Healthful Korean-style goya dish

Goya Namuru

Brand: 7-11

Price: 258 yen

Place of purchase: 7-11 convenience store

Rating:

Korean flavours and ingredients are growing on me. My gateway to the neighbour country's cuisine is often through 7-11 convenience stores. The osozai, or deli selections, include this dish, Goya Namul. The label on this dish touts the vegetables that provide a third of your daily intake. It's loaded with goya, carrots, daikon radish, komatsuna, mizuna, and bean sprouts. The seasoning sets off the bitterness of the goya. The cooked vegetables have great contrasting textures with tender goya and crunchy bean sprouts.

At 258 yen, this 7-11 Cup Deli item is a bit steep. But as I mentioned in the positive features, Goya Namul and dishes like it get me curious about Korean cuisine. Like Japanese cuisine, Korean does little side dishes, cooked and seasoned. The typical Japanese seasonings of sesame and soy sauce get some punch from garlic and gochujang paste. Sign me up! If you're a goya virgin, I say try a dish like this one. I got hooked on goya when I tried the Okinawan dish goya chamburu. The bitterness is a feature.