I Hope You're Hungry

I know most of you back home are moderately to very interested in the food we eat here in Korea.  I've been asked questions from "What is your favorite Korean food?" to "Do you like your school lunches?"  and received comments like "Tell her to go marinate some dog meat."  I know that most of my family and friends back in Idaho have probably never eaten a Korean dish in their entire lives.  Before I came to Korea I searched online and in the phone book for Korean restaurants in Idaho so I could prepare my taste buds for what they would be eating for the next year.  This proved very difficult as I found out that Idaho does not have a single Korean restaurant in the entire state, or at least there was no evidence anywhere that I looked.  It seemed that there had been one Korean restaurant that had gone out of business, probably with the economic recession.  All I had heard about Korea was that they ate a lot of kimchi and that they were stereotyped as puppy-eaters.

A Japanese friend, who had done an exchange at Willamette, was in back in Salem after a few years of being away.  We met up at good 'ol Pete's Place with a few other Matthewsites from freshman year and had a few beers/G&Ts.  Before I knew it my friend's arms were around my shoulder and he started calling me "Kimchi Bunchee!!" which lasted for the rest of the night.  For awhile after that I continued to get facebook messages addressed to Miss Kimchi Bunchee.

Before I arrived to Korea I was excited about the food, as I am a very adventurous eater, but also a bit afraid that I just would end up not being that crazy about it.  I prayed to God that I would like kimchi because I knew that Koreans ate it like the majority of Americans eat fast food.  I didn't want to offend anyone with my distaste for God's fermented gift to Koreankind.  When I finally arrived in Jeonju for orientation I wasn't surprised when kimchi was served at my first meal and every meal thereafter.  I cautiously picked up the tongs and pinched a very small portion of the spicy cabbage to put on my plate.  When I sat down and forked my first ever bite of kimchi I was pleasantly surprised at the cold, spicy, taste that filled my mouth.  What a relief.

Since orientation I have actually come to absolutely LOVE the taste of kimchi.  Korea had a month-or-so-long period where there was a cabbage shortage and the price of kimchi sky-rocketed.  Restaurants stopped serving cabbage kimchi in favor of other types of kimchi like the radish variety (kimchi actually doesn't have to be made from cabbage but it is the most common type).  I was devastated when my school stopped serving it but excited when they finally put out a bowl of cabbage kimchi exclusively for the teachers.    It was common courtesy during this time to take only a very small portion of the kimchi as to make sure that all the staff got some.  I really did not like this rule and when no other teachers were watching I would take a few extra pinches.

Anyways, this post is supposed to be about Korean food in general, not only kimchi.  The following are pictures and a little description of Korean dishes that I love and a few that I'm not so crazy about.  Enjoy.

"Tteokgalbi"  Made from shortribs, a grilled mixture of pork and beef.  Kind of tastes like meatloaf but is a lot more juicy and delicious.

"Kimchibokkumbap"  "Bokkumbap" means fried rice.  This one in particular is made with kimchi.  I also really like bokkumbap made from chicken but the kimchi variety is probably my favorite.

"Kimchijeon" My friends and I crave what we call "kimchi pancakes" all the time.  They are greasy pancake like things made from kimchi, flour batter and maybe other vegetables.  Sooooo good.

"Chungukjang?" I'm not sure of the Korean name but this soup is a fermented soybean soup.  My Korean coworkers tell me that most foreigners do not like the smell of fermented soybeans and therefore also dislike the soup.  I guess I'm an exception.  This is one of my favorite soups.

"Bulgogi" Marinated barbequed beef.  Usually served with onions and other grilled veggies.  Tasty.

"Ddukbokki" Rice cakes in a spicy sauce often served with fish cake (see 'Odang').  A dish I try to stay away from.  Don't hate.

"Odang" Boiled fish cakes in nasty fish water.  Often served like so from street carts.  Koreans love this shit.  Everytime I smell it I want to throw up.  It tastes like a fishy, soggy bread like inedible thing.

  

"I have no idea and don't really want to know"  About 4 times so far this semester my school has served a dish that makes me want to vomit.  This picture is the closest thing I could find to what it actually looks like.  Tiny dried minnows, so small I could barely tell what they were the first time I ate them, served with dried shrimp still in the shell in a sweet, syrupy sauce, sprinkled with sesame seeds.  Not appetizing one bit.  I almost cry when I walk into the cafeteria and see this on a student's plate.

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"Beondegi" Brace yourself for the most apalling 'edible' you will ever taste in Korea (at least I hope so, otherwise I might puke out my entire digestive system).  Remember the 'bugs' I told you about in a previous post?  The one where the old, creepy man fed me with toothpicks on the beach?  Yea, well they are actually boiled silkworms prepared in a big pot and eaten as a snack.  This last picture could have been the old man on the beach if his hand was a little more wrinkly and deformed (at least that's how I remember it).  Trust me and just never eat it.

Hope you enjoyed the tidbit of Korean food that I've experienced.  As I am here longer and eat more interesting dishes I'll share with you a little taste.


All of these photos were taken from Google images