Detour in Atlanta: Ethiopia and Korea

I needed to get back to the roots of this blog, but before I do, I wanted to close out the Atlanta trip with some photos of some really good Korean and Ethiopian food.  Some of these images weren't taken by me, but an old friend from high school that I stopped by to visit for a quick photoshoot.

The Korean food pretty good and very spicy, the way I like it.  The little dishes are tapas sized appetizers with vegetables, ranging from bok choy to kimchi and seaweed to zucchini, most lightly sauced with a hot sauce similar to the Sriracha/Rooster sauce.

Main course:  spicy seafood soup with silken tofu and rice.  Don't be weirded out by the squishy, softer than jello consistency.  I like to think of it as lazy man's food--no actual chewing required!  The soup was generous with the mussels, squid, and shrimp.

More main course: hot pot with rice, vegetables, and topped with a fried egg.  Think of this hot pot as the Korean version of a sizzling plate at Chili's.  

So, finished up lunch and onto dinner with the Ethiopian food.  I really wanted to try the country's main dish, which is kitfo--raw or sometimes rare beef mixed with a spicy chili powder mixture--but because i was a little wary of food borne illness, I opted against it.  Now, if I got to see the animal being hunted and then prepared, I would be up for it no doubt.  So my immune system decided to go with the kitfo leb leb, which is cooked. 

This is the plate with my spicy cabbage side,  the main dish is served to you on your plate.  So don't be alarmed at first. when all you see is your side dish first.

This is the kitfo leb leb.  It came out of the kitchen sizzling on a cast iron skillet.  I didn't think it would come out as well-done as it did.

Here's a pic of my friend's plate, beef and vegetables, cooked more like a stew.   The food that looks like rolled up napkins are actually your food picker uppers, called injera.  Not bad.  It was a lot like an African version of a crepe.  It made me want to slather some Nutella on it for dessert.  I would have too, if I wasn't bursting at the seams by the end of the meal.

Pro Tip: Silverware isn't used or placed out on the table, since it it customary to use your hands and injera, a spongy bread, to pick up the food.  

Now that I'm back to the daily grind, I can get back to finding new restaurants and rediscovering fresh finds at familiar places.  Also, this will probably cause me to do more cooking at home since eating out isn't free, but this trip has been some excellent inspiration.