1. Ingredients for Jokbal
- Primary ingredients: Pork trotters
- Secondary ingredients: Basic seasoning (soy sauce, sugar, garlic and ginger)
2. Taste evaluation
-Spicy: :☆☆☆☆☆
-Salty: ★★★☆☆
-Sweet: ★★☆☆☆
-Sour: ☆☆☆☆☆
3. Introduction to Jokbal(Pig’s trotters)
Jokbal is salted, boiled and sliced trotters of pig.
It is true that many people are reluctant to eat it when they hear that it is ‘pig’s foot’ but it is an attractive cuisine enjoyed not only in Korea but also in China, Europe, and South America.
Trotter can be found on birthday table in China, and it’s enjoyed in many countries in the world although it is called in different names like Khao Kha Mu in Thailand, Eisbein in Germany, Feijoada in Brazil, and Jamon in Spain.
Jokbal is a common late-night snack in Korea but it has such a short history. It’s from the North Korea but it got famous since someone who fled from North Korea during the Korean War settled in the South and started to sell this pork trotter dish.
Jokbal is made with trotter that consists primarily of meat. It’s braised with soy sauce, sugar, garlics and gingers for a long time.
First taste would be salty as it is seasoned with soy sauce of bean flavor and sugar but you’ll taste more of sweet flavor as you chew it more and more.
Jokbal should be eaten when it’s cooled down, not right after it’s cooked. It’s because the skin that wraps the meat gets chewy when it gets cool.
When it’s cooled down properly, you should slice meat along with its skin.
Meat usually gets tough when it gets cold but Jokbal is known for soft texture even after it gets cold since it is boiled for a long time.
Trotter skin consists primary of collagen, which is good for skin healthy for women, and its chewy and soft meat is quite yummy.
Korean people use garlic and ginger to remove the smell of meat. And this garlic and ginger in seasoning makes it more “Korean.”
There are Jokbal restaurants lining in Jangchung-dong in Seoul. It’s called Jangchungdong Jokbal Street.
Centering the original restaurant that started to sell trotters from the North in the South, they started opened one by one until they formed a sprawling cluster today.
It’s a well-known food street in Korea that it has been aired on TV where many celebrities often visit. Each restaurant has signatures of celebrities on its wall.
Jangchungdong Jokbal Street is very close to Myeong-dong and Dongdaemun Market, two famous shopping streets for foreigners. Dongdaemun Market especially is accessible by foot so you could enjoy your shopping and delicious Jokbal in Jangchung-dong.
Who knows? You might bump into a Korean celebrity there.
4. Kinds of Jokbal
There are not many kinds of Jokbal due to its short history.
There is regular Jokbal that is boiled in soy sauce, Bul-jokbal that is seasoned with chili pepper, and Naengchae-jokbal that is seasoned with mustard sauce and vegetables including cabbages, carrots and onions.
Regular Jokbal is common dish of pig’s trotter and Bul-jokbal is very spicy so you’d better be careful.
As you can expect from its name, for Bul refers to fire, Bul-jokbal is very spicy and hot.
5. How to enjoy Jokbal even more
Korea has very good delivery networks. As you know, it is normal to get pizza delivered in other countries but in Korea, you could order Chinese food, Korean food and Western food not to mention pizza or fried chickens wher
Even when you are fishing on a small rock on the seashore or in the middle of big lawn near Han River, you could call them and order anything you want.
People normally order this kind of food at night so the delivery is available until late at night or even after midnight.
Jokbal is impossible to make at home so people go to restaurant or order over the phone.
You can even have it delivered to your hotel room. If you ask the hotel concierge or an employee at the counter of a guest house for Jokbal, it will be served to your room in 30 minutes.
You’ll find it quite reasonable. You’ll see Jokbal, green leaves, sauce, Makguksu(buckwheat noodles), Buchimgae(vegetable pancake) and a bottle of beverage for one set. The amount will be enough for 2-3 people.
And you’ll find two sauces, Ssamjang and salted shrimp. Both are Korean traditional sauces and they don’t necessarily smell nice.
If you cannot eat the meat alone, you’ll love the taste when you put a small amount of salted shrimps on the meat wrapped in the green lettuce.
Wouldn’t it be fun to put all the food on the floor in the hotel room when everybody else is asleep?
You might have to pay for delivery in foreign countries but you won’t have to in Korea, so why don’t you try something new at a cheap price?
