Go Gimhae, go for food experience!

by Okeke Izuchukwu Job

(a 2013 KGSP scholar. Studied Master in Mass Communication at the Pukyong National University, Busan, South Korea)

On the western outskirts of Busan, across the Nakdong river, lies Gimhae a city surrounded by farming villages and manufacturing enclaves. Together with Busan, they consist of the main and important cities in the South Gyeonsan province.

However, when one goes visiting this south-most province of mainland Korea, Gimhae is often less visited. In fact, Gimhae is often less talked about.

Perhaps, because Gimhae is part of the Busan metropolitan area,its geographic space becomes muddled up and its distinct characteristics get belied within the notion of the larger Busan conurbation.

But for those who know, Gimhae, though part of the Busan metropolitan area,is distinctly and surely different, needing to be explored, needing to be experienced.

The expansive Busan international airport was built there.There are several beautiful bridges crossing into it from Busan urban. There are some beautiful hills and mountains. But not just these. Gimhae is peculiar for their food and vegetation.   

I did experience Gimhae in few trips made memorable by good food. I am happy to write about it.

But then let’s talk about the Nakdong river once again. It is the longest river in South Korea. It’s lower course and delta is in the South Gyeonsan province and terminates down in Gimhae/Busan.

So, Gimhae is part of the estuary of the big river, and as is natural with lower courses of great rivers, lands around them are oftena lot plain, formed out of loam and marsh. So it Gimhae; its lands when compared to the rest of Korea has more plains on average. And they are greatly fertile and well suited for agricultural practices.

Gimhae, therefore, by virtue of the afore-explained is known for fresh food. Friends I meet in Seoul and other parts of Korea often ask me questions like, ‘have you tasted Gimhae tweggi kookpap’. Why, one may wonder? And why does it matter? I will explain.

In Korea an average individual is conscious of what he/she eats. Food means a lot to us. Folks like to eat good food. And a good food isnot explained just by its nutritional content. It is often explained by its history,the home of its ingredients, its making, its taste, and etc.

For this reason, an average restaurant in Korea takes a lot of pain and cost to advertise its history, where it buys its products, how it cooks its food, and how people describe the taste.

More on food culture in future. Let us focus on Gimhae tasty food/restaurants for now. 

So, Gimhae is known in Southern provinces for homemade food (국내산), which means that in most restaurants you have to eat in Gimhae, the ingredients your food was made from were not imported. They were home grown, and actually came directly from the farm, probably just a few hours before you stepped in to eat. 

It means most restaurants in Gimhae serve you very fresh food. Fresh from the farm means fresh, glorious taste. Whether you are eating tweggi kookpap (돼지국밥), hejangkook (해장국), kimchi chigae (김치찌개), samgyeop-sal (삼겹살), Kongnamul-kook (콩나물국)or any other food for that matter.

Your side dishes are going to be so many, and also come so fresh. You may get a serve of fruits together with it, because Gimhae produces some local fruits like persimmon, water melon, fresh tomatoes, etc.   

So, as I often tell my friends who visit South Korea; no one singular place offers you a full experience. What Paju offers you is different from what Seoul gives you. What Ulsan gives you is different from what Gwanju has in stock. So indeed what Busan gives you is not exactly what Gimhae will give you.

So, if you are around in the south, if you love some added experience, then visit Gimhae. Your experience of food will come richer.