The first Korean food that I was introduced to was Kimchi.
Kimchi isn’t a main course, it’s a side dish but it is probably the most famous
Korean food. It is served with anything and everything, whether you order it or
not you will receive kimchi. So you’re thinking that ‘this must be the best
side dish ever, it must be so delicious that I must find the nearest Korean
market and buy some?!’ Well, I probably wouldn’t go out of your way to try it.
Kimchi is cabbage that is allowed to ferment in jars underground for a period
of time, which is then served in a spicy/sour sauce. The Koreans love it, they
will bulk buy it and have separate kimchi fridges which can contain a year’s
supply of the stuff. I’ve tried it a few times but, for me it’s very average. There’s
even a kimchi museum, there’s nothing at that museum that would ever entice me
to go. At least at the Guinness Factory they give you the history of the drink,
and then you get a pint of Guinness, but who wants complimentary fermented
cabbage?!
The first meal that I went for on my own was difficult to
say the least. I went for a walk looking for breakfast. I wasn’t fussy, I’d
have settled for a coffee and a slice of toast, this I never found. Sure, many
coffee shops but only bagels and waffles for sale. I managed to stumble across a
Paris Baguette (like Greggs but not as good), just what I thought I was looking
for. When I entered the shop I noticed no baguettes and more importantly no
breakfast food, I settled for a slice of pizza and an apple pie at 9:30 in the
morning. Things could only get better.
I have tried many things whilst in Korea (most of which I
have no idea what it was or called), but something that my taste buds
recognised was a dish called pajeon. Pajeon is essentially a pancake filled
with spring onion, it was really good. But the taste I was familiar with became
apparent when I dipped the pajeon in soy sauce. When glazed in the sauce it
tasted exactly like roast beef Monster Munch. I got a little taste of home when
I ate that. Not my favourite flavour of Monster Munch by the way. Well, if you’re
asking:
1.
Pickled Onion
2.
Flamin’ Hot
3.
Roast Beef
Noodles is the dish that I have eaten the most as it’s the
only Korean food I can order when I’m on my own. I often become too reliant on
Korean speaking friends to order for me and when I’m left to my own devices I
end up with ramen. I tried to mix it up one day by ordering the cheese ramen.
When it arrived it was standard ramen with a slice of processed cheese on it.
Mmm, delicious. Korea doesn’t really do cheese, it’s a rarity. Some people can’t
live without cheese, I’m not one of them, I’ve never craved it but even so you
can’t advertise a cheese dish and then bring it out with a slice of processed
plastic on it.
As I’ve mentioned pretty much all the Korean food I’ve tried
has been very nice, with the exception of one dish. Pat guksu. Puréed beans and
noodles, when I had it the ‘chef’ added salt and sugar to the mix, I’ve since
learned that you have one or the other – not both. It was disgusting; it was as
bad as it looked.
My chopstick game has increased ten-fold. I was very much an
amateur before I arrived but I’m getting pretty handy with them, just need the
practise. It’s not quite like riding a bike though; if I leave it a couple of
days without using them I forget the technique. What I don’t understand is that
Asian people have seen knives, forks, and spoons but still persist with the
chop-stick. When I first arrived I struggled so much that I went out and bought
a knife, fork, and spoon and I carried them around with me in case of
emergencies. I felt like Joey from Friends.
The school I work for were very accommodating during my
orientation period, they offered breakfast, lunch, and dinner every day for
free which I was not expecting. The only downside to their generosity was all the
food was vegetarian, maybe I shouldn’t grumble but there’s only so long I can
last without real food. Ron Swanson describes vegetables as “the food that my
food eats”. So a tradition was started on Friday 20th December, 2013
– Chicken Fridays, an afternoon of only chicken and beer (a favourite Korean
combination). Working for the SDA organisation our teaching schedule is done by
midday on Fridays, so a few (non-vegetarian, alcoholic beverage drinking)
teachers get together to celebrate the end of the working week.
Street food is very popular here, the closest thing we get
to street food in the UK is a doner van (and no, I’m not talking about Kylie’s
ex). Sometimes you’ll encounter something normal like a chicken shish kebab,
basically chicken on a stick. It doesn’t sound that great but it really is, you
get the choice of spicy or barbeque sauces and you apply the sauces using a
paint brush. Other times it’ll be a little less normal, I’ve seen some blokes
selling potatoes out of an old oil drum. The weirdest was a van selling crabs, I’ve
got crabs in the back of a van before but not like this! An open van with whole
crabs for sale, it was incredible, I’d never seen it before.
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The markets are very interesting places too. They’ve got the
standard fruit and veg for sale but no one shouting “pound ya bananas, two pand
ya pears” (you’ll have to affect a cockney accent for that one). Then there are
the things you don’t see in and English market. Fish are available in three
stages in Korea; tanked, frozen, and dried, and dried is by far the strangest.
The tiny dried fish are served as a pub snack in the same
way, crisps and peanuts are given out in bars in normal countries. I tried one
of these little fish, it tasted very… fishy. A strong taste, exactly the kind
of smell you want on your breath when you’re in a bar and talking to ladies. In
future I’m going to bring my own pork scratchings.
The choice of snacks, most notably chocolate is very poor in
Korea. I have a sweet tooth and often crave a chocolate bar, but the chocolate
choices are minimal; Twix, Snickers and Ghana. Ghana is very average (it’s got
a long way to go before it rivals Cadbury’s), I’m not too keen on Snickers, and
I’m now bored of Twix’s. I’ve only been here for just over a month, it’s going
to be a long year. I’m really craving some good chocolate. I question this
country’s standards when, in the confectionary aisle they stock shrimp and
wasabi coated peanuts but don’t have Haribo Tangfastics. If someone is feeling
generous then please send me some sugary treats.
Speaking of home comforts I had my first cup of tea in seven
weeks only a few days ago, and I mean the proper stuff none of that green tea
nonsense. I paid about £4 for that cup of tea but it was definitely worth it.
The strangest thing about it was that the tea came in a knitted tea bag, quite
peculiar. Probably the classiest teabag I’ve ever seen.
The greatest food-related discovery I have made since I have
been in Korea happened today. In England, around Christmas time people often
struggle for gift ideas for people they hardly know, or for the office Secret Santa,
and the last resort presents are often a gift set, usually wine or Lynx shower
gel depending on your budget. But this gift set is by far the best and worst
one I’ve ever seen. Yep, that’s a Spam gift set. You’ve really got to think
very little of someone to get them a Spam gift set, and it’ll only cost you £20.
Spam is genuinely terrible, there’s probably more nutritional value in eating
the label than there is eating the “meat” inside the can. I don’t think I’d
ever eat it. Paul Burrell popped a kangaroo testicle in his gob but I think he’d
even draw the line at Spam. Amazing.
So, what’s my favourite food in Korea? This may make me
sound a little narrow minded and that I should broaden my horizons but my
favourite Korean food is a toasted sandwich from Isaac Toast. Yes, I’ve
travelled to the other side of the world and my favourite meal is a toastie.
They are so good. If you’re living in Korea and you’re reading this, get one. I
used to think toasted sandwiches were pretty universal; bread, filler, bread.
Isaac Toast do it so right, it’s magnificent. I go almost every day for lunch,
I’m even thinking of packing in the teaching and opening an Isaac Toast franchise
in England, I’d make a fortune.
So, that’s my food adventure so far. And before you ask –
no, I haven’t had dog yet. One day though…
