Korean Food

Outback dinner with other foreign teachers

My First Galbi Meal

Cold Stone & Coffee Bean

Market up the road from my house

I know I promised pictures of my apartment and an entry on it…buuuuut I already have a picture of food and have been asked by several people about it so this is next whether you like it or not.

So Korean food…..this stuff is DELICIOUS!

I eat lunch at the school basically everyday because it's free…and I’m sure to the Koreans, school lunch is like school lunch to us at home but for me, it is offering something interesting everyday! Korean food is of course served and it has been different every day. I don't know the names of most of it but I can describe it. Kimchi (not sure of spelling) is served everyday. This is a main dish for Koreans. It is a cabbage that is sort of pickled and spicy and looks red but it can be served a lot of different ways. Fish is eaten a lot more often than it is in the US and most of the main dishes are either fish, beef, or pork. I don't see chicken as much. Rice is served everyday, as are vegetables. One day, some sort of sweet corn paste with cherries was served. It was really good! The geletin type stuff is served with a lot of things and I'm not sure what it is but it is not bad. Parents sometimes bring snacks and treats for the teachers that we get to eat and I have tried a lot of things that way that let me I know what I am eating! One of my favorite things to eat is this type of rice cake. I’m not speaking of the Quaker crunchy rice cakes (though they have lots of those too –all kinds of flavors and yummy!). These rice cakes are sort of like perogies in that they can be sweet, spicy, sour, etc. and they are sort of like a potato like a perogi, but these are much chewier.

I have had lots of sushi – for very little money! For what you would pay about ten dollars in the US, I get for about two US smackeroos. The sushi has specific names. The kind I've eaten most is kimchi gimbop (again, I think?). Both are delicious! I remembered eating this interesting fruit/vegetable at Kobe’s in the good ole HKY once that I really liked and it is served ALL over here, including in the sushi.

Galbi is good. It is a very traditional type meal that is strips of beef cooked in front of you with TONS of side dishes that are tasty and continuously filled! It is not too expensive either….about eight bucks feeds two people! (see picture)

In general, I find I am eating much healthier. There are fried dishes, but very little bread and red meat in traditional diet though you can certainly seek it out. Fish is eaten a lot more and rice is served in place of bread as a meal staple. I also don’t keep my apartment stocked with tons of things because I don’t yet feel comfortable walking into any store and being able to understand what I’m buying and make sure I’m not getting cheated by any store owners since I can't read the prices (though Koreans are VERY honest people and most would not do such a thing). Also, Asian food doesn’t have a lot of preservatives in it so it doesn’t keep that long. Therefore, it isn’t wise to buy a whole lot at once. Most people go to a market or a street vender every day and buy what they need for the day or the next day.

Haven’t really figured out how I’m going to cook with only a hot plate – no microwave and no oven….hmm…mom says I can steam things to reheat and such? I thought I had a rice cooker…but turns out no. I have a toaster…not even a toaster oven, but a toaster. Any advice on cooking with a hotplate??? I might see about buying a microwave from the electronics market or a leaving expatriate trying to get rid of things…but it’s all timing and luck for that sort of thing. I will try to learn to cook some so that I can come back and share it with you all!

Culturally, I really don't get the Koreans yet - as to why some things are allowed and others not. To start off, they basically eat off of each others' plates (and they wonder why everyone gets sick at the same time??). So when food is brought out, people pick out what they want and eat it directly from the serving dish. That has been a little strange to get used to but I somehow have grown accustomed to it. But with that being said...sometimes I don't have much time in the morning and I eat my breakfast on the way to school but evidently, it is considered rude to eat in public. Some people look at me strangely (though it is changing with the younger generation). However open public displays of bodily functions are perfectly acceptable, particularly for men. Sure, go ahead and pass gas in my face or hock a loogie as I'm walking up the stairs of the subway, FINE! But don't you dare eat that carrot walking down the street.....

Expense wise, Korean food is much cheaper than Western food, including fast food. You can eat a REALLY good meal out for about eight dollars - and remember, you eat off of each others' plates so that's split among 2 or 3 people! However a Western meal can get pretty pricey - up to 20 dollars or so depending on where you are eating.

AND the drinks….they have coke but it is EXPENSIVE. They also have Fanta – pineapple and orange flavored are the most popular that I see everywhere. Welch’s grape soda is big here as well…which is interesting because I think of it as an “old-fashioned” soda. Yogurt drinks are VERY popular. They often serve them to the children at snack time. Vitamin drinks are also big. Cass is the Budweiser of Korea and it is very lager-ish. Soju is crazy stuff and it is EVERYwhere and VERY Korean. It is a rice wine but tastes nothing like wine – more like vodka! The proof is only about 40, more than the average wine but much less than most liquor. It has a strange effect on the body. It can make one feel like a zombie if too much is consumed (not that I know from experience….*cough cough*).

Attached are a few pictures: My first meal with several foreign teachers at Outback Steakhouse (yes Western food but real meats from Australia!), a market that is down the street from my apartment, a Korean Cold Stone - one of the many Western food places, and a picture of my first galbi meal.