Kkomak Bibimbap at Daehwa Beolgyo Kkomak, Ilsan
Lunch today was cockles, at Daehwa Beolgyo Kkomak (대화벌교꼬막) in Daehwa-dong, Ilsan, a suburb just northwest of Seoul.
What is it? Kkomak (꼬막) are small blood cockles, and Beolgyo (벌교), a town on the south coast of Jeolla province, is famous for them. The mudflats there produce the best-known cockles in Korea, so “Beolgyo kkomak” on a sign works a bit like a regional label. Kkomak bibimbap (꼬막비빔밥) is rice tossed with a pile of seasoned cockles, and it has become one of the most popular ways to eat them.
We ordered kkomak bibimbap, kkomak fried rice and a pancake. Banchan (반찬, the free side dishes) included dubu kimchi (두부김치, warm tofu with stir-fried kimchi), sheets of gim (김, roasted seaweed) and perilla leaves.
The bibimbap comes already mixed, with roughly as much cockle as rice. The sauce is red and spicy, with plenty of spring onion and chives, and the cockles are properly chewy. The gim and perilla leaves seem to be there for wrapping spoonfuls of it, ssam (쌈) style.
The pancake is mostly chives (buchu, 부추) with shrimp and other seafood through it, and the edges come out crisp. A jeon (전) like this is a standard side order at seafood places.
The fried rice arrives in a cast-iron pan, stir-fried with cockles and spring onion and covered in sesame seeds. If the bibimbap is the spicy one, this is the nutty, savoury one.
A spoonful of spicy, a spoonful of savoury, a piece of pancake in between. A very good way to spend a lunch.
Where
- Daehwa Beolgyo Kkomak (대화벌교꼬막) — 1F, 8-20 Daesan-ro 212beon-gil, Ilsanseo-gu, Goyang-si, Gyeonggi-do
- Open daily 11:30 – 24:00
- Kkomak bibimbap ₩13,000 (about $9.50), kkomak fried rice ₩13,000 (per DiningCode)
- Parking for 3–5 cars in front
- Naver Map