Hey guys, one of my favorite things to do in Korea is visit the palaces because I'm infatuated with history.
I love looking at the beautiful ancient architecture, I love seeing how daily life used to function, and I'm really curious
What did they eat back then? So today I'm gonna find out, but to do that
I think, I think I need to change into something more appropriate.
Here we go
How do I look?
Got a quite a few stairs, and as I walked into the restaurant...
I guess no one told them the emperor was showing up today. I'm at the Hanmiri restaurant here in Seoul.
I'm about to embark on a nine course imperial food adventure.
And, of course, the number nine is very significant because number nine in Chinese culture and in Korean Culture; it means longevity.
And if you're the emperor you want to be the emperor for as long as you can.
This is literally what the emperor of Korea would eat back in the day. And for my meal, I'm asking for a plain number B...
which includes: stewed beef ribs, king prawn, pan-fried beef, assortment of 9 korean wraps...
Korean royal fire pot, grilled tender loin and pine mushroom, special seasonal dish, marinated abalone, and grilled ginseng beef.
A meal fit for an emperor, literally! No, I don't know if the emperor actually wore this when he ate because, um...
It's beautiful, but it's very cumbersome.
I mean getting their sleeves on your food seemed really easy to do in this get-up.
Oh, and check this out guys. When the emperor, back in the day, wants to take some food photos for... I don't know, ImperialGram?
He has to get his phone out from his sleeves because this is this is where they keep stuff...
there's no other pockets, and then take his food photos.
And... upload!
All right! Let's, literally, roll up our sleeves and dig in.
First course: pumpkin porridge.
All the silverware here...
This is made out of brass and that's because there's a fear of...
poisoning for the emperor and the brass will change color when it comes in contact with poison.
So this is very traditional dishware.
It looks like has a little date floating on top
I guess this is how the emperor of Korea used to get a date.
Okay, I'm sorry. I'm sorry.
I don't think there's actually any rice in here. This is just all pureed pumpkin.
Oooh..!
That is really pumpkin-y... That tastes like Halloween--in a good way. Flavorful Halloween!
Sweet. Really, really creamy.
I'm supposed to eat a spoonful of the pumpkin porridge and then a spoonful of the water Kimchi.
Wow, it's very vinegary and peppery. And then another spoonful of this, so you just, like, go back and forth.
I don't know which one is chasing which
This is really good.
I forgot something. I just ate that pumpkin Congee*(porridge), and I wasn't paying attention to the spoon...
I don't know if it changed color or not!
Let me just test one of these dishes just to be safe...
Okay, no change in color, I think I'm good.
The japchae! This is actually a really special dish...
that's usually only made for holidays.
For special occasions, because this is actually really hard to make, more time-consuming to make.
You have to stir-fry each of the ingredients separately and then mix it together.
I like this because it is extremely seasame-edy? Is that a word?
It's got a little bits of sesame, and doused with that sesame oil, crispy vegetables, and glass noodles.
That's why it's so addictive.
This is Tangpyeongchae. This is a very empirical dish.
It's green been noodles
And it looks like it has some preserved veggies. It has bean sprouts, and it looks like seaweed in here.
Mmm. That's a dish made for a king.
The sprouts are my favorite part of this dish: really crunchy, flavorful...
But the noodles are very springy. Extremely, extremely light... and of course this is just salad.
I don't even know if the emperor of Korea actually has salad back then...
i mean, ask yourself: if you're the emperor you can have any dish in the face of this planet...
You're gonna ask for a salad? It's like having Gordon Ramsay as your personal chef and asking for a Caesar.
This is stewed ribs, or stewed kalbi. It looks like it has some radish in here.
Beautiful stewed pieces of beef, this nasty thing...
What are you doing here?!
Emperors do not eat broccoli!
Isn't better better now that thing is gone? Some mushrooms, carrots, and just the tiny, tiny bit of broth...
I bet, I bet you this is good.
Um, excuse me? Can the emperor get a straw please for the soup?
Also, um... BROCCOLI was also found on the Emperor's plate.
I don't know who the imperial chef is, but I think he needs to be fired or beheaded, or one of the two.
I have just made my first imperial decree: no broccoli is ever allowed again on imperial grounds.
Yeah, it's good to be the king.
This beef looks like it's been braised so nicely...
[FOODGASM INTENSIFYING]
So beef-y and tender... ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
It was a little sweeter than I'd like but, that's stewed so nicely...
All that flavor is just kind of trapped in that piece of meat.
The emperor approves.
Oh, I found a piece. Look at this, this is like 50% fat.
And I know It's a little sweet
So I'm going to just add a little chili on there.
If you don't eat it with something a little acidic...
Maybe like a kimchi or something, that beef's gonna fill too rich, and I should know I'm the Emperor...
...I'm super rich and when something is too rich? I know it!
This is Yukjeon. First of all: look at how beautiful it is.
This is a beautiful piece of beef, a little garlic on top, scallions, some pickled vegetables on the side and let me just...
Oh, wow! So, you guys see how easily...
this thing is breaking apart?
[INCOMINGING FOODGASM]
It's chewy because of the sticky rice flour, but somehow the meat breaks down so perfectly well.
This is a grilled tenderloin and pine mushroom. It's on a rock because back in a day..?
We didn't have gas and burners! And...
OH, WHAT THE-- what is this thing doing here?!
I said: no broccoli! UGH!
I'm telling ya; heads are gonna roll.
Look at this... I just love how this heated.
FEELZGOODMAN.wmv
That is a beautiful, chard, smoky flavor
Oh, my God... This piece looks like it has a little more fat content. I'm just going to pair that up with a mushroom.
Mmmmm~ who says things weren't good back then?!
I mean, they might not have had a functioning sewer system...
...and there was no A.C in the summer, but dang! Do they know how to grill a steak.
This is Royal Surasanggung...
Basically: royal hotpot.
Looks like it's got a lot of different things going on for it. Some jujubes, gingko nuts...
...shrimp, mushrooms...
Carrots, ginger, pepper... It's colorful, and this is so adorable. I'm really curious how the soup tastes.
>>ROYAL TASTE TEST<<
>>EMPEROR APPROVES<<
All hail the emperor, that's good! Wow, I mean there's definitely a lot of ingredients.
So, you expect this sort of soup to be really rich in flavor, and oh, it delivers.
It's not overly heavy. It's just light and aromatic and flavorful... I'm really curious to taste some of these ingredients.
It's a prehistoric dumpling...
>>THE EMPEROR MAKES NO MISTAKES<<
Mmm, that's a good dumpling!
Inside, that meat is gorgeous.... Emperor likey!
This is the ultimate imperial food. This is called Gujeolpan. Gu means 9 (nine) and Pan means plate.
It has little crepes in the middle and just little ingredients all around.
Squash, pork, egg yolk, preserved veggies, seaweed, fern...
...carrots and egg whites. And you're supposed to wrap it up in these little, little miniature crepes.
I'm just going to add a little bit of everything...
And the sauce is a little wasabi sauce... there we go!
>>EMPEROR PRODUCES CANCER CURING TEARS<<
Multi-use sleeves!
That was really good!
That bite is so light and airy and chewy... this is like the anti-Kim Kardashian dish.
No drama whatsoever. All the flavors blended so well with each other.
I mean, nine ingredients got together, instantly became friends, and just complement each other so well... that is fantastic.
>>EMPEROR KISSY OF APPROVAL<<
This is Dak-Galbi. Dak means rice cake.
So, they mix the rice cake in with the beef and... oh, wow this is just coming, falling apart
And again, it's sizzling on a stone. Who needs a stove, right?
Wow, the sauce is sweet there's elements of sesame, garlic... fantastic.
Also, back then, there was a job called the Imperial Food Tester...
...and this guy had the best and worst job in the world because he gets to eat all the imperial dishes cooked for the Emperor
...but at the same time those dishes might also contain poison...
...and he might die. So I don't know. Is it worth it? To eat the best food in the world but you might die?
I think so!
Mmm. No regrets! You gotta live your life for something right? Might as well live it for food.
This is the jellyfish chilled veggies with some slices of beef. Some radish, cucumbers, carrot on the top...
I'm always down for some good jellyfish!
Some of you might think of jellyfish, and you might be thinking...
'Oh, it's kind of slimy', but it'd be quite the opposite. It's really clean and super crunchy.
Mmm... Oh, that's wonderful!
Some jellyfish with some garlic in some vinegar. I love this jellyfish dish, but it's so garlicky...
Can the Emperor please get a mint in here?
And this looks like roasted abalone. Wow they give me every part of the abalone
Mmm, that's so tender. Look at this, the sauce is inside the shell...
Mmm. I could taste the flame that this thing was roasting on. Tender, sweet...excellent.
Next up, we have some traditional tofu stew, and of course some fun trying to go with it.
Oh!
It is also musical!
Wow, that tofu is really soft. I mean, look at them dance, look at it wiggle~
This is the tofu wiggle. It should be a thing.
I'd love it if somebody will walk onto the dance floor and be like, "This is the Tofu Wiggle!"
>>THE EMPEROR IMPLORES YOU TO WIGGLE FOR HIS AMUSEMENT<<
That was surprising... I think this might actually be the best Korean tofu soup I've ever had.
~MMM SO SOFT~
~SO DELICIOUS~
So fit for a king.
This is Tteok rice cake and paired with it is some plum tea
I love that they have these little jujube spirals on basically everything.
Wow, it is it is very powdery and on the inside um it looks like there's some nuts in here.
Maybe not my favorite thing because the flavor is almost a bit salty, so it's kind of wandering the lines between salty and sweetness...
Hmm
Actually...
It's good.
The more you chew it, because there's a lot of nuts in here...
The more... everything just kinda breaks down together, then it becomes really fragrant almost like a flowery taste.
It tastes like the spring!
Well, that's it. That's the meal that the Korean empire is to eat.
I feel like this meal is the most fun, the most educational, the most culturally connected meal I've had since being in Korea
And, yeah... It's really tasty as well.
In this whole experience wearing this wardrobe with this belt that doesn't really fit me...
Yeah, I know, it's supposed to be like this, but come on. But it's good...
You know, so I can eat until all the way... all the way out here...
I actually kind of feel like I don't know
It's just stepping back in time and enjoying the life of an emperor for the past hour and now that I'm stuffed...
I think I'm going to take a walk in my royal palace.
You know, among my many, many subjects.....
But, again guys, this has been so much fun. The food? Absolutely delicious. If you want to do something like this
I'll list out where I got this this wardrobe and I'll put the information of course for the restaurant
So you can check it out as well and enjoy the imperial experience on your next trip to Korea
You don't have to dress like I did, but this is really cool.
But guys, thank you all so much for watching this video if you like this video please hit that thumbs up button
I would really appreciate that! Of course, as always, until we meet again. I'll see you later