The sensation that is the Korean culture tantalises the entire world, gripping every nook and cranny of the world through its brilliant-flashy Korean-Pop idols/music and ever-dramatic yet edge of your seat plots in its Korean Dramas. The Korean entertainment field has swept across the world like wildfire, managing to enamour millions if not billions of fans worldwide, luring them to the Korean entertainment culture, full of glitz, glamour, presence, and panache. As a direct result of this massive and rapid globalisation, the world has been made privy and has devoured Korean beauty cosmetics and the Korean lifestyle in general.
Similarly, Korean cuisine, due to this exponential exposure boom, has gained a massive following amongst teens around the world flogging to their nearby Korean restaurants to feast upon the same food their idols on screen do. However, despite maintaining the panache and style aspect to it, Korean cuisine establishes its niche as the antithesis of what the Korean Entertainment scene was built upon. To Koreans their food isn’t loud and glitzy, rather their cuisine philosophies revolve around the harmony flavours create and the medical benefits the food exudes when balanced to perfection.
Taking this very philosophy in mind, Dokdo-Sarang, situated at Kupondole Heights in Lalitpur, serves up a platter of true authentic Korean Food, a food line-up consisting of truly balanced Korean flavours served up with heaps of love and harmony.
Dokdo-Sarang is the brainchild of the lockdown and a couple of passionate individuals that were looking to open up a Korean restaurant around this area since there was no prominent one in this area,” says Sanjog Rai one of the partners at Dokdo-Sarang.
Our traversal into Korean cuisine began with a staple Korean dish, the Samgyeopsal, sliced pork belly cuttings to be barbecued on the ever-popular portable hot plates. “More often I see people simply frying up the pork bellies on their own, which again are delicious on their own, however, to bring out the true flavours of the Samgyeopsal one should try frying it up along with the kimchi provided.” added a buoyant Rai.
And boy was he right! The kimchi-infused pork slices wrapped up in lettuce, bean paste, and all the fermented side dishes are served up to create, to put it simply, an explosion of flavours in your mouth. The juicy crispy texture the pork brings forth blends in quite elegantly with the tartness of the kimchi and the fermented goodies. Wrapped up in the airy lettuce, this rather unexpected combo creates what we had previously only read about in Korean food: the delicate balance in the flavours inducing harmony in one’s palate.
As the perfect coaster between meals, we were served the Butterfly Ice Tea and Carrot Turmeric infused Immune booster Drinks. The Carrot, Turmeric Orange immune booster drink was quite self-explanatory, a veggie, healthy smoothie that retains its sweet-tart taste making it a worthwhile health option for those looking for one The Butterfly Iea Tea, exuded exotic from the get-go. A beautiful concoction of cascading colours and flavours, this blend of lemonade with an orange juice base serves as the perfect palate cleanser/refresher to sip on during the gobsmacking bites during the meal.
Next up on the line was the uber-popular, cult classic Kimbap! There isn’t much one needs to speak of these circular bundles of rice-veggie-filled goodness, b[esides how amazingly good they were! Dipped in the soy sauce the Kimbap radiated a wonderful freshness into the day’s meal. Alongside the Kimbap, as our final item for the day we were severed the family platter, an array of dishes consisting of the Kimbap, the Jeyuk Bokkeum, Korean Pancakes, and what we like to dub the winter elixir, the Kimchi Jjigae.
While these dishes, very much could be standalone in their own right, served as a combo meal for a larger group, presents a wide array of flavour options to pick & choose from. The Korean pancakes, Kimchi-infused pancakes(we’re beginning to see a pattern forming here!) when paired with the fermented sweet beans served up to be a sweet delicacy to counterbalance the tartness and the savouriness of the other pair dishes.
The winter elixir, the Kimchi Jjigae, the kimchi extract soup, boiled up with Tofu and veggies never fails to hit the right spots! The tanginess of the soup, the texture the Tofu adds, and the savouriness the vegetable stocks bring to the concoction produce simply symphonic soup.
Despite competing against such fierce competitors, the star of the day however was undoubtedly the Jeyuk Bokkeum, stir-fried pork served up with a special sauce, words fail to articulate the richness in flavour this dish brings to the table, the sweet/tanginess of the meat could almost overwhelm some with sheer flavour alone, paired with the rice provided in the platter, The Jeuk Bokkeum rounds up a brilliantly flavourful culinary journey we had through the heart of day-to-day Korean cuisine.
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