Well, not all kimchi.  Just one of the hundreds of distinguishable varieties out there.  But hey!  It’s the important one!  The most basic of all baechu kimchi is going the way of the dodo.

Well, sort of.  Last year there was a glut, so farmers cut back on how much they planted.  Then, we got hit with one lousy weather system after another, and voila!  There’s not enough napa cabbage to go ’round, a single head can now cost more than 10,000 won.  Did you hear that?  WE’RE ALL GOING TO DIE!

They’ll be no gimjang this year, kiddies. It’s canceled! St. Saeur Kraut won’t be visiting and leaving magical gifts of spicy cabbage in your gomushin, and there won’t be a single leaf left to decorate your gimjang tree.  Worse yet, restaurants may start charging for kimchi!

But as in all times of trouble and scarcity, Koreans can look to President Lee Myeong-bak to lead the way.  Has there ever been a leader so truly in touch with his people?  In sympathy for their plight, he’s switching to kimchi made with western-style round cabbage until the crisis abates.  What a guy!

What is being done to protect us all from the terror?  Well, we’re going to start importing Chinese cabbage from . . . uh, China (fancy that!), even though it may not match our unique body chemistry (or contain dangerous parasites.  Same-same)

Those of you with a survivalist frame of mind, who have already stockpiled canned food and water in preparation for nuclear winter can try your own radical approach and grow your own on the roof of your bomb shelter.

In order to help you through the coming dark days and ease your hunger, we’d like to point you to a few recipes for 깍두기 (cubed radish) from Aeri’s Kitchen and Wandering Chopsticks, and Maangchi’s 열무 물김치.  Also, for quite posibbly the most comprehensive rundown of kimchi commotion ever, check out the Marmot’s entry.  Good luck!

Top seven gross Korean dishes selected by foreign staff at the Korea Herald

All we can say is that intern reporter Ryu Jeong-hyun needs to learn what actually constitutes news.  Hint:  polling your foreign colleagues about what Korean foods wig them out isn’t it.

mmmmmmmm! 순대!

For the record, the offending foods were 홍어 (fermented skate), 번데기 (silkworm larvae), 닭발 (chicken feet), 산낙지 (“live” octopus), 순대 (blood sausage), 보신탕 (dog soup), and 곱창 (intestines).

Fatman would like to point out that lots of Koreans don’t like or eat these foods.  Hongeo is a taste acquired only through much endurance.  Most people never acquire it, and that’s fine.  But it doesn’t make it “gross.”

Beondaegi-eating is a generational divide, with older people enjoying it more than the young . . . but young people have grown up in a totally different culinary and economic landscape.  It’s a nostalgia food for many people.

Surprise!  Chicken feet is a food with international legs.  Apparently the Korea Herald doesn’t have anybody from, say, the Philippines, Africa, the Caribbean, the American south, or . . . well, most of the rest of Asia.

어머나!  Sundae is made with pig intestine?  You mean, just like virtually every other kind of sausage?!?*  And it’s not like people don’t eat blood sausage elsewhere, like . . . oh, most of western Europe.

Fatman could write all day about how these so-called strange foods actually can be found around the world in various forms.  But the real problems is that acting like a very narrow sampling of (we’re guessing white, western, probably North American) foreigners can be used to show what foreigners as a group think about Korean food is annoying.  It’s stupid because it exoticizes Korean food and turns foreigners into a monolithic group.

News flash:  Poorly researched, half-assed articles are annoying.

Now, if you’ll excuse us, Fatman has an insatiable craving for sundae . . .

*caveat – most sundae, and indeed most sausage nowadays, uses synthetic wrappers instead of intestines . . . but mostly to save on cost.  High quality stuff is still stuffed inside pig stuffing.

비빔밥/bibimbap:  If you see this on a restaurant menu, you are getting the most basic version possible ~ white rice and an assortment of vegetables both cooked and uncooked, usually lettuce, bean sprouts, carrots, zucchini, bellflower root, cucumber, dried seaweed, radish, spinach, ferns, and/or mushrooms.  There may also be a bit of beef (ground or in small strips) and a fried egg to top it off.  Properly done, there should be at least five colors (blue/green, red, yellow, white,  and black/brown) arranged in a visually pleasing manner.  If there’s no 고추장 (gochujang/ pepper paste) lurking under the egg, it’ll be in a jar on the table.  Typically served in a stainless steel or ceramic bowl, but fancy schmancy places will sometimes use brass bowls.  Of course, if it’s a fancy schmancy sort of place, you’re more likely to get . . .

전주 비빔밥/Jeonju bibimbap:  Ah, the grande dame of bibimbap!  Jeonju-style bibimbap is as famous as it is confusing.  Many a hungry soul has wandered down Jeolla-way only to wonder what the hell makes this dish special.  Well, for starts, this bibimbap claims royal antecedants, with local lore holding that it developed from court cuisine.  Other typical differences are the inclusion of 황포묵(hwangpomuk, sometimes called 노랑묵/norangmuk), a yellow jelly made from mung beans and gardenia, 육회 (yukhoi, marinated raw beef), and local bean sprouts.  Some restaurants cook the rice in beef broth for a richer flavor, but its the accompanying bean sprout soup (콩나물국/ kongnamulguk) that helps mark this local food for what it is.  The Jeonju-style has come to dominate, so expect a dish that strongly resembles the standard-issue bibimbap, only more elaborate.  And, because this is Jeolla-food, tasty.  Paul Ajosshi and Zen Kimchi both have recommendations on where to track down this tasty treat.

진주 비빔밥/Jinju bibimbap:  Moving east into South Gyeongsang Province, Jinju’s specialty bibimbap involves 육회:  Lots and lots of raw beef marinated in sesame oil, garlic, soy sauce, sesame seeds, and sugar, accompanied by pine nuts, egg, and pear, gets slathered on top of hot rice, which partially cooks the ingredients.  Mmm, beefy!

산채비빔밥/sanchae bibimbap:  This virtually vegetarian version should include fresh mountain vegetables both root and leafy, and can often be found in restaurants near Buddhist temples.  The best ones are made with just picked local vegetables from the hillsides, giving the diner a chance to taste some wilder kinds of vegetal matter, from the  shoots of the hardy kiwi to aster leaves to stringy stonecrop.   It all depends on what’s fresh and local, making it locavore and (minus the common inclusion of an egg) vegetarian and vegan friendly.

돌솥비빔밥:  Basic bibimbap or some variation thereof, but served in a hot stone bowl.  The bowl is usually greased with a little bit of sesame oil to keep the ingredients from sticking right away, and the egg on top is usually served raw and cooked by  the heat of the bowl and ingredients when you stir it all together.  Start stirring this the minute it hits the table, or everything will burn on the bottom, rather than achieving the much sought after crispy crunchy texture.

회덥밥/hoi deopbap:  Despite the name, hoi deopbap is closer to bibimbap than deopbap.  Leafy greens and raw fish (often tuna, salmon, or all those lovely chewy whitefish beloved here in Korea) are served on top of rice,  seasoned with a splash of sesame oil and a dash of chogochujang (초구추장: vinegared pepper sauce).  The most famous of these is  probably . . .

포항물회/Pohang mul hoi:  This variation uses raw halibut, pear, and a whole heap o’ cucumber.

안동헛재사밥/Andong heotjesabap:  Think of this dish not as bibimbap for the weak, but rather the bibimbap of choice for those with a selective palate that doesn’t need the burn of peppers.  That’s right ~ the distinguishing mark of this dish is that its flavored with soy sauce and sesame oil instead of gochujang.  But why, particularly in a region known for the spiciness of its cuisine?

The name holds a clue:  Rice for fake ancestral rites.  There’s a lot of stories as to how this dish came to be, but the most famous is that a young man arrived back in town just a little late for a jesa (a Confucian ritual honoring a deceased family member), but still jonesing for the delicious dietary aftermath.  These rituals involve symbolic offerings of meat, vegetables, fruit, rice, alcohol, and an assortment of fried goodies to the ancestor, and when the bowing is done the non-deceased feast.  However, spicy foods and bright red foods aren’t part of this meal, since the color and flavor are too bold for a solemn occassion.  But what’s a boy to do when the meal is already through?  Ask ‘em to cook it over again,  ancestors be damned!  Hence, “fake” jesa rice.

된장비빔밥:  Swap out spicy gochujang in your standard bibimbap for the mild saltiness of dwenjang (fermented soybean paste) and you’re got a delicious new dish.

보리밥:  Essentially, boribap is a variation of bibimbap using barley instead of or mixed with rice.

Often served with another local specialty, salty mackeral, not to mention a wide host of mostly fried and meaty sides (echoing the delicious snacks for the ancestors), this mixed rice doesn’t have egg or spicy sauce, but does have a subtle and savory flavor to cherish almost as much as the dear departed.

Think of a version Fatman’s forgotten?  Let us know, and we’ll add it to our fieldguide!

apologies for early title problems . . . we’ve had an extra-special visit from the typo fairy, but we’ve finally staked it out and thrashed it so it won’t come back again anytime soon.

Oh yeah, and some other clown had something to say about how blogging has influenced food culture in Korea. Hmmm.

]]> http://www.fatmanseoul.com/2010/06/17/zen-kimchis-tedxseoul-talk/feed/ 1 http://www.fatmanseoul.com/2009/10/03/happy-chuseok-and-a-guide-to-charye/ http://www.fatmanseoul.com/2009/10/03/happy-chuseok-and-a-guide-to-charye/#comments Sat, 03 Oct 2009 01:22:50 +0000 fatmanseoul http://www.fatmanseoul.com/?p=1317
Fatman hopes you’re all enjoying a wonderful 추석 (chuseok), and chowing down on all sorts of delights. As part of the festivities, we (recycle and re)offer this guide to the most important part of the holiday: 차례 (charye), or the ritual offerings of food and drink to the ancestors. Most importantly, we show you how to deck the halls with boughs of 차레 foods and treat you and your genetic predecessors right. Enjoy your holiday, whether you’re out in the countryside with your family or hanging out in the strangely empty Seoul.

This ritual isn’t quite the same as more familiar jesa (재사) although in form it is very similar. Jesa rituals are performed at regular intervals (usually according to the lunar calendar) following the death of a specific family member. Charye are for a more collective group of ancestors stretching on back through time. They’re held at different times of day (jesa at night, charye in the mornings) and mean slightly different things, but both are important and look pretty darned similar in modern practice. And they both involve immense, crazy, gargantuan amounts of food.

How much food? Enough that prep can take days, even weeks. Enough that lots of Koreans skip the homework and order their food online (get your family ancestor worship needs met here, here, or here.) Women especially have taken to this innovation, seeing as however liberated they might be in their daily lives seem to become drafted for a few days of thankless servitude while the menfolk goof off for all but about ten minutes of incense burning, wine pouring, and bowing.
Strangely enough, there’s not a lot of consistency from region to region, household to household as to what food actually goes on the ancestral table. Some families always boil up an octopus, others set out a few bananas. There are a few general rules, however:
At the very back is a folding screen. Many families use a double-sided screen with colorful flowers or birds on one side for happy occasions like weddings, and calligraphy on the other for more solemn events like jesa and charye. In front of the screen is a large, low table set with a small shrine to hold pictures of the deceased or written prayers called a “shinui (신위). Also holding place in the back row are cups for alcohol, candles, rice, soup, and chopsticks. In the next row from the back you’ll find cooked dishes, particularly flesh, fowl, and fish. Next out are dried dishes like squid, and veggies. In the front are fruits, which can mean whatever is in season but almost always will include dates (대추/daechu), chestnuts (밤/bam), pears (배/be), and dried persimmons (감/gam). There are all kinds of different ways to coordinate it including direction and color, but by now Fatman hopes you’ve got the basic idea. Just to compare, here are three different guide to how to set up your charye table . . . good luck!

image from www.koreartnet.com

image from i.kdaq.empas.com

image from munhwa.com

최근에 우리는 우리가 찍은 사진에 대해 몇 가지 질문을 받았습니다. 그래서 우리의 촬영방법에 대해서 간략하게 소개할까 합니다. 첫 번째는, 우리의 장비입니다.

We’ve fielded a few questions recently about our photography, and we thought we’d make a brief post talking about how we shoot. First of all, our equipment:

gracias, Nikon!

We use the Nikon D60, one of their entry-level DSLRs aimed at the casual user. While we sometimes use the AF-S DX Zoom-NIKKOR 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G ED II because it’s light and easy to haul around for long slogs, our workhorse lense is the Sigma 17-70mm F2.8-4.5 DC MACRO.

우리는 DSLR을 처음 사용하는 일반 사용자들을 위해 출시된 니콘 D60을 씁니다.

가끔 AF-S DX Zoom-NIKKOR 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G ED II을 쓰기도 하는데, 이 이유는 장시간 동안 일을 할 때 가볍고 쉽게 들고 다닐 수 있어서 입니다. 참고로, 우리가 주로 사용하는 렌즈는 Sigma 17-70mm F2.8-4.5 DC MACRO 입니다.

When absolutely needed and not disruptive to other diners, we sometimes haul out our Nikon SB-600 Speedlight Flash.

가끔은 음식점에 있는 다른 사람들에게 피해를 주지 않기 위해서 니콘 Nikon SB-600 Speedlight Flash를 쓰기도 합니다.

We do post-process our photos through a variety of programs, but primarily GIMP. Post processing is generally minimal, with minor adjustments to things like white balance and color so the food you see in the photos looks like the food we actually ate.

우리는 사진을 게재하기 위해 다양한 프로그램을 사용하지만 주로 GIMP를 씁니다. 일반적으로 게재하는 과정에 있어서는 화이트 밸런스나 색깔만 조금 수정하기 때문에 여러분이 사진을 통해 보시는 음식들은 실제 보이는 것과 별반 다르지 않습니다.

Translation by Jiseon

p.s. Seriously, India ranks above Korea? The place of which you write: “Your best bet: You’ll probably do better just sticking to the tasty chai here”?