Sorry, it's been awhile since I've written. I started a hip-hop dance class which has been consuming some of the time I used to designate to keeping up on my blog. Not a very good excuse but whatever.
So here is the second installation of my series of school lunch posts:
Top left: Cabbage kimchi. If you're surprised by this just don't be. I've had conversations before regarding whether or not there is one thing that I could eat for every meal everyday. I guess if I had to pick something I bet I could eat potatoes everyday for every meal. Even more so than kimchi they are extremely versatile so I could cook them in tons of different ways. I bet you're snickering because the girl from Idaho says she could eat potatoes for every meal everyday aren't you? Not funny. Although I do love kimchi and have talked about it on various occasions on different posts, I know that I could not eat kimchi for breakfast. I tried it at orientation and it does not make a very nice side dish to my bowl of frosted flakes.
Top right: Tteok. Pronounced like "duck," in English this is called "rice cake." Rice cakes come in many shapes and forms. This tteok is prepared with steamed glutinous rice flour and then rolling into balls. Red bean paste is put into the middle, which gives it a sweet flavor. It is then rolled in colored and sweetened dried bean crumbs. This is just one of the many "creative" ways Koreans eat rice. I say "creative" with quotation marks because although, yes, it's a bit innovative, I don't necessarily like it or want to be eating rice for lunch in fifty-million different ways. One, I don't need all those damn carbs and two, I don't particularly like rice that much. When I first got to Korea I didn't mind tteok and ate it whenever any Korean shared it with me (which is often). Now whenever I get tteok (which is still often) I take a bite, act like its good, hide it and throw it away. It's too late to tell anyone at my school that I don't like it. I've already accepted and "eaten" way too much. Plus I heard that it is literally a crime in Korea to not like tteok (like kimchi) and that you will go to prison for life if anyone hears you say it.
Bottom left: This is a dried tofu soup. I'm not sure what it's called as I'm going off of memory for this post because I lost my notes. It's pretty much just pieces of dried tofu and some sort of spice without much flavor. This soup doesn't have much flavor at all as it accompanies the next dish and is used as a way to even out the full flavor of the other dish.
Bottom right: Bibimbap. This is one of Korea's signature dishes to foreigners who have eaten Korean food outside of Korea. It is also very widely eaten amongst Koreans. In fact, the first time I was exposed to bibimbap was during orientation. The city where our orientation was held, Jeonju, is renowned in Korea for having the best bibimbap in the country. I really enjoy this dish and I believe many other expats here to as well. The dish is essentially a bunch of mixed vegetables served on top of rice and topped off with chili pepper paste. The veggies used in this bibimbap are zucchini, carrots, bean sprouts, spinach, and mushrooms. As most of you back home know, I do love my veggies. This dish is super healthy and filling and can be prepared with whatever vegetables you like. There is also a version of this dish that is served hot. The rice becomes a bit fried and it's really tasty.
When watching Korean students eat all these vegetables it really amazes me how some Americans defend despicable school lunches by arguing that kids are picky and won't eat vegetables. If this is universally true of kids around the world then why will Korean kids eat it? I guess it could be because they don't have a choice at lunch and they can't bring their own. If this is the case then I would argue that maybe that's how it should be done back home. Obviously it is possible to give kids healthy, unprocessed, fresh food. Why do we do it so much differently in the U.S.? Just something to ponder...
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