Korean Food Dictionary Review and App Give Away

[Update:] And the winner is Frank. I will email you the iTunes code shortly.

Last week the good people at O'ngo and Seoul Eats (Hi Dan!) came out with the Korean Food Dictionary, an application for iPhone and iPod Touch (and I guess iPad) intended to open up Korean food to the world.

Dan was very gracious to furnish bloggers with a free copy of the app, although I ended up buying it before he got in touch (it was a matter of minutes) so while I don't doubt any of the other reviews out there (Hi Chris!) you can count on mine being 100% above board 'cos I ponied up my $1.99 for it in the App store.

That being said Dan has even more graciously allowed me to give away the free copy he gave me. So after reading this post email me (admin[at]stafford[dot]net[dot]nz). First person to reach my inbox wins a free copy of the app.

Yay!

Now for the review.

Korean Food Dictionary, it has to be said, is one of the more aesthetically pleasing iPhone/Touch apps to come out of Korea lately, and yet there is no overwhelming nationalism (Dan's from America) that you might expect had this been put out by The Korean Government or the KTO in their endless, and muchly fruitless, endeavor to promote Hanshik. Indeed there is not a Taeguki in sight, nor really the national colours. Some might find that an insult, but again with the iPhone it's all about keeping that "Apple Look".

With that in mind Korean Food Dictionary (KFD) provides us with a straightforward and appealing user interface that divides Korean foods in to 12 categories, from your standard Beef, Pork, Chicken and Seafood, to Desserts, Drinks and my favourite - Street food.

Selecting a category will bring up a list of foods using that ingredient or falling under that category - some 130 in all, which is an exhaustive list if you are someone like me who knows a fair bit about Korean food already (but who tends to stick to the staples).

Here we have the beef section (above)

But The KFD is more than just a list. It could prove to be a winner for its "What Are You Hungry For?" feature providing you the opportunity to mix and match the taste, Styke and type of food you want, in what could quickly become a party game of death considering the extensive Korean Alcohol section:

Mmmmmm. PatBingSu

When you do find an entry you want to know more about you are presented with a high resolution image (unfortunately it cannot be zoomed in on) and a description of the dish that in a number of ccases leaves you drooling in anticipation:

A whole young chicken is stuffed with Ginseng, sticky rice, Korean dates, and garlic...

but sometimes making those of us who know better a bit fearful for people taking this at face value:

Korea's most popular alcohol, it is a clear slightly sweet, distilled liquor that is often enjoyed at Korean BBQ.

I have never known Soju to sound so innocent!

Now for all that information, I would be happy to (indeed I did) pay $1.99 for an App that, had I had it upon first arriving in Korea, would have opened up Korean cuisine to me much faster than what actually transpired.

As it turns out there's even more!

Included in the KFD are 8 recipes for some basic Korean dishes - explained step by step and in a userfriendly manner, among them two of my personal favourites Japchae (잡채)and Haemul pajeon (해물파전)

How to make Japchae.

But wait! There's even more! There is a uniquely endearing list of useful Korean dining and getting about phrases as well presented in comic-book style that make the Korea Food Dictionary almost indispensable for anyone coming to Korea and looking for a genuine Korean dining experience.

At the very least you 'll be able to show a Korean speaker your phone to get your point across.

There are a couple of things I would like to see changed in a 2.0 version of the Korean Food Dictionary.

The first is the annoying beeps.

Almost every action whether it is selecting a food category, moving through a list or changing modes incurs an obnoxious and unnecessary beep. One shouldn't have to mute an app to show it off to friends or to use it in familiar company but if you are poking about without a specific dish in mind you soon become wary of the sound.

The second may be just personal preference, but was the biggest factor in not giving KFD a 100% score, and thats the way dishes are spelt, and categorised.

Japchae is a proper noun of the Korean Dish, whether described in English or Korean, calling it Glass Noodles with Sautéed Beef is naming it by its ingredients rather than by it's name. Likewise Red Ginger Chili Chicken Stew is Dakdoritang (닭도리탕), while Chilled Buckwheat Noodle Soup is of course Mul Naengmyeon (물냉면). As I say it is personal preference and by listing dishes this way it is probably more helpful to the Korean newcomer, rather than the oldhand. If it were me I would list the dishes alphabetically in The Korean Language (가, 나, 다 etc) but in English (Ka, Na, Da etc).

But as i say - that one is just me - who knew Japchae was made of "Glass noodles"? I always thought it was vermicelli.

Over all a more than competent outing by a first time App developer (and local blogger, indeed the first by an English speaking K-Blogger if I'm not mistaken) and one that should be added to every iPhone and iPod Touch in the land.

Bimbo Rating: ★★★★☆ 4.5/5

remember you can win your very own free version of The Korean Food Dictionary by emailing me: admin[at]stafford[dot]net[dot]nz as soon as you read this.

Comments

[Chris in South Korea]

Hi Stafford!
Yeah, I didn't get the word about the free offer until I had already downloaded it... It's definitely worth the two bucks though.

[kushibo]

I like this. Thanks. I'll see how useful it is around Honolulu.