I don’t think many foreigners would necessarily equate a traditional Korean meal with comfort food. However, the perfect combination does exist: a delicious Korean soup that warms your belly on those frigid -10 days and it’s only 5,000 won.

Sujaebi is made from green tea noodles and a creamy broth of peeled perilla seed powder. Even the name sounds soothing. Soojeeeaaaabeee. Mmmm.

One of the first Korean expressions that my Canadian vegan friend learned to say when she came to Jeju Island was ‘Gogi Bbaego’ (고기 빼고). Translation: “take out the meat.” Being almost a strict vegetarian (she sometimes chooses to eat eggs), she had to be wary whenever she went to a new restaurant. She consequently perfected the art of saying it just like a native speaker with the right amount of nuance and emphasis because she had to say it so many times. The rest of her Korean was …