I got very lucky when I came to Jeonju because they were also hosting the Bibimbap food festival. In case you don't eat Korean food often, Wikipedia describes bibimbap as:
"Bibimbap (Korean pronunciation: [pibimp͈ap̚][1]) is a popular Korean dish. The word literally means "mixed rice."Bibimbap is served as a bowl of warm white rice topped with namul (sautéed and seasoned vegetables) andgochujang (chili pepper paste). A raw or fried egg and sliced meat (usually beef) are common additions. The ingredients are stirred together thoroughly just before eating.[2] It can be served either cold or hot.
Vegetables commonly used in bibimbap include julienned cucumber, zucchini, mu (daikon), mushrooms, doraji(bellflower root), and gim, as well as spinach, soybean sprouts, and gosari (bracken fern stems). Dubu (tofu), either plain or sautéed, or a leaf of lettuce may be added, or chicken or seafood may be substituted for beef.[2] For visual appeal, the vegetables are often placed so that adjacent colors complement each other."
It looks like this:
Jeonbuk/Jeollabuk (my state) is known for their bibimbap--so this was a festival celebrating it, and other traditional food practices. It was fun! Although, I must warn you, the food displayed did not endear me to Korean cuisine. It was a lot of whole cooks fish/seafood (like shrimp, but not with the heads cut off). I understand whole chickens or duck because the serving style is about group sharing of food and you need a whole bird to do that, but it was little unappetizing (to my senses) to see eyeballs staring out at you from the fish.
This is the peasant sampling of dishes. They had the various types of food the King, the yangbang (nobles), wealthy and the regular people eat. Notice that bibimbap is front and center!
For lunch I went to the Bibimbap Food Festival main event room and they served bibimbap (what else?) in an assembly line manner. Just $5 and I got this huge (HUGE!) bowl of rice, veggies and stuff. I don't think there was any meat (could be wrong on that). See below:
I put too much of the spicey bean sauce on the food--I had very clean nasal passages after lunch!
Along with the bibimbap was the "Bean Sprout Soup" and some sort of sweeter pickled raddish.
The Koreans believe in eating their food all together. So one doesn't eat all your veggies, and then eat steak, and you mix everything up so that it's basically a singular new food item.
I believe that most Asian cuisines really love bean sprouts. I do too--don't get me wrong. But the "Bean Sprout Soup" was, I kid you not, a pinch full of bean sprouts and 1/2 cup of hot water. Literally, they put the sprouts in the bowl, took it to the hot water holder (Like an urn for coffee--only hot water), and put water in the bowl. I like watching the Food Channel and heard that Bean Sprouts are suppose to take on the flavors of the food their with. They are a complimentary dish--not really a flavor by themselves. I wasn't a big fan of the bean sprout soup.
The event was also a big competition for chefs. They were making food and their artworks were also on display.
Duck and something
See what I mean by the whole fish?
Quick side note for my mom: I did not see any lobster. Lots of other sea food, but no lobster. So the Bibimbap Festival did not harm any Lobster during the course of their work
These were cute--hearts!
There were a lot of gelatin creations. That kinda scared me, to be honest. I don't really like jello, and these had small pieces of fruit and stuff in them. Under the bright light, they looked slimy. Not very appetizing.
These are made out of different colored sesame seeds.
The past picture and the next few are entries in the Wedding Banquet Food Contest. There were about 5 tables with all the same types of food on them, just artistically different. I snapped pictures of some of my favorites.
Weddings are HUGE in Korea. Just like in America, everyone has traditions and culture to follow and food often plays a huge part in most celebrations. Can you image Thanksgiving without a turkey? Or no holiday ham? And what's a wedding without a wedding cake? These are some of the Korean Wedding Food Must Haves.
The flowers are carved fruit. Then the outside rings are different fruits wrapped up so that when you cut them into small slices you have a really pretty pattern. But this is all food (nothing plastic--well, except the plastic wrap keeping it fresh)
More carved fruit--pretty amazing
Each table had some sort of chicken creation. I don't really know what for.
Culture Lesson: In college, I read a work done by some anthropologist (I read alot of these) that talked about Fortune telling (I believe in China) where they would chop the heads off chickens and the mystic guide would tell people about their future, or be able to answer a certain question. I don't know if this has anything to do with the chicken-food creations, but it popped in my head while I was making this post (And it's my blog so I can add anything I want to it! HA!)
Also, another idea, is that you get a male and female chicken when you get married so that the new couple can produce their own eggs. Eggs seems to be used in a lot of the Korean traditional dishes.
Carved Watermelon!
This was fun! You could put flower petal leaves in a ball of dough (to make a pretty pattern) and then they would grill it for you. It was eatable. But you made flower pancakes!
Outside there were a bunch of tables where you could sample things. I had tried a couple types of juices and they were all very sweet. So when I got to this booth, I was used to just drinking the whole little cup in one slug. Um...they didn't tell me that this was Korean Whiskey. I am not a huge alcohol fan, and when you're not expecting whiskey--it kicks you in the butt! And--dang--this stuff was STRONG!
I tried two types of alcohol. The Korean Whiskey and a rice wine that interestingly enough tasted kinda like a apple cider (but with a different aftertaste). I liked the rice wine better--then again, I also knew what it was before i drank it!
They were selling seaweed here. By the foot. (or would it be by the meter?)
Maggie - I think you have another career option - travel writer, such a gift! Thanks!
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