Definitely Spam. Preferably fried. Spam and kimchi are amazing together.
4
You can just about detect the writer's high-minded squeamishness when it comes to the Spam and the 'process-cheese food'. This American obsession-- the constant pursuit of some kind of amorphous "authenticity"-- always makes me laugh. Fact of the matter is, budae jjigae and kimchi fried rice share a lot in common with other foods in other countries: it's a way to clear the leftovers in the fridge in a delicious and economical way while also appealing to Korean tastebuds.
It reminds me of my friends whose idea of the 'authentic' taco includes expensive, hard to find spices and ingredients and complicated ways of cooking them. It's that irritating aspect of hipster foodie culture that completely misses the point!
It reminds me of my friends whose idea of the 'authentic' taco includes expensive, hard to find spices and ingredients and complicated ways of cooking them. It's that irritating aspect of hipster foodie culture that completely misses the point!
8
I'm going to try it with Cantonese char sui.
1
running out to a performance, and made this before I went. used chopped dill pickles and leftover andouille sausage, because it's what's in the fridge. tastes great.
5
Kimchi is like sauerkraut?
They are both fermented cabbage, but kimchi has Korean seasoning. They're both acidic, but very different. My adopted Korean niece loved her grandma's Eastern European stuffed cabbage, whose flavor was enhanced by sauerkraut, so go figure.
3
fermented cabbage
1
Taste = different
Fermented cabbage = same
Type of cabbage = different
For those who have never seen it or tasted kimchee, sauerkraut homes them in . . . oh! I can relate to that after all . . . . It's not rotten cabbage, it's spicy sauerkraut. Got it!
Fermented cabbage = same
Type of cabbage = different
For those who have never seen it or tasted kimchee, sauerkraut homes them in . . . oh! I can relate to that after all . . . . It's not rotten cabbage, it's spicy sauerkraut. Got it!
1
I could almost taste kimchi fried rice as I was reading. Spam is still popular in Korea especially among kids. Not healthy but definitely tasty :)
1
That's true, we still can find SPAM the Korean TV show quite often, that's already become part of their culture and life rather than just a single dish. Back to the 70's and early 80's before the economy was booming, even SPAM was rare to see. Now the Korea become a country that gained worldwide reputation, good job and good luck!
Great article, I rarely get to see articles about my fellow Korean Americans, much less the ones in my NYC hometown. But one thing to note: I'm one of the few Koreans who have lived and grown up near K-town in Midtown Manhattan, and believe me, it's changed a LOT to appeal to non-Koreans (i.e. I see a lot more white/pan-Asian Americans now). Even just a decade ago, the customer demographics were much more Korean immigrants, all the restaurants played actual Korean music (now it's a lot of Kpop and US radio hits), and it's become much more "Asianized" with more pan-East Asian influences, thus no longer distinctly Korean. None of this is necessary negative, but just a response to your point about K-town not having changed or influenced by outsiders.
11
SPAM = SPecial Army Meat.
This is new to me! But I like it. And I am disappointed that I did not know this.
And I am a vegetarian.
Cheers!
This is new to me! But I like it. And I am disappointed that I did not know this.
And I am a vegetarian.
Cheers!
4
When I lived in Korea in the 1970s, the Army rationed certain items, among them SPAM and Velveeta cheese. It was an attempt to curtail black marketing by GIs. It did little good, and they showed up in Itaewon, Dongdaemun, and Namdaemun markets...and eventually in Korean kitchens.
3
Hard to beat kimchi fried rice after a long day out in Korean winter weather.
3
Nice article, but must every author of every article written in America today include themselves in whatever they are writing about? An awful trend in American writing.
12
What a trend, to be present in the experience and write about it.
Possibly we should go back to 3rd person voyerism when talking about someone making food in their home kitchen like a security camera narrative. Better yet lets do more 2nd person narrative where "you" are the hero of the story making rice.
Possibly we should go back to 3rd person voyerism when talking about someone making food in their home kitchen like a security camera narrative. Better yet lets do more 2nd person narrative where "you" are the hero of the story making rice.
9
Indeed--the good article, the comfort food (no, I'm not Korean, but some of my best friends . . .), the loss of place and identity, and the solipsistic style "perfected" in The New Yorker ("she told me," "I happened to see," "when my mother was a child," all in an article about durable goods and machinery orders). I almost had k.c. fried rice for lunch today but settled for ramen--lesser but closer.