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9 Course TRADITIONAL Korean ROYAL Cuisine (What Korean Emperors Ate)

May 08, 2020
Hey guys, one of my favorite things to do in Korea is visit the palaces because I'm in love with the history. I love looking at beautiful old architecture, I love seeing how daily life worked and I am very curious. What did they eat back then? So today I will find out, but to do so I think I need to change into something more appropriate. Here we go, how do I look? I climbed quite a few stairs and when I entered the restaurant... I guess no one told them that the emperor would appear today. I'm at Hanmiri restaurant here in Seoul.
9 course traditional korean royal cuisine what korean emperors ate
I'm about to embark on a nine-

course

imperial dining adventure. And of

course

the number nine is very significant because the 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 Korean emperor ate in the past. And for my meal, I order a simple number B... which includes: stewed beef ribs, prawn, fried beef, assortment of 9 Korean wraps... Korean

royal

hot pot on fire, grilled tender tenderloin and pine mushrooms, plate seasonal special, marinated abalone and grilled ginseng beef.
9 course traditional korean royal cuisine what korean emperors ate

More Interesting Facts About,

9 course traditional korean royal cuisine what korean emperors ate...

A meal fit for an emperor, literally! No, I don't know if the emperor actually used this when he ate because, um... It's beautiful, but it's very cumbersome. I mean, putting sleeves on food seemed so easy to do in this outfit. Oh, and look at this guys. When the emperor, in the past, wants to take some photos of food for... I don't know, ImperialGram? He has to take his phone out of his sleeve because this is where they keep things... there are no other pockets, and then take photos of his food. And... turn it up! Alright! Literally, let's roll up our sleeves and dig deeper.
9 course traditional korean royal cuisine what korean emperors ate
First course: pumpkin porridge. All the cutlery here... This is made of brass and that is because there is fear of... poisoning for the emperor and the brass will change color when it comes into contact with the poison. This is a very

traditional

tableware. It looks like it has a small date floating above it. I guess that's how the Emperor of Korea used to get a date. Okay, sorry. I'm sorry. I don't think there's rice here. This is all pumpkin puree. Ooh! That's really pumpkin... It tastes like Halloween, in a good way. Tasty Halloween! Sweet. Really, very creamy.
9 course traditional korean royal cuisine what korean emperors ate
I'm supposed to eat a spoonful of pumpkin porridge and then a spoonful of kimchi water. Wow, it's very vinegary and spicy. And then another spoonful of this, so you can go back and forth. I don't know which one is chasing which one. This is really good. I forgot something. I just ate that Pumpkin Congee, and I wasn't paying attention to the spoon... I don't know if it changed color or not! Let me try one of these dishes to be sure... Okay, no color changes, I think I'm fine. The japchae! This is actually a very special dish...that is usually only prepared for the holidays.
For special occasions, because it is actually very difficult to do and takes longer. You have to fry each of the ingredients separately and then mix them. I like this because it's extremely seaworthy? Is that a word? It has a few bits of sesame and is drizzled with sesame oil, crispy vegetables and glass noodles. That's why it's so addictive. This is Tangpyeongchae. This is a very empirical dish. They are green noodles and seem to have some preserved vegetables in them. It has bean sprouts and here they look like algae. Hmm. That is a dish made for a king.
The sprouts are my favorite part of this dish: very crunchy, tasty... 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 really ate salad back then... I mean, ask yourself: if you're the emperor you can eat any dish on the face of this planet... Are you going to ask for a salad? It's like having Gordon Ramsay as your personal chef and ordering a Caesar. These are stewed ribs or stewed kalbi. Looks like you have some radish here. Beautiful stewed pieces of beef, this disgusting thing...
What are you doing here?! Emperors don't eat broccoli! Isn't it better now that that no longer exists? Some mushrooms, carrots and just a little bit of broth... I bet, I bet this is good. Excuse me? Can the emperor get a straw for the soup please? Also, um... BROCCOLI was also found on the Emperor's plate. I don't know who the imperial chef is, but I think he should be fired or beheaded, or one of the two. I have just issued my first imperial decree: broccoli will never be allowed on imperial lands again. Yes, it's good to be the king.
This meat seems to have been braised very well... So tender and tender... ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) It was a little sweeter than I would like, but it is so well stewed... All that flavor It's like trapped in that piece of meat. The emperor approves. Oh, I found a piece. Look at this, it's like 50% fat. And I know it's a little sweet, so I'll add a little chili to it. If you don't eat it with something a little sour... Maybe like kimchi or something, that meat will be too filling, and I should know that I'm the Emperor... ...I'm super rich and when something is too rich?
I know! This is Yukjeon. First of all: look how pretty it is. This is a beautiful piece of meat, a little garlic on top, scallions, some pickled vegetables on the side and let me... Oh wow! See how easily... this thing is breaking? It's chewy because of the sticky rice flour, but somehow the meat breaks down perfectly. It is a grilled loin and pine mushrooms. Is it on a rock because a while ago...? We didn't have gas or stoves! AND... OH, WHAT...

what

is this thing doing here?! I said: no broccoli! YUCK! I tell you; heads are going to roll.
Check this out... I love how it warms up. FEELZGOODMAN.wmv That's a beautiful chard and smoky flavor. OMG... This piece looks like it has a little more fat content. I'm going to combine it with a mushroom. Hmmmm~ who says things weren't good back then?! I mean, they may not have had a functioning sewage system... ...and there was no air conditioning in the summer, but damn! Do they know how to grill a steak? This is Royal Surasanggung... Basically:

royal

stew. It seems like they have a lot of different things going on. Some jujubes, gingko nuts... ...shrimp, mushrooms...
Carrots, ginger, pepper... It's colorful and it's so adorable. I'm very curious to know how the soup tastes. ROYAL TASTE TEST<< THE EMPEROR APPROVES<< Everyone hail the emperor, that's good! Wow, I mean there are definitely a lot of ingredients. So you expect this type of soup to be really rich in flavor and oh, it delivers. It's not too heavy. It's just light, aromatic and tasty... I'm really curious to try some of these ingredients. It's a prehistoric dumpling... THE EMPEROR DOESN'T MAKE MISTAKES<< Mmm, what a good dumpling! Inside, that meat is beautiful... It looks like an emperor! This is the imperial food par excellence.
This is called Gujeolpan. Gu means 9 (nine) and Pan means plate. It has little crepes in the middle and few ingredients everywhere. Pumpkin, pork, egg yolk, preserved vegetables, seaweed, ferns... ...carrots and egg whites. And you're supposed to wrap it in these little miniature crepes. I'm just going to put a little bit of everything... And the sauce is a little wasabi sauce... here we go! THE EMPEROR PRODUCES TEARS THAT CURE CANCER<< Multipurpose sleeves! That was really good! That bite is so light, airy, and chewy...it's like the anti-Kim Kardashian dish. Without any drama. All the flavors mixed together very well.
I mean, nine ingredients came together, became instant friends, and complemented each other so well...that's fantastic. KISSY EMPEROR OF APPROVAL<< This is Dak-Galbi. Dak means rice cake. So, they mix the rice cake with the meat and... oh wow, this thing just comes, it's falling apart and again, it's sizzling on a rock. Who needs a stove, right? Wow, the sauce is sweet, it has elements of sesame, garlic... fantastic. Also, back then, there was a job called Imperial Food Tester... ...and this guy had the best and worst job in the world because he could eat all the imperial dishes cooked for the Emperor... but at the same time time those dishes could also contain poison... ...and he could die.
Then I do not know. It's worth it? Eat the best food in the world but you might die? I think so! Hmm. No regrets! You have to live your life for something, right? Might as well live it to eat. These are chilled vegetables with jellyfish and some slices of meat. Some radishes, cucumbers, carrots on top... I always feel like some good jellyfish! Some of you might think of jellyfish, and you'll be thinking... 'Oh, it's a bit slimy,' but it would be quite the opposite. It comes out really clean and super crispy. Mmm... Oh, that's wonderful!
Some jellyfish with some garlic in a little vinegar. I love this jellyfish dish, but it has so much garlic flavor... Can the Emperor bring a mint here? And this looks like roasted abalone. Wow, they give me every part of the abalone. Mmm, how tender. Look at this, the sauce is inside the shell... Mmm. I could taste the flame this thing was roasting on. Tender, sweet...excellent. Next we have a

traditional

tofu stew and of course some fun trying to go with it. Oh! It's also musical! Wow, that tofu is so soft. I mean, watch them dance, watch them move~ This is the movement of tofu.
It should be a thing. I'd love for someone to walk onto the dance floor and say, "This is Tofu Wiggle!" THE EMPEROR IMPLORES YOU TO MOVE 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 it is served with some plum tea. I love it because they have these little jujube spirals on basically everything. Wow, it's very dusty and inside it looks like there are some nuts in here. It might not be my favorite thing because the taste is almost a little salty, so it's wandering the line between salty and sweet...
Hmm, actually... It's good. The more you chew it, because there are a lot of nuts in here... The more... everything breaks down, then it becomes really fragrant, almost like a floral flavor. It tastes like spring! Well that's it. That is the food the Korean empire should eat. I feel like this meal is the most fun, the most educational, and the most culturally connected I've had since I've been in Korea. And, yes... It's also very tasty. In this whole experience of wearing this wardrobe with this belt that really doesn't fit me... Yes, I know, it's supposed to be like that, but come on.
But it's good... You know, so I can eat until the end... until here... I actually feel like I don't know. It's just going back in time and enjoying the life of an emperor for the last hour and now that I'm full... I think I'll take a walk around my royal palace. You know, among my many, many topics... But, again guys, this has been a lot of fun. Food? Absolutely delicious. If you want to do something like this, I will list where I got this wardrobe and of course I will put the restaurant information so you can check it out too and enjoy the imperial experience on your next trip to Korea.
You don't have to dress like me, but this is really cool. But guys, thank you all so much for watching this video. If you like it, press the Like button. I would really appreciate it! Of course, as always, until we meet again. I will see you later

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