First taste of Seoul

I have been in Seoul for only a couple of hours and already, my tastebuds have been spoilt.

For me, one of the best ways to feel a destination is to taste it. I tasted South Korea first up in the air, at 5.30am when I was served breakfast.

Between a choice of omelette and bibimbap, I chose the latter. I looked around and saw that passengers - all Koreans - around me had picked omelettes. That brought to mind a comment I heard from a trade player who said that passengers on their national carrier tended to choose a Western meal option instead of a meal they were familiar with, as an example of how travel suppliers should not make the mistake of assuming customer preferences.

My bibimbap did not come with a raw egg, but it tasted just as brilliant, which further reaffirmed my belief that my half-asleep stomach and tastebuds very much prefer Asian inflight breakfasts.

Later on, for lunch, I had an abalone porridge. Sounds indulgent, but the dish turned out to be one of the cheaper options in the room service menu. That's good - the company's accountant can't complain and my still-sleepy-and-half-empty tummy can rejoice.

The porridge is a beautiful creation: gooey and full of texture, thanks to chewy bits of diced abalone and plenty of sesame seeds. It was a lovely shade of green because of seaweed bits and lots of something that resembled Chinese sea moss. Sesame oil, which I love, was used liberally.

I must get the recipe for this and try to recreate this at home, although I suspect this version of porridge will not appeal to the husband who prefers unembellished versions.

There will be a dinner tonight for hosted media and I hope it will feature local cuisine. :)