Daejeon: My Hometown

Daejeon is a metropolitan city in the middle of South Korea. The population of 1,540,000 makes it the fifth biggest city in South Korea. It is also a transportation hot place that connects Seoul from Busan due to its geographical position. In addition, most of Korea’s research and development industry and major science foundations and research centers are situated in the city. The government had built the infrastructure for science development in Daejeon. The city hosted the 1994 EXPO.

The night view of Daejeon

Daejeon is considered one of the best places to live in Korea. The quality of life is high and its location provides a safe natural disaster free environment. The people of Daejeon area are usually slow and good natured but will become calculative when it comes to their needs. In comparison with Seoul, Daejeon is a small city but is full of charms.

Downtown

Today I will introduce to you about Daejeon’s food. Daejeon has always been famous for noodles, especially noodle soup. The noodle soup is very special due to the noodles used. To make the noodles after making the dough, they roll the dough flat then cut the dough with a knife to make the noodles. This gives the noodle a thick and very unique texture that is different from that of udong. The soup is usually flavored with seafood with clams being the main. Also what makes noodle soup unique is that the noodles are not boiled separately. The noodles are boiled with the soup giving the soup a richer flavor. You can easily find noodle soup in any place in Daejeon where there are restaurants.

Noodle Soup

Next is the Daejeon’s famous bakery Sungshimdang. A bakery that has been around since 1956 outside Daejeon station, has also been introduced in the Michelin Green Guides. It first began as a steamed bread bakery and since has grown in to the top 2 most famous bakery in South Korea. The recommended breads are fried papa-streusel-bread, Saturday bread, and Allium tuberosum bread.

The line at SUNG SIM DANG

Fried Papa-Streusel-Bread

The fried papa-streusel-bread is the most famous and people line up just to buy this bread. There are also people who just come to Daejeon to try this bread. If you happen to see a line at Daejeon station it is probably the line to bakery.

Next time you have the chance to visit Daejeon, don’t miss these foods. I hope you enjoy them!

Article by Yoon from Korea