몸국: A Jeju island specialty called “mohm-guk” — literally, “heart soup.” “Mohm” is kind of a special word and, depending on the context, can mean heart, body, mind, spirit, etc. In other words, broth for the soul, made from black pork and a special type of seaweed.
No, it doesn’t look so appetizing, and I myself was not terribly impressed when it came out. The crazy thing about Jeju, though, is that everything that is not fish tastes like the embodiment of some terra firma faerie: rich, earthy, heartening, life-affirming.
I cannot impress upon you the bewilderment I experienced as the spoon first dribbled its contents on my lips, the astonishment and delight of two plentiful native ingredients — an emotion welled up so wholly honest and astonishing and foreign, I still can’t quite grasp it. I’ve never tasted anything remotely close in flavor to this soup. It was as if, for that one weekend in Jeju, I had discovered the island of lotus eaters, and, when forced to leave, bitterly wept at my loss.
