Korean Food: Beyond Barbeque

Here comes another true confession that I am not ashamed to admit: The main thing that I tend to remember about trips or places that I visit is the food.  I couldn’t tell you much about my trip to Myrtle Beach for spring break during 1^st year, but I could tell you all about the potato soup that I had in West Virginia on the way down. My family trip to Nova Scotia in high school was scenic and beautiful, but what stands out in my mind is the warm gingerbread we had at a restaurant near Peggy’s Cove. You get the idea. At home, I have spent many a Saturday or Sunday flipping through cookbooks and recipes and planning out the meal for that evening. I sometimes think about dinner before I even have breakfast. Needless to say, I get a lot of joy out of great meals-both making and eating them.

Before I came here, I had tried Korean food twice in my life. Both times were in K-town in Toronto.  Actually I’d had it three times, I went for barbeque once. I really didn’t understand why people got so excited about Korean barbeque. To me, it was just bad cuts of meat that you have to pay to cook for yourself. The other two times, I just did a point and guess thing when I ordered. I was very confused by all of the little side dishes that came out first. I thought it was what I had ordered because I just didn’t know. When you have Korean food, you are automatically served 8-10 little side dishes. They are usually an array of pickled vegetables (kimchi) and maybe some sardines or little fish and/or some type of soup.

Based on these underwhelming experiences, one of the things that I was worried about most prior to moving here was the food. But I was willing to go in with an open mind and hope for the best. Often when you eat food from different cultures in another city, it is not always authentic or representative. For this reason, I was willing to give it a fair shot.

So far, I can say that I am still waiting for that one dish that’s going to convert me. I really don’t see what the fuss is over kimchi. It’s one of those things that I’ll eat because it’s there in front of me. I have it pretty much every day because it is a staple here. But I can’t get excited about pickled vegetables in fish sauce. The best thing that I can say about it is that it’s healthy for your digestive system. Rice is also a staple here. It is in every meal from breakfast to dessert.

The flavors in the food are just lacking for me. I try really hard to avoid the mystery soups that are served with school lunches. They taste like cold water with bean sprouts mixed in. Most of the food is bland and unimpressive in terms of effort. Even the spiciest thing that I’ve tried here does not compare when I think about some of the Thai, Indian, or Afghan food that I’ve had. The other thing that I really can’t get past is how much sugar is in everything. Don’t get me wrong, I have a huge sweet tooth and I love chocolate and cakes, but I find high sugar content in things that aren’t supposed to be sweet.

I’ve been trying to cook at home for myself but I am limited in what I can do with my one frying pan, one pot and two gas burners.  Life is really much easier here if you a)eat meat and b)can deal with only eating Korean food when you go to restaurants because trying to eat foreign foods here is expensive and generally not very good. Aside from one Indian place that I’ve found that is pretty good. But $16 for vegetable curry makes it a once-in-a-while treat.

Here are 5 things that I can say that I enjoy eating here (hopefully this list will grow as time goes on):

Bibimbap: Fun to say and fun to eat. You get a bowl that has rice, lettuce, seaweed, carrots and some other chopped up veggies with a fried egg on top and some hot pepper paste on the side. Mix it all together and eat! Careful: sometimes the sauce on the side is actually this fermented soybean thing that smells like sweaty socks. Avoid at all cost.

Pajeon: Korean scallion pancake. Flat fried dough with vegetables and green onions. Not much else to say here. Yum.

Kimbap/Gimbap: Korean sushi basically. Rice, vegetables and tuna or meat rolled up in seaweed.

Songpyeon: Little chewy rice cakes filled with sesame seeds, nuts, honey and cinnamon. I didn’t care for these the first time I tried them but they grew on me. I wasn’t kidding when I said rice is in everything. I think these are specific to Chuseok (Korean Thanksgiving).

Hodo Kwaja: Little walnut shaped cakes that have a waffle-like texture and are filled with warm red bean paste. Sold mostly by street vendors.

So readers: am I missing something here? What are some dishes that I should try. Not ready to give up yet.