What You Least Expect

So I've been in Korea now for just over a month, and I find it surprising as I begin to notice the things that I'm missing from home the most. Obviously I miss people the most. I still occasionally find myself wanting to whip out my cell phone and call some people up when something funny happens, or one of the kids does awesome or whatever. Yeah. People are one aspect I miss quite a bit. But since that's a given, let's move on to some other things. :)

Food

One of the things I thought I would miss the most when I came over here was ice cream. I had been told that there is simply no ice cream in most of Asia, and the ice cream available is incredibly expensive. As it turns out, this is not so, at least not for Korea. They actually have Baskin Robbins aplenty over here. Priced about the same, too, I would say. Even the Burger King across the road from me in my apartment has cheap ice cream ($.60 or less!), and it's some of the best vanilla ice cream in my life! (People from Southern Maine reading this, have no fear. Your ice cream remains #1 no matter what.)

No, the food I've craved isn't really what I expected at all. The biggest one would have to be popcorn. In the States I would always have at least 5-6 bags of popcorn at the ready for movie nights. Then, when I decide to sit down to a movie I'd just plop down and enjoy a bowl while enjoying the movie. Don't get me wrong, they have popcorn here, although I don't know if it's as good as the states. No, my problem currently is simply that I don't have a microwave. I opted for the Convection Oven over the microwave. I'm starting to wonder if that was such a good idea for the beginning... Haha!

Another food that is a bit surprising is soda. It's odd because they have Coke here. Even Fanta. ... And that's all. Haha! I miss Cherry Coke! And Dr. Pepper! And Barq's! OOOOO. In the long run, it's for the best. I'm drinking more water and juice now, so that's good. But nevertheless...

As to restaurants, it's not quite as surprising, because I pass this place everyday. Even so, I didn't go there all that much back home and I was expecting different restaurants (Wendy's, Arby's, Rafferty's, O'Charley's, etc.) Nope. The restaurant I'm craving lately is Outback. Outback seems to be wildly popular, and there's one right across the street from where I live. I walk by it practically every day, and each time I just think, "MMMM, Bloomin' Onion..." or steak, or whatever else.

I miss a lot of other things, too, of course, but food is on my mind right now.

And if you're thinking, "Wow. So far only 1 or 2 of these blog posts have not been about food...", I'm hypoglycemic, what do you expect? :) Now FEEED MEEEE!!!

C is for Cookie, and that's good enough for me.

My first homemade meal

No name for it - yet. I just kinda took the ingredients I had and ran with it. So, here's how it went from what I can remember.

Ingredients:

sliced beef
cinnamon
nutmeg
italian seasoning
sesame seed oil
canola oil (vegetable could work, too)
1 apple (1/2 sliced thinly, 1/2 chopped)
green pepper
zucchini
potato
rice
egg
carrot
mushroom
pepper

Directions:

1. some vegetable oil and a few drops of sesame seed oil into a frying pan. put on the burner until pushing a wooden spoon into the oil shows bubbles. (if you have room, you can start cooking your rice right now, too)
2. take one clove of chopped garlic mixed with a little bit of mushroom, and a small amount of italian seasoning, cinnamon and pepper each. when the oil is boiling, throw it in.
3. let the garlic mixture simmer for a bit, then throw in some sliced beef. (by the way, new zealand beef has an interesting taste!) the beef will start to brown pretty quickly, so be ready for the next step.
4. add chopped pepper, carrot, zucchini, another garlic clove, mushroom, some cinnamon and nutmeg. let that cook for a bit.
5. add diced potatoes and let cook for a bit longer.
6. throw in an egg for good measure. :)
7. remove the mix from the burner. take 1/2 of an apple and slice thinly, then add to the mix and cover. (i tried it before and after covering it; you don't get the full range of tastes unless you let it steam for a bit) take 1/2 an apple and dice it up, then take diced apples (the item in the orange bowl) and sprinkle with cinnamon and lightly with nutmeg. let warm over the range.
8. when the apples are warm, the meal is ready. uncover the mix and pull the rice.

The beef and such is alright, but the warmed apple cinnamon is amazing. MMMMMM.

Mm! Mm! Good!

So Korean food is pretty much awesome.

I had been told several times when people found out I was moving out here that I needed to try the Korean barbecue. It just so happened that on my second night here, there was a group getting ready to go to a barbecue that night. So I asked if I could join and was allowed. Korean barbecue is done at a table. At each table there is a pit where they place the burning wood. Above each pit is a vent that not only pulls the smoke up but can also continue to stoke the flame. The servers then bring the meat out along with scissors. You put the meat on the grill, allow to sit for a bit, then cut the meat into smaller pieces. The result is incredible.

A few nights later I joined another group to go to a restaurant where they hand make the noodles and dumplings. We ordered a dish called "Ja Ja Myung" (sp?), which is originally a Chinese dish, but I believe with this the Koreans put their own little spin to it. However they do it, it's amazing at this place.

Next up on the menu experience was a trip to a Korean take on Italian food. Once again, a definite score to the Koreans. I tried what was basically Chicken Parmesan from one of the other people in my group: best...chicken...ever... I ordered the Cooked Baby Squid in a Spicy Sauce! It was a great meal (albeit, a little awkward. :) ) To go along with the main dish was an omelet where the rice inside was dyed with squid ink to make it black.

Of course you can't eat with the group on all nights, so one night I needed to eat pretty quick and had to eat on my own. I went walking and found a pizza shop I had been told about, and went in to give it a shot. Amazing pizza. The sauce, the meat, everything. Probably the best pepperoni pizza I've had. Another best: medium sized (8 regular slices) freshly made for $5.

Of course you can't just do Korean barbecue once. This past Saturday I got another opportunity to go, to celebrate some of the current staff as they were getting ready to head home. This time the menu was ribs, and that was an experience. Because ribs are done with the bone, at least at the restaurant we went to we had to put on a cloth glove followed by a plastic glove to try and make sure we didn't burn ourselves from the heat of the bone. Even so, if you grab a rib too soon and hold it too long, it'll burn right through the plastic.

And that's about all so far. Next post: Lotte World