Korea - Day 12 - Food, Glorious Food!
I realize that I haven't written much about the food here in Korea. Being in a different country does expose one to other cuisines. But I must admit that based on my experiences with Korean food back in the United States, I was a little apprehensive. Other than the Bibimbab that I had once in Ann Arbor, there wasn't much in the way of Korean food that I liked. And the in-flight meal on my way over here wasn't that spectacular. In fact, if it weren't for the fact that it was airplane food I would have been even more troubled.
Much to my surprise and delight, the food here has been quite delicious. Most of my lunches on post have been at the KATUSA Snack Bar (KATUSA is an Army acronym referring to Korean soldiers assigned to the US Army). Lunch was never more than 5000 won (US$4.75), and there were a number of menu items to choose from. I tried several, and each one of them was fantastic. There was the Spicy Pork with Rice, Fried Rice with Beef, Dol Sot Bibimbab (Dol Sot is a heated stone bowl in which the bibimbab is served), Beef Ramyun (ramen noodles). Each lunch was served with an assortment of self-serve pickled vegetables and a bowl of soup. A couple of days the soup was made with pieces of squid, which was surprisingly tasty and non-rubbery. If I ever had to eat squid, I would want it to be like this.
I haven't had that many dinners while I've been out here. I had the chicken dish with the "honey jumbo bread" thing a couple of days ago. Tonight I tried something I've seen a number of small shops sell. Visually it is best described as a red sauce brighter in color than a spaghetti sauce and not nearly as thick. Floating in this concoction are small sticks that look like string cheese. As I was walking down one of the side streets back to the hotel I decided to give this a try. I'd seen it enough that I figured it must be a popular dish around here.
The lady smiled as she served me a bowl of these sticks with a ladle of red sauce poured over it. I bit into one of those sticks, and it turned out to be some kind of boiled dough. There wasn't a whole lot of flavor in it, but the red sauce provided more than enough. It turns out that the red sauce is some very spicy pepper sauce that was hotter than I was anticipating. After eating about half the bowl, I excused myself as it didn't sit well with me.
As I was walking back to the hotel I began to think about all the reasons I ever had to be nervous about traveling in the Far East - food, language, safety. I concluded that if one were to ever want to get past those fears that Korea would be the perfect place to do so. The people are more than just polite to a fault - they are very friendly and helpful. The food, while adventuresome at times, offers enough of a variety that there is something for every palate and preference. (And yes, the American chains have established a presence here: Burger King, McDonald's, Bennigan's, Outback Steakhouse and Cold Stone Creamery were all within a stone's throw of each other.) The public transportation system is very efficient, and taxis provide a very reasonably priced fallback option. I was never worried about my personal safety, even when I wandered downtown Seoul in the middle of the night. There is plenty to see and experience here.
Even as I type I am surprised by how well I've not only acclimated to life here in Korea, but how I've bonded in a strange yet wonderful way with a country that a few years ago I had no desire to visit. Perhaps one day I'll bring the family for a visit.
I hope they don't mind a little kimchi.
