Going Korean: Toppokki Man

Anyeonghaseyo!

A friend and I are going to the Land of Kimchi in about a month. In preparation for our trip, I have been researching on what we would include in our itinerary. So, I got all the details into a spreadsheet, what MRT line to take, where to get off, what exit to take and so on. Aside from that, I also put down the estimated cost for the attractions we are planning to see. That way, we'll know how much the expected damage would be and we could work that into our budget. Above all else, I have always been curious about Korean food. Honestly, before this, the only Korean food I have ever tried are Korean ice cream, gim (seaweed snack) and bibimbap which I bought from one of the stalls in a popular mall chain which I did not like. Yes, that's the extent of my Korean culinary exploration. So, before going on this trip, I decided I should be familiar with the food. Deep in my heart, I have always been curious of that noodles in black sauce that's always featured in Korean novellas. It's been my earnest desire to try that one. Fortunately, I have meet friends in the office who love Korean food. One even have a supplier of Kimchi which according to her is very good. I tried it but I wasn't very taken by it.

Picture is from Zomato

Anyway, we all agreed to eat at Toppokki Man in Rosedale Building, right beside University of San Carlos Talamban Campus. Toppokki Man, as I have found out, serves authentic Korean food. The owner is actually Korean. She was there to direct the crew when were there. The space is not so big. During out visit, they had to ask some customers to wait first because there are no more tables available. They had to wait outside. Lucky for us, we were there at exactly 11:00 am which is the time they open. My friends were already eating their Bibimbap when I arrived. They didn't want me to also order the Bibimbap because it didn't have a lot of toppings. I ordered Tteokbokki which is stir-fried rice cakes in a spicy sauce. That's the cover picture above. That's actually the reason why we wanted to eat at Toppokki Man. I wanted to try their Tteobokki or Topokki, however they call it. It's chewy and would just slide down your throat. I think it's good to be eaten while one of your friends is telling a story and as you are listening, you are also leisurely munching on the rice cakes. It's not to be eaten in a hurry but rather to be savoured. 

I first tasted this one in one of the stalls in Sugbu Mercato in IT Park. It also came with Odeng - a Korean fish cake that's usually on a stick. This is also a very popular street food in Korean dramas. The Tteokbokki and the Odeng go together. What we ordered was Topookki or Tteokbokki with mozzarella and an order of Odeng. It was also served on a stick but I removed the stick. The odeng arrived after we finished the tteobokki, so I removed the stick and put it into the remaining sauce. 

Tteobokki with sliced Odeng bough from the stall in Sugbu Mercato.

Here's the complete menu of Toppokki Man. To my excitement, I forgot to take a picture of their menu board. I grabbed this one from Zomato.

I also ordered the fried set which is a mix of different things. Dumpling, sweet potato, eggplant and squash. There were two pieces of each. They didn't have squid at that time. I especially liked the squash and the sweet potato. Well, squash is my favorite vegetable so that's a given, but it did taste very good battered and fried.

One of my friends also ordered Dakanjung. Fried chicken balls in spicy sauce. It's like the Korean version of Buffalo wings only, they are in balls instead of chicken wings. It was very good also. The chicken balls were bite-size. 

All in all, I liked the food at Toppokki Man. I would like to go back and sample all the other dishes there. It was just a bummer that they didn't serve Jajangmyeon, the black bean noodle I was talking about earlier. But then, my Korean food exploits does not end there. We are still planning to go to a Korean restaurant that serves Jajangmyeon and I will tell you about it once we've done that. So, stay tuned. 

As I have mentioned earlier, my friend has a supplier of Korean food. She's the wife of a Korean. Aside from Kimchi, she also sells tteokbokki and kimbap for 150 pesos. It was actually as good as that of Toppokki Man. The kimbap which is the Korean version of the Japanese maki, is also good. No need to be dipped in a sauce and it's also bite-size. I won't be trying hard not to choke while trying to cram the whole thing into my mouth.

I can't wait to try these food in the Korean markets in Seoul. According to the blogs, it's where you can get authentic Korean food at very affordable prices. Hmmm, my mouth is already watering and I can't wait to step into the Land of Kimich. I admit though, I am slowly becoming a fan of kimchi after actually trying a few spoons of the kimchi that my friend said to be as close as it gets to authentic kimchi.

Anyeong!

Singapore: The Hawker Chronicles

I have been to Singapore four times but only on my last trip was I able to eat at hawker stalls. Yes, it's unbelievable, right? My first  trip to the Merlion City was with friends and it was also our first trip outside of the country. We were yet unsure of trying new food so we took the safe route--fast food. We ate at one foodcourt though in Bugis where there was rice, finally. Not every restaurant or eatery in Singapore serves rice. So, if you want one, the best place to go is of course, the nearest hawker stall. Hawker stalls are like the carenderia or eateries in the Philippines where you point what food you want on your plate. It's a lot cheaper than going into a fast food or a resto. 

My two next trips were with my family and we had my nephews with us who were a bit picky on food. We can't eat anywhere except at McDonald's. There was no Jollibee at that time yet. Even if my brother-in-law's flat was right across a hawker stall, we didn't try it because of the kids. We either had to cook food and pack them with us when we go out or do fast food. 

On my fourth trip, I was with a friend and after realizing that I haven't even tried any hawker food, she then told me that since we were on a budget, our meals will mostly likely be from hawker since it was a lot cheaper. At SGD2 you can already have two viands and rice. You will have a variety of viands to choose from. Sounds fun! 

For three weeks, whenever we go out, we always ended up eating at a hawker stall. I always brought water with me so I won't have to buy soft drinks or bottled water and of course, to save as much of our limited funds.

Here are some of the hawker foods I tried. I'm more of a vegetable and fish person. I am not so into meat. I call this hawker chronicles because I made sure to take pictures of every food I ordered or ate from a hawker stall. I will try to describe each plate as much as possible. So, here they are. Enjoy!

This was my first food I tried. It's a fish noodle soup. It tasted so good. The ingredients were fresh and the stall was so clean. In fact, the stall was featured in one of the local magazines as a must-eat place. This was at the Harbourfront. This costs SGD3.50.

This was in the Woodlands bus station. This is nasi lemak rice (coconut milk rice) with stir-fried vegies. The vegetables were mostly string beans and eggplant with sambal on the side. Sambal is a chili-based sauce. This meal cost about SGD1.50. This was OK. I wished it had other vegies in it.

Does this look like from a fine dining resto? Well, look at that beautiful presentation. This is fried fish fingers with fries and salad on the side. This costs about SGD5.20. The stall was rated A in cleanliness and taste. Yes, this tasted as good as the picture.

This is the famous Malaysian laksa. This is a very spicy soup with seafood and noodles in it. This was really good. Cost is at SGD3.50. This was in a stall near Bishan MRT.

This is stir-fried bean sprouts and sweet and sour fish fillet. This was from a hawker stall in Chinatown. This was SGD1.50. Not bad, huh?

Stir-fried okra and sweet and sour pork. Yes, the Singaporeans love their sweet and sour dishes. The rice is fried rice or Yangchow rice as they call it. This was about SGD2.00. It would cost you extra if you want pork, or beef, or meat on your plate.

This one is stir-fried eggplant and tofu. Yes, the tofu is really good. I discovered in Singapore that tofu could also come in different variants. They have fish tofu which is my favorite, mushroom tofu and all others. This has cost me SGD1.50.

This is pineapple chicken and fried egg with chives. This was about $2.00. Again, there was meat so that had cost a bit more.

Oh, this one's the best. This is popiah. It's a spring roll with peanuts and peanut sauce. The first one I tried on my last trip before this was not impressive. This one however was so delicious. People are lining up to buy from this stall in Bishan. This is SGD1.50. It's worth every cent. Believe me! This is prepared right in front of you. All the ingredients are still hot and freshly-cooked. I even took a video of how this was prepared hoping I could actually make one at home. Nah, I haven't done it yet. I haven't attempted to make this on my own. 

This is the stall who sells the best popiah, I think, in all of Singapore. It's near Bishan MRT and it opens from 4PM to 7PM.

The color of the day is yellow. The one on the left is obviously scrambled egg. You could never go wrong with eggs, right? The other one is actually squash or pumpkin. It was good. I love squash. It's my favorite vegetable so I just can't pass up the chance to try the Singaporean version. This cost about SGD1.50.

This one is fried chicken fingers and stir-fried bean sprouts. Yes, I always order vegies for every meal. I'm trying to eat healthy. Also, I'm not really a meat eater. This was $SGD1.75.

This is sweet and sour fish and eggs. Again, sweet and sour. It never grows old. This was about SGD1.50.

This is prawn mee. It's a noodle soup with prawns. You can have this with pork or chicken if you are allergic to seafood.  This was very good. We had this in Toa Payoh. This was about SGD5.00 but it was so worth it. I didn't pay for this though. I was treated by one our friends. The owner of this stall happens to be the boss of my friend. The husband of the boss is the chef and the boss helps him during weekends. 

This is the Singaporean version of stir-fried kangkong. It was good. It doesn't taste different from the one we have in the Philippines. Maybe, we learned this dish from the Chinese.

This one is deep fried chicken. You might say, "Ah, fried chicken. What's so special about that?" Well, this one used duck egg for the batter to make it crispy. This was good too. This was an ala carte order. This was about SGD8.00 to SGD12.00.  

For those who haven't been to Singapore, the hawker  stalls have a  separate store or stall for all drinks. Yes, you can choose from a row of stalls selling all the meals you can try but there's only one stall who sells drinks. And this one below is a water chestnut. It actually tasted like ice tea but only better. A lot better. I love this one! This is SGD1.50 a glass.

So, the next time you're in the Merlion City, go and try the hawkers stalls. Believe me, you'll discover really delicious and affordable meals. Having a food trip at the different hawker stalls around Singapore is enough reason to visit this island-state. It's absolutely a feast for the senses, especially your taste buds. Most of all, the stalls are clean and all the vendors are required to have government permits. They are even encouraged to sell healthy foods like vegies and meat alternatives. Some stalls are even featured in magazines because of the quality of the service, cleanliness and of course, the taste.

Have you tried the hawker stalls in Singapore? Tell me about your experiences. Hit the comments below.