Seoul Foooood

7.23.2008

Braving the humidity and heat of DC, I often confuse myself into thinking that I'm in Seoul, Korea. The blistering heat and random rainstorms make it almost the same... ALMOST. One crucial factor missing here is something very near and dear to my heart: soul food. Seoul food. kimchi. kimchi chi-gae. gal-bi. soon to bu. Oh, just thinking about it makes me salivate. At home, between my aunt, mom and uncle, there's always some concoction related to Korean food. There's always pan-chan (side dishes) and fresh rice. Even when I'm away for school, I have lots and lots of tupperware filled with Korean dishes.

Coming to DC, I made a very bad assumption that they had Korean food. Wow, was I wrong. The closest thing is the Korean lady who owns the liquor store 3 blocks down; she sells rice, kimchi and meat in a Styrofoam container :-( One day I asked her if she knew of any Korean restaurants nearby. She informed me that if I had a car, the closest one was 30 miles away. Woe is me! Really.

I must put it into perspective to really help you grasp the seriousness of this situation. I'd eat Korean food that was true soul food. Broth was made from what we had...just like my grandma in Korea does. The spicier, the better--if sweat wasn't dripping from your nostrils, it wasn't hot enough. When my dad would bbq prime ribs for dinner, I'd eat my rice and kimchi instead (sometimes). There's nothing better than it and I say that whole-heartedly.



The reason I'm writing about this is for two reasons: 1) I'm going to New York on August 1st and the only thing on my mind is Korea town. I CAN'T WAIT!!! 2) I just read an amazingly well-written article about "Seoul food" from the New York Times. Read it...even if you don't like Korean food, you will after this article.

So there you have it. As I live and play in the nation's capital, Korean food screams and laughs in my face. It haunts me at night and teases me throughout the day.

2 comments :

Susan said...

Well . . . about right now we are enjoying kimchi fried rice. I made some last night and Aoife and Daniel loved it (to my surprise) so I promised to make some more today.
Yum. With a fried egg on top!

I figured you get to enjoy all that exciting adventures, the least I can do it rub the Korean food in a bit!
Tee hee hee.

Mom

Simply Tanya said...

I still to this day remember when your dad bbqed some Korean ribs when I spent the night and they were amazing. Don't worry... all this time away from it will make it that much more sweet when you get home.