Bring in that tasty, tasty kimbap

Recently, I was getting frustrated with Kerry Brown for not updating his blog about the Smashing Pumpkins recording sessions. Then I realized I was also neglecting my blog. However, I think a big difference is that my blog doesn't contain exciting information about the equipment for the next Smashing Pumpkins album or a report on the progress of Billy Corgan's recording. Those are the only things I want to read about in a blog, anyway.

A lot of wild and amazing things have happened since my last blog. I'm in Korea after all. Be content knowing I'm still the same person despite these powerful adventures. That's all a joke, actually.

I think I'd like to dedicate the rest of this blog to Korean food. I only know the names of a few Korean dishes: Kimchi - which is horrible, slimy, fermented, fishy sludge; Kimbap, which is basically sushi; and Bipbimbap, which is various things mixed into rice. Most other Korean dishes I've experienced are a variation of kimchi or some sort of cold stir-fry situation.

Most Korean food, with the notable exception of kimbap, is a mixed heap of something. There are a lot of vegetables, and you see a lot of stringy mushrooms, sesame seeds, and bean sprouts in the food. Also, a lot of sweet & spicy sauces which are generally enjoyable. Unfortunately, a lot of the food also has a distinct fish taste to it even if it is vegetarian. I'm not sure what produces that taste - but it's part of some sort of dressing I think.

Of course, I don't usually eat these traditional Korean dishes unless somebody else has made them. I eat ramyeon most often, which is ramen noodles. There are many varieties of ramyeon, but most are pretty spicy. My students also have given my songpyeon which is a cold, sticky rice dumpling filled with semi-sweet bean/nut/sesame seed mash (much like a sweet ravioli). It's tolerable but not great.

On the 1-14 scale, I guess I would give Korean food an 8. The inclusion of kimchi at nearly every meal brings the score down quite a bit, as does the popularity of dried squid. Riding the train to Daejeon last week, the passenger beside my was chewing on a dried tentacle for a half-hour. It was highly unpleasant but not surprising. Anyway, those are all my thoughts on Korean food at the moment.