) are inserted to the intestine just like western sausages
the color and flavor mainly comes from the clotted pig blood (which usually served in a hae-jang-gook)
in different part of korea, there are different styles of soondae
some put different kinds of veggies to come up with their own flavor and texture
p.s. soondae is mostly from pig
oh, those clear noodles are potato noodles. and yes, it's coagulated pig's blood that's the same stuff in hae-jjang-gook.
thanks for info frank, the in-house Korean food master (other than Christine).
OMG I totally watched that episode of Bizarre Foods the other night and I was waiting for Scoops to come up. I thought I was watching a rerun since it didn't come up. Not to mention, that episode made me crave soondae (and your post doesn't help). Haha. LOVE IT!
Rose: yeah, disappointing that it didn't come up. I meet Javiar, the Teenage Glutster, from the Bizarre Foods episode last night. We'll probably go on some food adventures sometime in the near future. (just so you know, he was the long-haired mexican guy on the show where Andrew had the menudo)
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