Cheonha Bossam 천하보쌈

Wasabi hidden in the red sauce of the bibim makguksu gives the buckwheat noodles a nasal heat before the chili comes through. The bossam uses pork foreleg, leaner than belly, boiled in stock mixed with scorched-rice water and sliced thin and wide across the grain. Its kimchi is cured in beef-bone broth and sweetened with steamed persimmon. On their own the stems taste lightly seasoned, and they are better wrapped in a perilla leaf with the seasoned radish or the leafy part. The bossam set, with soybean-paste stew, japchae and steamed egg, suits one or two diners, while larger tables share a medium or large platter, and the stew, boiled to order, lands a little after the meat. Office workers fill it at lunch and a line often forms, though tables turn over fairly quickly. The room, near the Changdeokgung wall at the end of Gyedong-gil, has low tables on the floor, and shoes come off at the door.