I’ve just returned from another land of heated toilet seats. It was even more appreciated by my rear in Korea where the temperature was below zero for my four days there.

This was another business trip so not much chance to look around though I was taken out for a few traditional meals including three variations of the Korean bbq. This is a nation that has brought the humble bbq indoors and taken it to a whole other level. No women are left standing around the kitchen gossiping while making salads and leaving it to the men to drink beers and burn the meat. A Korean bbq is generally a whole group cooking affair.

The cleaning method of the Australian and Korean bbq is similar and generally best if kept to a minimum (saves the flavours for later). Rather than pouring a beer on the hotplate, layers of alfoil cover the hotplate and are taken off after each different meat is cooked on it. In the homes though, some alcohol is also used.

In the old days, the Korean bbq was done on hot coals (sounds like how the Weber was inspired), in today’s modern world, gas is more commonly used. There is a hotplate with a grill on top in the middle of the table. On this there is a large shallow pan filled with stock and some seafood. The rest of the table is covered with a variety of vegetables and sauces. The meal begins by drinking a small bowl of pumpkin soup while the stock comes to the boil. Picking at the veggies is also ok at this time.

Once heated, metal chopsticks are used to put thin slices of beef into the stock. Korea is the only nation in Asia that uses metal chopsticks and they are a lot more difficult than the usual wooden or plastic variety. Anyway, because you’re the one cooking your own meat, you can take it out whenever you like and place it in a small lettuce leaf with rice and some chilli or seasame sauce. Smells fantastic and tastes great too. Like a cross between fondue and a bbq. I also made the obligatory sacrifice to the bbq god – easy to do by using metal rather than wooden chopsticks!

We each had ten pieces of meat and once finished, noodles and more veggies were added to the broth. An egg timer was used so we’d know when it had all finished cooking.

After eating this with the seafood, a raspberry cordial-like fluid was served in a small glass bowl. It’s drunk directly from the bowl as dessert.

At the other bbq, the meat was grilled on the hotplate rather than dipped in the broth. We also had pork and beef which is considered somewhat of a delicacy and given it was a special occasion, my colleagues were able to have it at the company expense. Nice to know that my visit meant they could eat a little better than usual.

As is the way at most bbqs, the men cooked at this one. When the pork was finished, the waitress took a layer of alfoil off the hotplate revealing a clean layer ready for the beef – very impressive and saves the beer!

* Thanks to System of a Down for the title to this post.