What JAY Ate Today: Dakgangjeong, Gimbap and Really Good Tonkatsu

 

JAY PICK · What I Ate Today

Not every meal in Korea needs to be something you found on a “Top 10 Foods You Must Try in Seoul” list.

Sometimes it's just lunch while I'm working.
Sometimes it's a place near my house that I keep going back to.

So, this is what I actually ate today.

No itinerary. No ranking. Just food. :)

Lunch: Dakgangjeong + Gimbap

Today’s lunch was dakgangjeong and gimbap.

And yes, looking at them separately, they don't exactly seem like a carefully planned meal.

But whoever first decided these two belonged together deserves some kind of award.

The dakgangjeong was crispy, sticky, sweet and salty, with slices of Cheongyang chili pepper on top for a little kick.

Then you take a bite of plain, mild gimbap.

Sweet. Salty. Spicy. Crispy. Then soft rice and vegetables.

It works ridiculously well.

I was working when I suddenly started craving it, so I did what I probably do far too often — opened a delivery app and ordered it.

This is also a very normal part of life in Korea.

Gimbap is everyday food here

Gimbap isn't necessarily something Koreans consider a special meal.

It's more like one of those foods that fits almost anywhere.

A quick lunch when you're busy.
Something to bring on a picnic.
Food for a road trip.
A simple meal when you don't really feel like cooking.

You can also walk into almost any convenience store and find triangle gimbap (samgak gimbap), regular rolls, and all sorts of different fillings.

Cheap, easy and surprisingly satisfying.

And then there's the other half of today's lunch story:

Korean delivery culture.

Delivery here is on another level.

Food can show up at your home, office and, in many cases, even places where you wouldn't normally expect someone to order dinner.

I use delivery so often that I'm slightly embarrassed to calculate how much of my life depends on it. 😂

Visitors notice this most when they see people ordering fried chicken near the Han River.

Yes, that's actually a thing.

Ordering food in Korea can be a little trickier for foreign travelers because apps, phone verification and payment options aren't always straightforward.

I'll make a separate JAY Travel Tip about how to do it properly later.

Because ordering chicken by the Han River at least once?

I think that's worth knowing.

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Dinner: Thick-Cut Pork Tonkatsu Near My House

Dinner was completely different.

There's a popular tonkatsu restaurant in my neighborhood that often has people waiting outside.

This is one of the places I actually go back to.

Their tonkatsu is made with thick-cut pork, and the version I had uses black pork.

Look at that thickness.

The meat stays juicy inside while the breading is surprisingly thin and crisp.

I usually add a little lemon and sometimes some herb, then eat the first few pieces with salt instead of sauce.

When pork is this thick and properly cooked, you really don't need much else.

And this particular style of Japanese-inspired tonkatsu is probably one of my favorite versions.

Korea takes tonkatsu surprisingly seriously

One funny thing about Korea is just how many versions of tonkatsu we have.

There's Japanese-style thick tonkatsu like this one.

Then there's Korean old-school gyeongyangsik tonkatsu — usually thinner, served with a generous brown sauce and often accompanied by cabbage salad.

And then things start getting creative.

Cheese tonkatsu.
Pizza tonkatsu.
Tonkatsu nabe.
Old-school snack-bar tonkatsu.
Tonkatsu with different fillings, sauces and toppings.

Sometimes it feels like Korea must have invented at least 50 versions of it by now.

I haven't counted. 😂

Personally, I usually come back to two.

A good thick Japanese-style tonkatsu like the one I ate tonight, and Korean-style gyeongyangsik tonkatsu.

They're almost completely different foods despite sharing the same name.

Maybe that should become another JAY PICK someday.

Japanese-style vs. Korean old-school tonkatsu.

I would happily do the research for that one.

By research, I mean eat both.

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Just a Normal Food Day in Korea

None of today's food was fancy.

Dakgangjeong. Gimbap. Tonkatsu.

They're all things you can pretty easily come across while traveling around Korea.

But that's partly why I wanted to post them.

Travel isn't always palace visits, famous markets and restaurants with thousands of reviews.

Sometimes understanding Korea is seeing what people order while they're working, what they grab when they're in a hurry, and which neighborhood restaurant still has a line at dinner.

So from time to time, JAY PICK is going to be exactly this.

Things I actually ate.
Places I wandered into.
Photos sitting forgotten in my phone.
And small pieces of everyday Korea that probably don't need a full travel guide.

Today, it was chicken, gimbap and tonkatsu.

Not a bad day at all. :)