Tasting Mulgalbi and Injeolmi for the first time at Yeonnam Short Ribs Soup [PIEF FOREIGN REPORTER]

I live near Pyeongtaek station, and I love wandering the area searching for new restaurants to try. Sometimes I feel a little overwhelmed and don’t know exactly where to go or what to order, so I was so excited when my Korean partner, Claire, and I decided to seek out some Korean food that I had not previously tried. Yeonam Short Ribs Soup near Pyeongtaek Station

We settled on visiting a place that serves Mulgalbi, which translates to “water ribs.” Mulgalbi is a hot pot dish that boils bean sprouts and mushrooms with pork ribs in a spicy marinade to create a delicious stew. This stew originates from Jeonju, Jeollabuk-do, and large families and groups traditionally enjoy this meal together. The restaurant we went to is listed as ‘Yeonnam Short Ribs Soup’ on Naver Maps. It’s a quick walk from the Pyeongtaek train station. My husband and I have walked by this restaurant a few times and noted the “meat mountain” pictured on the signs outside. As you can see from the photos, it’s quite an advertisement.

The signature Mulgalbi dish. Don't you just love the tiny South Korean Flag?

There are essentially two options when ordering your main dish. The traditional version is cooked in a spicy broth, and the second version has a soy sauce base. Claire and I agreed that level one spice (levels were 1-3 with three as the spiciest) would be a good option. I’m not sure I could have handled it any spicer! In addition to bean sprouts, mushrooms, and short ribs, the stew also had lettuce, glass noodles, Korean rice cakes and was topped with Shabu meat. The restaurant provided some specialty Dokdo sauce (uniquely developed by the Yeonnam Short Ribs company), which should be mixed with the spicy mustard to create a delicious dipping sauce for the Shabu meat. At first glance, the dish looks overwhelming in terms of how to cook the meat, but luckily a staff member assisted with scissors and tongs, so please don’t remove the flag and make sure to take a photo of the “mountain” before she gets to work! Once she was finished, she recommended that we let the short ribs simmer for at least 20 minutes before cutting them apart, allowing them to tenderize. After about 20 minutes, it was time to slice the short ribs. The meat fell right off the bone! Due to the nature of this dish, as it is meant to be shared, you must order for a group of at least two people and add more meat for a larger group. It was so flavorful and spicy; we both enjoyed our meal. I love Korean restaurants because they frequently have aprons available for you to wear to protect your clothing. I recommend an apron while enjoying this stew! It can be a bit messy.  Sides include: acorn jelly, corn salad, fishcakes, kimchi, Dokdo sause/spicy mustard for dipping The banchan (Korean side dishes) at this restaurant are self-serve with various options, including kimchi, corn salad, acorn jelly, and fishcakes. There is also a variety of beer, soft drinks, and soju available. It was a rainy afternoon, so once our bellies were full of spicy ribs and bean sprouts, it was time for coffee and dessert! We decided to go to Sulbing, a popular spot for many foreigners, that serves bingsu (a Korean shaved ice dessert served with various sweet toppings). Unbeknownst to me, Sulbing is especially known for its unique Injeolmi Bingsu, a bowl of ice flakes topped with Injeolmi, a variety of tteok (Korean rice cake) covered with a nutty soybean powder. While I’ve tasted a few different flavors of bingsu, I had not tried anything with Injeolmi yet. Given that it was a rainy, chilly day, Claire recommended we try the toast and the croffle. Both were delicious! The soybean powder was slightly reminiscent of peanut butter but less sweet. The toast had a layer of rice cake in between the two slices of bread. The texture was unlike any other dessert I’ve tried and very satisfying. Injeolmi Croffle and Injeolmi Toast It was a successful day of trying new Korean food. I'm already hunting for my next "new" food experience in Pyeongtaek. [Directions] By car: 30, Pyeongtaek 1-ro 12beon-gil, Pyeongtaek-si, Gyeonggi-do 경기도 평택시 평택1로12번길 30 * For walking directions, search “Yeonnam Short Ribs Soup” using Naver Maps. This article is written by Emily Peacock a PIEF Foreign Reporter.