Food

I've wanted to write about Korean food for a while, but I haven't felt like I've known enough about it.  I still don't think I have a firm grasp on what makes Korean food Korean, but it's about time I write a little bit about it.  Definitely the most Korean of all foods is Kimchi.  Kimchi is pickled vegetables, usually cabbage, and it is served with every Korean meal that is eaten (and ever has been - unless there is a cabbage shortage - which actually did happen this year apparently - I'm not sure how they're dealing).  My opinion of kimchi varies.  I don't mind it sometimes, but usually I'm not a big fan.  What I do like is the pickled radishes they serve here (which I guess would be called Kimchi under the broader meaning).  Radishes here in Korea are big and white.  But mentioning these foods brings up the most distinct part of Korean meals - the sides.  Korean meals are always served with a number of side dishes.  These can include kimchi (always), radishes, bean sprouts, something green - similar to spinach, tiny-little see-though fish, carrots, something smothered in hot chilly powder, and this small brown potatoe-bug-like insect served raw.  While these sides can be interesting to taste, I've come to mostly avoid them - which isn't good because they are usually the only vegetable options.
  I've found that Korean main dishes typically include or are largely some kind of meat - either beef, pork, or chicken.  Here is a list of some of them that I've eaten:
- Galbi: small pork or beef slices that are the best when they're marinated.  You cook them on a grill in the middle of the table.
- Samgyeopsal: thick slices of bacon fried on a grill in middle of the table with vegetables around it.
- Duck: which I've had fried like galbi or in a saucy mixture with other things.
- Galbitang: brothy soup with noodles and beef.
- Samgyetang: A thicker soup made with ginseng and a whole, small, chicken stuffed with rice.
- Bibimbap: one vegitarian main dish I've had.  It is rice with all kinds of seasoned vegetables and an egg - mixed all together.
- Naengmyeon: cold flavoured noodle soup.  We eat it will galbi.
- Cheesy Rice: which is surely not the actual name. It is rice with a spicy sauce, chicken chunks, duk (rice cakes {see entry titled 'Chuseok'}), and melted cheese all mixed together and fried on a grill in the middle of the table.
- Gimbap: which is usually more of a snack.  It is the Korean form of sushi except replacing the fish is carrot, ham, radish, and cucumber.
  These are only the main meals that I've eaten and enjoyed, there are many more Korean dishes that I either haven't tried yet, or have eaten and have forgotten the name of, or didn't like.
  Korean food is often somewhat spicy, which has taken me some getting used to.  Red chillies are very popular here.  Chilly powder is in over half of all foods, I'd say, and if it's not a powder its made into a paste (which I very much dislike).
  Outside of the Korean restaurants there are lots of non-Korean food places.  Italian food is pretty popular here (well, mostly pizza and spaghetti), and there are some burger joints.  Fast food is available here, but it hasn't flourished like it has in North America.
  Overall, I'm quite sure Koreans go out to eat quite a bit more than most North Americans.  I chalk this up to the facts that eating at restaurants is very inexpensive, and many apartments don't have kitchens adequate enough to make daily, healthy meals.

  On another quick note, this weekend I played monopoly at this super cool place called Play Cafe.  It's become another of my favourite places in Pohang.  Oh, and I won the monopoly game - which might have been the only time I've ever done that.  Pretty sweet.
  And on a very crappy note, the scooter was stolen.  I'm pretty POed about it.  Later I'll write about crime in Korea.  For now, I'm thinking about when I'll buy another.
  I wish I had pictures to add, but I don't.  I'll try to get on that.
Thanks for reading,
Michael