Eating Korean

While the French colonialism of Vietnam resulted in bahn mi sandwiches, the American involvement in the Korean War led to “budae jjigae,” which translates directly to “army base stew.” It was also called “Johnson Tahng” (”tahng” means soup and “Johnson” was a reference to the common American surname).
Some of us affectionately call it “spam [...]

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Although Koreans have been eating fried chicken for years, it hasn’t been until the last couple of years that Americans have been made aware of the special flavor of Korean fried chicken. The articles in the New York Times and Saveur magazine made it seem like it was some new discovery.

I’ve been having a good [...]

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I had heard about the drinking vinegar craze in Korea for a few years now. And I’ve finally gotten a chance to taste some of them at the Fancy Food Show last week.
For those of you who’ve never heard of drinking vinegars, it’s not a new fad at all. In fact, it’s actually old [...]

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I mentioned “gimjang” in my previous post without giving an explanation (sorry I just got back from Korea and I’m still thinking in Konglish). So, I wanted to give a bit of explanation here.
Gimjang is serious gimchi-making. It’s the traditional annual event when families make huge load of gimchi in preparation for “eumdong,” the [...]

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Just a couple of weeks ago, I made my way through the curvy mountain roads of Gangwondo, the most mountainous province in South Korea. Tucked in one of its hilly corners are the largest fields of napa cabbage in the country.

We rushed to get to the fields, but alas, they had farmed most of [...]

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Well, I’m always a day late and a dollar short. But I hope y’all had a lovely Chuseok! Chuseok, is Korea’s Harvest Moon Festival, celebrating the bountiful harvest by paying respect to our elders and our dead, on the day of the “boleum dal” (harvest moon).
I had a busy day visiting relatives and meeting new [...]

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When I first got an email from Benjamin Lee, I thought for a second that my nine-year-old nephew had finally learned how to use email. “Lee” being a common name in Korea (second only to “Kim”), it only took a couple of seconds to realized that this Benjamin Lee was not a relation, but the [...]

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Every year in early Spring the first pale green leaves from the tea plant peek their little heads, waking up from their winter sleep. The earliest leaves of the season are the most highly prized. Hand picked by sun-wizened local ladies, they are the most expensive. From early April through early September, the tea leaves [...]

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