"like CNN and The Weather Channel - constant updates"
Yang Pyung Seoul
43 West 33rd Street, Manhattan; (212) 629-5599.
BEST DISHES -- Beef and tripe soup; bone marrow soup; beef
and noodle broth; squid and vegetable stir-fry; pa jun; jap chae.
PRICE RANGE -- $8 to $15.
CREDIT CARDS -- All major cards.
HOURS -- Daily, 24 hours.
WHEELCHAIR ACCESS -- Everything is on one level.
Hae Jang Gook is the dish that brings droves of late nighters
to this 24 hour spot. I first heard about
Yang Pyung Seoul from a
good Korean friend of mine who suggested it as a hangover
remedy after hearing of a work night ordeal involving one
too many shots of Aquavit and a cab... but I digress.
..............
This morning I didn't wake up drunk, nor did I even have much
in the way of alcohol last night, but I did have a hankering for
a spicy meaty stew. What the roomy, brightly lit restaurant
lacked in decor it more than made up for with fast attentive
service and a menu with photos. Upon examination I ended up
going with the Gam Ja Tang which is a spicy stew made with
pork back bones and potatoes and garnished with scallions,
napa cabbage, and sesame leaves.
...............
No sooner had the waitress taken my order and whisked off
the menu, 6 plates of panchan (Korean side dishes) showed
up. 3 types of kimchee
(napa cabbage, radish, and cucumber),
stewed potatoes (which were delicious), marinated soy bean
sprouts, and pea greens.
...............
The stew arrived bubbling over in a hot stone bowl
accompanied by a bowl of rice. Not only was the stew
boiling hot, it was red in color and had quite the dose
of capsaicin. Being someone who loves heat and puts hot
sauce on everything, this was quite spicy and yet absolutely
sublime. The pork fell off the bone in flavorful chunks and
there were roasted perilla seeds that added a delicate flavor
and a nice crunch as they popped open in my mouth.
............
Having never had this dish before I can't vouch for its
authenticity but I quite enjoyed it and plan on returning
to try some of their other offerings. Perhaps even someday
nursing a hangover...
.........................
$25 AND UNDER; Korean Food That's a Cure for What Ails You
.................
By ERIC ASIMOV
Published: June 18, 2003
FOR Koreans who find a night of hard drinking to be a pleasant rite of companionship,
the mornings after are an occupational hazard. For many, the solution is a bowl of hae
jang gook, a hearty beef-and-tripe soup with a reputation for smoothing the head and
soothing the stomach.
.....................
Hae jang gook is a specialty at
Yang Pyung Seoul, a bright, friendly 24-hour restaurant
that opened a few months ago on West 33rd Street. Hangovers have rarely pounded at my
skull, but I was nonetheless intrigued by the soup.
......................
As a waitress delivered it to our table, gripping the small cauldron of hot bubbling
broth with steel tongs as if it were a witch's potent brew, I could smell its rich,
beefy fragrance. She ladled it into my bowl, and placed a shiny metal canister of
rice alongside.
....................
The hae jang gook ($8) is a wonderful soup. The broth is deep and flavorful, full
of ultra-tender tripe and earthy house-made blood sausage, along with vegetables
and bean sprouts. It would make a fine winter restorative. But a hangover remedy?
......................
For that, I can think of nothing better than another soup on the menu, gom tang ($8),
a long-simmered, milky, bone-marrow broth. The waitress arrives, using the same steel
tongs to carry the cauldron. Before ladling the soup out, she breaks an egg into it.
The yellow yolk slowly dissolves into the beige of the broth. She adds some yam
noodles and stirs in black pepper. The result is both comforting and delicious,
as if prepared by a grandmother rather than by a witch.
...............
Luckily you don't need a headache to love the food at
Yang Pyung Seoul (pronounced yahng
pea-YAHNG). The chef, Hwa Peak Kim, who is the mother-in-law of the owner, Suk Lee,
was born in North Korea, and she offers some North Korean dishes that I have rarely
seen.
.................
One of these, kimchee
with seafood, arrives in a pot along with the array of free
nibbles that are standard in Korean restaurants. You peel back big pickled cabbage
leaves to view a mixture of squid, shrimp, radish and sweet pear in a mildly spicy
broth. It's cool, bright and refreshing, a perfect summer
kimchee .
..............
Another is a soup, Hwang-hae-do mandoo gook ($9), a rich beef broth filled with
tender bits of beef, thin noodles, and savory house-made beef mandoo, or dumplings,
which are broader and rounder than the more familiar potsticker-shape mandoo.
...............
Yang Pyung Seoul, it turns out, is a franchise in a small chain of restaurants started
by a Korean television actor. There's another at 210-12 Northern Boulevard in Bayside, Queens, one in Fort Lee, N.J., and a third in Annandale, Va. But this is the only one owned by Mr. Lee.
.................
Apart from the soups, the restaurant serves oh jing uh bok gum, an excellent
stir-fry of chewy chopped squid with vegetables ($10) in a complex sauce that
is part soy, part sweet and part chili heat.
................
Pa jun ($13), the familiar rice flour pancake filled with squid, shrimp,
scallions and peppers, is superb, clean and eggy, but eat it quickly before
it cools and turns rubbery. One alternative is nokdu bin dae thuk ($9),
smaller mung bean pancakes that are as savory as latkes. Jap chae ($13),
smooth stir-fried yam noodles with vegetables and beef, is almost irresistible.
.................
After one meal, a waitress gave us a platter of long, slender, gnarled
green peppers with a tangy soy bean dip. The peppers looked challenging
but I nibbled at the end of one, and found it was extraordinarily fresh,
clearing out all the aromas and flavors that had built up in my mouth. As
I ate my way toward the stem, it grew hotter and hotter. I stopped two-thirds
of the way through.
..............
Each meal ends with tiny containers of yogurt. Sweet and liquid, it tastes
almost like a tropical Life Saver, and you down it like a shot of whiskey.
It's a delightful finish, and best of all, no hangover.
..........