After hearing 'masissge deuseyo' every day for ten months, I still can't pronounce this phrase that simply means to enjoy your meal. Yet, no words in any language across the globe can describe the exhilaration my entire body goes through while eating Korean food. It is beyond mere enjoyment.
Not long after eating, my palate, as if awoken from a coma, forgets the abundance of incredible flavors recently ingested. So the first lift of the flat metal chopsticks to my hesitantly open mouth is like popping my Korean food cherry for the first time with every meal. Again and again
As I can go on forever about the subject of food, I'll touch on some things I find interesting.
Sitting on the floor
You don't have to do it. In fact, most restaurants have an option. Rather than those oh-so-long-ago "smoking" and "non-smoking' sections we had back home, you have the option of floor or chair seating. Oh, and the entire restaurant acting as a smoking section is typical. The good thing about floor seating is getting to sit on a cushion that rests on a heated floor. The annoying thing about the traditional floor seating is leg cramping. And if you have a bony butt, that too can become uncomfortable.
Sharing is Caring
I grew up with a family that eats off each other's plates. It seemed like a bad, disturbing habit, especially when out on a hot date, until Korea. Double dipping? Yeah! Try triple or quadruple dipping! Koreans stick their long spoons and chopsticks into everything on the table. But it's okay, because when you dip your utensils into the boiling soup or over the hot grill, all the germs go away! Asa!
The main dish usually isn't set in front of you, but in the middle of the table. And surrounding the huge platter or grill is an assortment of small side dishes (banchan, 반찬) that range from soups, to eggs, to kimchi, to raw crab, to tofu, to noodles, to spicy vegetables, to...the list can go on for the length of a novel...everything raw, fried, dried, fermented, seasoned, steamed, boiled, or grilled is loaded on the table. Half the time I don't know what I'm eating, and the other half I'd rather not know. I just close my eyes and plop it all into my mouth! Unless it has eyeballs...that's where I draw the line.
Barbeque At The Table
In Texas, as in the rest of the States, we BBQ outside on a big grill on the patio or the lawn, with a cold beer in one hand and a huge fork in the other to poke and turn the meat. Again, Korea is different. The grill is built inside the table. The server brings a plate of delicious RAW food. From then on, you are the chef. You cut and flip and tend to that meat, set either over a gas or a charcoal grill. Of course, beer is still involved. And you drink and eat until your face looks red as the pepper paste (고추장) from the grill's hovering heat and the alcohol dancing about inside your body.
Delivery!
In America, I think of delivery as pizza, Chinese, and...that's about all. But here, you can get pretty much have anything delivered, from corner store beer and chips to restaurant-served food. And the brilliant process will blow you away as it did to me! First, you call. Or in my case you go to the actual restaurant and point at either pictures or words on a fully Korean menu while everybody, including the cooks and patrons, stare in a WTF-is-she-doing-here-I-am-so-confused kind of way. The already awkward situation has risen its intensity bar to the maximum. You pay, point to your building, scribble your apartment number down, and go home to wait for your meal. The food itself does not come in a box, or styrofoam, or bag, or foil, it doesn't even come in a biodegradable take-out container. For all those green peace, environmentalist, recycling freaks out there (such as myself), this is the blow your mind away point. It comes in real live restaurant dishware, silverware and all! Alas, when you're finished eating just place it all back into the big plastic container and set it by your front door. No tipping needed either!
Street Food
You can get it anywhere and at all hours of the night. It's best after a night of drinking and it's just as delicious while exploring during the day. There's a huge and interesting variety, from a Korean version of corn dogs with crinkle fries attached, to topokki (rice cake with red sauce), to silkworms (beondegi, one thing I refuse to get near), to red bean filled fish patterned pastries, to the insanely delicious Korean style maple syrup filled pancake (hoddeok) to the questionable but very popular odeng (processed fish on a stick and soaking in broth). You can even get an instant cup of noodle soup in a vending machine!
Korean food is delicious and cheap and fresh. And it's located everywhere. I don't know how I managed to live life feeling complete without a mouthful of samgyeopsal (BBQ pork) or soon dubu jiggae (soft tofu soup) for so long in my life. I just don't know how I did it... But now that I have a daily dose of Korean food, it's going to be hard to let go. Anybody know of a Kimchi Anonymous back in Austin, please send me a link. ^^
Masissge deuseyo!
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