Flame of desire

It gets pretty cold in Seoul through the Korean winter, so it's fortunate the chief ingredient of local cuisine would appear to be fire. There is a popular dish known as ''fire chicken'' (buldak), which brings a heat similar to eating bite-sized chunks of the sun.

Much less painful, though still lively on the palate, is the ''meh-un dak galbi'' I'm having for dinner on a freezing evening in the Sinchon district. ''Meh-un'' means spicy and ''galbi'' refers to the practice of marinating meats in various spices, then cooking them on superheated plates. The restaurant is called Chuncheon Dak Galbi, though the literal translation of its full, unpronounceable name describes the house speciality in detail: Chuncheon-style iron plate-grilled chicken.

Inside, the air is filled with flames and flying particles of fat, which perhaps sounds unpleasant but doesn't smell as such. The staff take our coats and bundle them in plastic bags to prevent them from reeking of deliciousness for the rest of the season. In their place we're handed bibs to protect us from hot droplets. Korea's famous barbecue cooking often requires customers to grill their own meat, which is fun - but also work.

Tonight, we don't cook but watch while our server throws chicken and sauce on to a grill set into the table. There are six in our group, on two tables, with two hotplates and two styles of marinade: plain and the meh-un, spicy stuff. The plain is popping with flavour, the meh-un is exploding.

The meat in Korea is always great but it's the sauce that makes it. When we've eaten the last of the chicken we order rice to be thrown on to the last of the marinade - a popular way to finish a meal. Our server shapes the reddened rice into a love heart, which we promptly destroy, our faces turning the same colour from the spices and smoke.

FAST FACTS

Getting there

Korean Air flies to Seoul for about $1735, from Sydney and Melbourne. Fare is low-season return including tax.