I went to Toronto for Thanksgiving with some of my friends, and we got to try a few of the Korean restaurants there. Toronto has the largest concentration of Koreans in Canada, so a Korea town was formed in Toronto with Korean restaurants and other shops. Richmond has a few Korean restaurants, but I feel that the Korean restaurants in Toronto are more authentic. One of the Korean restaurants that my friends and I went to is called Hanyang Jokbal족발. The name of the restaurant is written in Korean on the sign outside, unlike the English name on google maps, so it took us a minute to realize and find it.
I did a little research on Jokbal before coming to the restaurant. Jokbal(족발) is a Korean dish consisting of pig's trotters cooked with soy sauce and spices. Jokbal is a common late-night snack in Korea but it has such a short history. It’s from 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.The hair is removed from the trotters and they are thoroughly washed. Scallions, garlic, ginger, (rice wine) and water are brought to a boil. The trotters are added, brought back to a boil and then simmered until tender. After this, additional measures of water, sugar and soy sauce are poured into the pot, and the contents are slowly stirred. Once the trotters are fully cooked, they are de-boned and cut into thick slices.
This is my first time eating Korean Jokbal, and I have to say it tasted so good. The restaurant seems pretty well known among the local Koreans, since most people eating there were talking in Korean and we had to wait an hour and a half after we put ourselves on the waitlist.
Everything on the menu is also written in Korean, but fortunately, there were only a few items on the menu so it’s easy to guess what the item is. We ordered a bul jokbal to share and individual seafood soups. They brought out some soup base in a pot with no ingredients and some other Korean side dishes . We thought they made a mistake since we ordered three soups. But then we were told that the soup was a complimentary appetizer for jokbal. I have never tried any soup that tastes like this. Even though it is just pure broth without anything in it. I think it was the broth in which they boiled the jokbal. One of my friends tried the soup and didn’t like it. I personally fell in love with the soup. I guess it is just like Durian and other weird food, you either like it or hate it. The jokbal also came with a few side dishes and a plate of lettuce. To get the best flavor out of the jokbal, you need to wrap it with the lettuce leaves. Since the plate only have a few lettuce leaves, I was wondering that wasn’t enough. But the waitress brought us another plate right after we used up the first plate. The jokbal lettuce wraps tasted amazing because it was neutralizing the oil and meat with the refreshing lettuce. I think the Koreans love jokbal because it is a group food to share. It is fun to eat it together with your friends and family. It’s the same reason why I love to have hotpot together with my friends and family. It just helps to spice up the atmosphere and get people together.
Comments
I loved seeing this post about jokbal, because it's one of my favorite foods! I really wish it were more available in Richmond, but I'm glad you got to try it while you were traveling. Another really good food to try that some people think is sort of gross is gopchang, which is basically beef intestines. It sounds weird, but it's really good.
That's so interesting how someone from North Korea was able to create a new tradition in South Korea. After studying South Korean culture and customs for many years, I've always been curious about how the food and language would be different in North Korea. I'm glad that the person who escaped was able to make a living off of making Jokbal, I definitely want to try it!
This is a great cultural post! Jokbal is one of my favorite Korean dishes. Your description of the dish is really interesting and reminded me of my experience of eating this dish. A cool thing to know about this dish is that jokbal is that I was very adamant about trying it, but now it is one of my favorite things to eat.