The round food diet.

I have lost some weight being in Korea. I have been jogging and doing yoga,  but I like to attribute it to my round food diet. It seems like everything I eat is spherical in shape. Other things I constantly eat that aren't in photographs here (but are in other parts of my blog) are hotteok and mandu. They are both round, too. I am thinking of bringing this diet back with me. Everything though is starch. I really haven't ate a significant amount of vegetables or diary, since being here. Rice is everywhere in every possible form. And is something I hardly ate before I came here.

The best I can describe this as is a cookie, but I believe it is made from rice. The rice cake man gives them to me for free, when Kelly gets her rice cakes. They are delicious. They are not moist and a little chewy with a touch of sweetness.

Tteokbokki, stir fried rice cake, are sold at just about every street vendor. They are slightly spicy and have pieces of fish in it. They are soft and chewy. My description doesn't do justice to the actual texture. It is one of those things you just have to dry. Great late night, drunk food. It can all be mixed with mandu, peppers or sundae (noodles made to look like sausage). An order larger then this is just under two dollars.

These chewy, little mushrooms are everywhere. You see them in beebimbop and soups, especially.

Fun with sweet, street bread.

It looks like a banana.

I get these about three days a week, after work. This woman also sells the best mandu I ever tasted. You get three of these steamed buns filled with bean for less then a dollar. She started giving me and extra one, since I go there so frequently.

Walnut balls: Dough, walnuts and bean puree = deliciousness (especially, if you get them fresh and warm)

Also, there is a chestnut form of these. 

I love the packaging for them. I buy these from a tiny store with one woman making these all day.

Octopus balls topped with dried fish, scallions and a spicy sauce. This is possibly my favorite thing in Korea. This particular order consists of five larger balls. A lady by my house sells smaller ones. She is always there, but I prefer these. Unfortunately, the octopus man (which is what I call him), pulls his little red truck in front of the grocery store sporadically. I don't get these as often. He speaks perfect English and told me he is branching out to other locations. He was training a worker the one day, so maybe someone can be in my location more often.

Mini, spicy seafood and scallion pancakes and little mini egg omelettes. These are my own personal descriptions and not what they are actually called. I get these constantly from a woman right near my apartment. She works all day with I think a woman, who might be here mother. She is constantly mixing larger containers of kimichi. She is really nice because I am there so frequently and she usually makes sure my order is a little bit bigger.

Rice cakes are the same thing that the tteokbokki is made out of. They come in all different flavors and are sometimes filled with things, as well.

 This is Tteokbokki with hard boiled egg, noodles and fish. Also, kimpob is on the left. My Korean friend, Jinok, took me to this little restaurant. Our meal cost less the six dollars for all this food.