I'm running out of blog post ideas since everything is becoming so normal in Korea. In the beginning it was super easy to come up with ideas for blog posts since everything was so new and exciting. Now it's definitely harder to notice the subtleties in Korean culture that once popped out like the first pimple on an adolescent boy's face. Since I first got here though, Korean food has been a subject that has popped up time and again from people back home. I, just as friends and family back in the U.S., am really interested in Korean food and it helps that I actually enjoy it quite a bit. I love it's spiciness, which often comes from the use of chili in many Korean dishes. I also love the taste of fermented soybeans, seaweed, and kimchi which are staples of the Korean diet.
Although I am definitely not a chef nor do I pretend to even have any talent when it comes to cooking, I have become increasingly interested in the art of food since I have been in Korea. This stems first from my abundance of free time at and after work when I am able to indulge in the beautiful media vomit that is Reality Television. Since it has been on the air I have been a fan of Top Chef but the current season I am especially fond of. Second, there is a grave lack of satisfactory foreign cuisine in Daegu and, I would argue, most of Korea in general. In the past few months I have been scouring my city for good Mexican, Italian, Indian and Thai restaurants because I know that they could possibly, maybe, potentially exist. I could never seriously think I am going to find that Cajun catfish po' boy that I've been craving or the Ecuadorian food I salivate for. I couldn't bare the let down after having even a glint of hope and finding out that there would be no one even thinking of this idea for the next 20 years. The few foreign restaurants that I have found and gave the chance though have made me look more critically at food than I ever have before. But don't expect too much from this.
Now that I've taken care of that I will get to the point.
Since the first lunch I ate and Namduck Elementary School in Daegu, Republic of Korea I have looked differently at school lunch. I remember being in elementary school and dreading the days they would serve "ribeque" sandwiches. I swear I would gag as I tried to choke down that unidentifiable "meat" that they put down our throats. But I lived for the days when a big square of processed cheese and pepperoni pizza was slapped on our trays. I think this was served at least once a week! I definitely don't remember school lunch being healthy by any means. They did have a salad bar but when you have the choice between pizza or the salad bar what do you think an American child is going to pick? If I did ever eat salad I'm sure I drenched it in ranch dressing anyways to cancel out all of the nutrients I would have gotten from the veggies. Now I look forward to school lunch, each morning I wonder what surprises I will be chop-sticking into my mouth at 12:10. Usually lunch is awesome. Sometimes dishes are served that I'm a little wary about but I try and end up loving. Every so often there is something that I know to take very little of because I might throw up a little bit in my mouth (it's easier to take a little of something and then not eat any of it than to not take something. Every coworker at your table will question you). But these instances are few and far between. The tasty treats definitely outweigh the dried minnows in syrup.
Because of all these factors I have decided to do a series of posts on the school lunches that I am served and kindly accept for a meager paycheck deduction of around $35 a month. Less than $2 a meal! Pretty awesome if you ask me. And I can eat as much as I want. Okay, here it goes. "Korean School Lunch in Photos #1" starts now!
Top left: Cabbage kimchi. There are many different types of kimchi, the most common being the cabbage kimchi. "Kimchi" actually just refers to fermented vegetables in Korean cuisine. The kimchi that is seen here is definitely my favorite. Some of the ingredients in the sauce are red pepper powder, ginger, garlic, fish sauce and green onions. You will always find some sort of kimchi served at school lunch and almost every Korean meal that you eat.
Bottom left: "Bap." This is obviously rice. Rice is served with every school lunch too and like kimchi, is a staple of Korean cuisine. I am often questioned why I take so little rice at lunch time. I even take more rice than I know I'm going to eat sometimes just so that I am not pestered by the school chef.
Top middle: "Sook-joo-na-mool"(?) These are bean sprouts mixed with imitation crab and 'minari' which is Japanese parsley. Apparently minari is a seasonal herb that is consumed mostly in the spring. I think my coteacher was trying to point out that spring time is coming and that is why this herb was put into the dish as the dish is most often served without it. Honestly the dish did not have much flavor at all. With the main ingredient being bean sprouts you can probably imagine. I liked that it was healthy but it definitely could have used something to make it more flavorful.
Top right: "Jang-jo-rim" The school has served this dish a few times since I have been here and I absolutely love it. It is boiled quail eggs and chunks of pork in soy sauce. The quail eggs are so much creamier on the inside than chicken eggs. Plus, the yolk to white ratio is much more even, which I thoroughly enjoy. The bite-size eggs fit perfectly in your mouth and the pork is tender. The soy sauce is watered down which is good because it would be much too salty if it wasn't.
Bottom right: "Soo-je-bi-gook" School lunch is also always served with a soup. I generally really enjoy Korean soups. They are usually spicy and brothy and I prefer brothy soups over chunky ones. The noodles you see in the picture are made from flour and cut in a rectangular shape. Accompanying the noodles are potatoes, zucchini and green onions. I was pretty disappointed by this soup. It had absolutely no flavor. There was very little seasoning, if any besides salt, added. The noodles tasted like squares of flavorless dough and the cooked zucchini and potatoes weren't much better.
Overall this was a very average meal. If it wasn't for the egg and pork dish I wouldn't have been very fond of it as two of the three main dishes were lacking in flavor. It wasn't an extremely healthy dish compared to others that are served, but it beats by a long shot what I imagine kids are eating in schools and at home back in the U.S.
More to come!
Peace
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