Myeongdong Yetnal Boribab Ssambab (Boiled Barley & Rice Wrapped in Greens) nearby Gongdeok Station - Enjoy both fancy and simple!

Ssam, which means rice and condiments wrapped in leaves of lettuce, cabbage, sesame, or other greens, is good for people who want both fancy and simple food, especially at home.

First of all, almost all ingredients can be used in this dish.  

Kimchi, which is a main dish in Korea, also can be used in Ssam. Chives,  scallion, garlic, and onion are excellent for Ssam, too. If you have a small garden, these ingredients are very basic and easy to get. You can use pumpkin leaf, kail, dandelion, cabbage, and so on. Even though you don't have a garden, you can get these from nearby market. 

If you don't like vegetables, you can use seafood: sea mustard, kelp, and weed.

Ssamjang, a mix of soybean paste and red pepper paste, is a basic sauce when you eat Ssam. Other than this, salted anchovy, shrimp, or clam are also good for sauce.

A thin sliced reddish, stir-fried pork, baked fish, and bean paste stew goes well with Ssam.

This Ssam is similar to wrap. Rice wraps in Vietnam,  burrito or  tortilla in Latin, and food with leaf of corn or palm leaves in  Southeast Asia.

"Myeongdong Yetnal Boribab Ssambab (Boiled Barley & Rice Wrapped in Greens)" nearby Gongdeok Station is famous for its Ssam. Take exit 1 , make a U-turn, and go straight for 10m . Then turn left and go straight for 100m. You can find an intersection. Go straight for 100m again, turn left, and there you go.

Take off your shoes when you enter the room because you should sit on a cushion. This is a generalized way for Koreans but maybe not for foreigners.

They serve rice wrapped in greens with stir-fried black pig, barbequed beef, or sea snail. Also there are boiled barley and pancake with chives. Set menu, which is 24000 won and includes ssamjang with soft-shell clam, stir-fried black pig, boiled barley and various vegetables, is enough for two people.

Unusually, they served scorched-rice water (poured water after cooking rice in an iron pot) and steamed potato.

You can order steamed kimchi with mackerel for 8000 won, fried rice for 2000 won, noodles with a young radish for 3000 won, and extra ssamjang for 5000 won. 

Huk Dweji (Black pig) is rare because it is raised in some partial areas and famous for its chewy meatiness. One clerk put a basket of vegetables on the table. Lettuce, chili, poached pumpkin leaves, perilla leaf, kail, bok choy, romaine, scallion, angelica root , dandelion, and  napa cabbage!

In freshwater snail-Ssamjang, there were lots of freshwater snail, which has a bitter taste and goes well with soybean paste. 

Put two or three vegetables on your palm and put stir-fried pork, soybean paste, and  garlic if you like. Especially, angelica root has a very bitter taste, so only one piece of it is enough. Mix rice and vegetable side dishes with red pepper paste. You can add perilla oil and make Ssam with that rice.

You can use any kind of ingredients; DIY food!

 A pancake with chives was crispy and aromatic.

Lots of broadcasters and celebrities visited this restaurant. On the wall, their signatures and a frame which says 'Give great fortune to my customers' were hanging. When you have a no appetite or in a tough time, visit this place and refresh yourself.

Location : Dohwa-dong 182-4, Mapo-gu, Seoul. Tel : 82-2-713-2695

[Burger] - Upgraded CryCheeseBurger with French Fries

[Dish] - 'Galbi wa Milbat" nearby Un Jeong Lake Park at Paju

[Dish] - Sundae & Fried Dish in Changsin Golmok Marketplace nearby Dongdaemoon

[International] - Udong store “Ma-Cheu-Ya” - Shinsegae Dept. Store in Yeongdeungpo

[Dish] - Enjoy seeing the blue sea in the center of Seoul! Noryangjin Fisheries Wholesale Market

[Grill] - The ultimate in chewy texture - Daegu Seobu Terminal Makchang Alley

[Grill] - Names and natures do often agree - IlSan Milbat Kalguksu, Seokgalbi

[Dish] - Drug-Gimbap & Bindaetteok - Gwangjang Marketplace

[Stew] - Yeoungdeungpo Mukeunji Maeun Galbijjim – The Development of fermented food

[Grill] - Dak Galbi Sarang Memil Guksi in Nami Island