The Herald Saengsaeng News reports that everybody’s favorite Korean snack food, tteokbokki, is taking New York City by storm. In Manhattan alone, there were 23 Korean restaurants, half of which are selling tteokbokki. To put this in perspective, there are only nine Korean restaurants in the Central Park area comprising Koreatown.
Jennifer Maeng of Korea Temple Cuisine said Americans are eating spicy food these days, and that once they try tteokbokki, they keep coming back for more. Meanwhile, a waiter at Mandoo Bar in Midtown said 70-80% of his clientèle are Americans, and many of them are ordering tteokbokki.
Tteokbokki isn’t the only thing selling well in New York. Other spicy dishes like yukgaejang, nakjibokkeum, sundubujjigae and ojingeojjigae are apparently popular. Prices, however, are a bit different from what those of us residing in Korea might be accustomed. In Korea, a serving of tteokbokki will cost between 1,000-2,000 won (about $2), but in New York, you’re looking at $6-19.95. Yukgaejang, meanwhile, goes for $9-15, sundubujjigae for $4-15, and nakji-ojingeo bokkeum for $10-19.95. For New Yorkers, this isn’t tremendously expensive, however.
Explaining the sudden popularity of spicy Korean food in New York, one local marketer said Korean food is spicy like Indian food, but with a restrained flavor.
Photo ripped off from here.
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“Jennifer Maeng of Korea Temple Cuisine said Americans are now eating spicy food”
Sure, if you forget about Tex-Mex and Cajun cooking, not to mention all the people who eat their own ethnic dishes that makes Korean food look relatively bland in flavour.
Just now? Like, what, did we start last week or something?
Listen Jennifer, look, I don’t know how long you’ve been in New York City, but if you are there long enough you might start to notice that Korean food isn’t the only spicy food being sold on its streets. Among the many foods eaten in New York on a daily basis, its probably not that spicy either. I mean, I’ve had some tear-inducing spice on my foods in my day, and it wasn’t Korean in origin.
ach! I’ve been beaten!
Actually, I changed the translation to “these days” rather than “now.”
# 1,
Korean food has been called a lot of things, but bland? Who would ever think Korean food is bland unless their taste buds are inactive?
“Just now? Like, what, did we start last week or something?”
Ahaha, nice. Sorry Robert, but even with your change, it still looks pretentious/condescending.
@Wangkon: Yeah dude… Korean food is pretty damned bland. What kind of topping do you want? Red sauce… or… red sauce? Think I’m wrong? Go to Thailand, and have your taste buds blown out.
Well yeah, it’s a colorful painting, but they’re only using two or three colors.
Yeah, I was going to say… It’s more “Recently, Americans started…” as opposed to “Americans eat spicy food now.”
I don’t know about most spicy, but it’s definitely up there among the ethnic food available in United States. Especially if we’re talking about Tteokbokki… And as a side note, most Korean restaurants tone down the spiciness in their recipe to make their dishes more acceptable to the general public.
Tteok-Ra-Bokki, which I absolutely love to eat and make, is like crack to my friends… they know it’s spicy enough to make them sweat a gallon, but they keep coming back for more. I think using odeng, onions, cabbages, and beef cubes gives the taste similar to 샤브샤브 (spelling in English?)
In a kinda related news, apparently, holding milk in your mouth negates the stinging aftertaste of anything spicy. Is this true?
“ach! I’ve been beaten!”
80 words a minute.
“Korean food has been called a lot of things, but bland? Who would ever think Korean food is bland unless their taste buds are inactive?”
I’m Cajun. You figure it out.
“Ahaha, nice. Sorry Robert, but even with your change, it still looks pretentious/condescending.”
Oh come on. At worst, it was an observation made by someone in the food industry. And I would’ve made the conclusion “Generally, spicy food is not popular among Americans.” when I was working in a Korean restaurant. Is that condescending/pretentious, or is it a lesson learned from several tables that refused to pay the bills because they thought the food was too spicy (and therefore inedible)?
Cajun…among other things, that is.
In any case, had you bothered to read properly, you would have seen that I said that Korean cooking is relatively bland in comparison to some of the other cooking (some of which is American, like Cajun cooking and Tex-Mex).
Yeah when my wife and I went to NYC, Koreatown was outrageously expensive. A plate of spicy pork was 14.00 bucks.
My question was how much was the room salon right across the street!
And in addition/agreement Korean food is not that spicy compared to Thai, Indian, and some Vietnamese and Laotian food will light your asshole on fire after eating it.
America is a huge, vast country with about 300 million people residing there. There are pockets of nearly every world ethnicity or culture to be found in various places from sea to shining sea. Thus, it is both stupid and ignorant to say either of the following:
1) Americans hate spicy food
2) Americans love spicy food
America is not a heterogeneous, incestuous country (well, outside of places such as Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansas, eastern Kentucky, and parts of non-Cuban Florida) where most people have the same brainwashed way of thinking about nearly everything. Therefore, making such a generalisation about Americans’ food preferences is mucking foronic.
As has already been mentioned above, there are foods from various places around the world that put Korean spiciness to shame, though it’s hard to get Koreans to admit this. Personally, I love Korean food, but when it comes to variety of spiciness, not to mention spiciness of spiciness, I’ll take Thai, Indian, Mexican, or Cajun food first most days.
If Jennifer Maeng or some other Korean national wants to make a generalisation about a country’s inability to eat spicy food, he or she would be better served making such comments toward countries such as Russia, Estonia, Latvia, Finland, or my native Norway. Believe me, the culinary fare in those countries is as bland as a leather pants omelet.
Oh, and BTW — if you’ve never eaten authentic Cajun food, then you’ll never be able to understand why someguyinkorea calls Korean food “relatively” bland.
Psst… homogeneous
Whoops, thanks for the catch there, zonath. Too much coffee by 3pm? Or just plain mucking foronic-ness on my part? I’m not sure. Maybe both…
Let me start again,
America is not a homogeneous, incestuous, country…
It seems that most people are confusing an interview between a reporter and a restaurant.. spokesperson(?) and a sociological studies published in the latest peer-reviewed journal. To actually criticize someone in the restaurant business for making an observation about his/her customers’ taste preference by saying America is not a homogeneous society seems rather excessive, and frankly ridiculous.
And before anyone say “well, she said American”, let’s consider this. Korean reporter, Korean worker, talking about customers and how article is talking about Korean food gaining more attention in NYC (U.S.). Customer = American.
Overreaction? I think that’s the case here.
What nonsense. I, and a lot of other New Yorkers, were eating spicy Thai, Indian, Pakistani, Cajun, Jamaican and other hot cuisines thirty years ago -and a lot of it was a helluva lot spicier than Korean – try a triple vindaloo, e.g.
Also Robert, you’re betraying your outlander origins. 32nd Street is more than 20 blocks away from Central Park and its environs. In Manhattan, that’s like light years. The two might as well occupy different universes. That’s why Manhattan is what it is – interglactic travel on the 2,3, 4 or 5, C, D and F train – not to mention the interstwllar destinations accessible at the ends of thos lines and on the 7, RR, G, etc.
“Whoops, thanks for the catch there, zonath. Too much coffee by 3pm? Or just plain mucking foronic-ness on my part? I’m not sure. Maybe both…”
All that coffee has made you nucking futs.
#18:
When an idiot, jennifer maeng, says something idiotic–”Americans are eating more spicy food these days” — then she deserves to get excoriated verbally for making her comments.
While I grant that my particular comments could, can, and will be taken as being overboard, it is hard to convey sarcasm and a sardonic smile via computer, which would lessen the harshness of the words.
Additionally, and admittedly, it does get on my nerves, even after so many years of living in Korea, to hear for the umpteenth gazillion time that Americans (or people from any other country) are unable to eat spicy (Korean) food.
When restaurateurs here where I live give the spicy food to my Korean wife instead of to me, as they still invariably do, I can never be restrained from making a comment about it. I may be more polite about it when I speak Korean, yes, but nonetheless I still tweak people when they say it because their comments about how we roundeyes can’t eat spicy food is, frankly, ridiculous.
#20:
in all fairness, though, i was already nucking futs. the coffee is just a convenient excuse, no?
And here I was, thinking this was going to be a happy fluff piece…
#23:
“And here I was, thinking this was going to be a happy fluff piece…”
can’t speak for anyone else, but this subject admittedly rubs me the wrong way and, today, caught me in a feisty mood…
gonna go smoke some wacky jane to calm down now and then will call brendan when the cybercops catch on to me and invariably burst into my jeep and bust me while i’m in the passenger seat typing my nucking futty memoirs on my remote-controlled, wireless laptop at the top of some remote “mountain” here in gangwon province…
every comment i ever wrote about “kimchi” in that other thread i did with the self-consciousness that i should qualify my posts with “yeah, of course, even though kimchi ain’t really spicy” or “some stupid expat is going to read my comments and believe that i am brainwashed about kimchi. i should qualify my posts.” but i didn’t bother because i thought it would be wordy and unneccesary. but i was wrong judging by this thread and how the damn of hate waters are letting loose, to make a lazy metaphor.
ddeokbokki (and kimchi) are mildly hot. nothing atomic like the many other foods i’ve eaten.
but it’s good to see korean food become a lil more popular. bulgogi ought to follow but how they gonna work that kimchi into that shii? is there a difference between the way ddeokbokki smells and kimchi?
@ Robert
^^; The article said “Americans ____…” Of course it was going to have comments like “Koreans are so racist/stupid/ignorant/overgeneralizing”, which, though the characteristic is quite prevalent, is reflectively ironic in that “Koreans are ___” itself is racist/stupid/ignorant/overgeneralizing.
@ dissidentdave
I wonder how practical it would be for Korean restaurant owners to just assume “well, even though practically every customers I’ve ever served in America complained about how spicy my dishes are, I shouldn’t assume that they don’t like spicy food.” Speculations for business? Oh, hell no. It’s overgeneralizing.
correction: the second quote ought to represent what i was thinking rather than what i was thinking of writing.
“additionally, and admittedly, it does get on my nerves, even after so many years of living in korea, to hear for the umpteenth gazillion time that americans (or people from any other country) are unable to eat spicy (korean) food.”
It only annoys me when people are really stupid about it, like when the waitress asks my wife if I can eat spicy food after I ordered a ’spicy’ dish in fluent Korean.
An anecdote to further my point.
When my family was running a Chinese restaurant, my mother decided to create a new dish (after all, a Chinese restaurant in American ran by Koreans don’t usually stick to traditional Chinese recipes ^^;) that basically involves fried chicken breasts, honey, and several hot sauces. We test-tasted it, and it was awesome. First day, I had 19 out of 20 customers who told me the dish was way too spicy. The last one left without paying because he said the food was too spicy to be edible. So, we changed the recipe to make it milder, and went through that cycle about 5 times before making the dish right for sale.
Overgeneralizing? No, just catering to what customers want.
#25,
“but it’s good to see korean food become a lil more popular. bulgogi ought to follow but how they gonna work that kimchi into that shii? is there a difference between the way ddeokbokki smells and kimchi?”
Ddeokbokki has a starchy sweet smell. Kimchi has a bitter fermented smell.
We’ll be cooking Korean food after our return to Canada. I’d hate to return home and go without food that I’ve become accustomed to eating nearly everyday for over a decade, not that I wouldn’t survive since Korea lacks many of the ingredients to prepare many of my favorite dishes. I just can’t imagine my wife and son going cold turkey, though.
I wonder if maybe she was misquoted by the reporter. You know, saying instead “Many of our American customers (ask to) eat spicy food nowadays”. And the reporter, being stuck in the frame of mind that foreigners don’t eat spicy food, misinterpreted what she was saying…that or the editor did a chop job on the article.
Well Chinese restaurants aren’t known for their spicy stuff. If I go to a Chinese restaurant I want exotic seasonings and really awesome fried chicken. The Chinese restaurant connoisseurs are going to be looking for some Chinese level food.
But put that spicy dish of fried chicken breasts, honey, and several hot sauces on my American table and I’ll love you for a long time to come!
RE: #26
“The article said “Americans ____…” Of course it was going to have comments like “Koreans are so racist/stupid/ignorant/overgeneralizing”, which, though the characteristic is quite prevalent, is reflectively ironic in that “Koreans are ___” itself is racist/stupid/ignorant/overgeneralizing.”
I defintely agree, though not without comment.
In a country as vast and multi-cultured as the US is, it is dangerously ignorant to generalise. There are fifty states, if I’m not mistaken, and each state is unique in its identity and, sometimes, culture and, often, what is true about something (food, clothing, alcohol, bedroom antics, etc.) may not be true (or even legal) only a few kilometers away, across the border, in another state. For example, barbeque sauce in Texas is usually a tomato-based sauce, whereas barbeque sauce in South Carolina is mustard-based. Okay, so SC and TX are close to each other as, say, Belgium and Greece are, but you get my point.
Generalising anything about Americans is stupid. If one wants to generalise about Americans, one would be less moronic to make generalisations based on area of country and/or state. Like, “All Southerners are lazy, fat, racist, inbred pigs.” Or, “All Oregonians are tree-hugging, Nike-wearing hypocrites.”
In fact, generalisations are, generally, moronic. While I don’t condone the generalisations of Koreans, I can understand it a bit more because of how closed off Korea has been for long periods of her history and how many Koreans seem to share the same opinion about things for fear of being considered different or weird or whatever.
Let me repeat, I don’t condone it, but I understand it. The continent most generalised the world over is Africa. Americans, Koreans, Chinese, British, Australians, Russians, Greeks, and more generalise about Africa as if it’s one big country. Of all the imbecilic generalisations in the world, the vast over-generalisation of Africa and Africans is the worst offense, in my fut-nucking opinion. But it’s easy to do because everyone just assumes that Africa is full of nothing but black-skinned people and, therefore, they are all the same. Farkin’ insanity. I get more upset about the generalisations of Africa and her denizens than I do about the dumbass who gives me the bland fish soup and my wife the spicy fish soop.
Anyway, I digress.
One only has to spend a little time in Korea to realise that a generalisation of Koreans is moronic, too, even though on the surface it would seem that generalising Koreans is a correct analysis.
I’ve lived all over Korea and know very well of the interprovincial rivalries. Gangwonians don’t enjoy the fact that their food is considered bland by people from Cheolla or Gyoungsang provinces. Chooncheongians don’t enjoy being labelled as ignorant hayseeds by the rest of the country. And Seoullites are like NYers: they think they’re better than everyone else.
So, yes, abcdefg, the Korean restaurateur here in Gangwon or over in Seoul or down in Gyoungsang or even in as far away places as NY or Ellay who generalise about Americans and their lack of tolerance for spiciness is not going to get a free pass from me. It may be business speculation or whatever you say, but it’s still generalising and it’s moronic.
Of course, they are free to generalise; I give them that. But I’m also free not to take it, either.
I’m not infallible and neither is anyone else on this or any other thread. Generalisation is what people do because it’s convenient, it’s an alleged more “powerful” way to present a point, and it’s easier. Doesn’t make it right, though.
And if I ever get called on being a generaliser, which I inevitably will because I will inevitably make a generalisation, I at least will have the sack to admit that, yes, I’m a mucking foron and shouldn’t have been generalising.
and, by the way, too, abcdefg, there are no waters of hate being unleashed at koreans from my remote point atop a gangwon mountain; i hate everyone (thus, the dissident moniker).
as i’ve already said, this particular topic just rubs me raw for some reason.
#29:
“Overgeneralizing? No, just catering to what customers want.”
Point well-made, bum, and also well-taken.
I have to agree with the blandness of Korean cuisine. I’ve got nothing against spicy food, but I do have a problem with every dish on the table being made from the same spice, to the point of not being able to taste any other ingredient.
Not to mention the staple dish of rice and soup for breakfast, lunch and dinner. We North Americans may only eat bread, potatoes, pizza and hamburgers, but at least we eat them all at different times of day and not at every meal.
#15
“america is a huge, vast country with about 300 million people residing there”
America is not a country, it is a continent. US citizens are know by “americans”, but americans are all people within North, Central and South America. Worldwide, unfortunately, America = US, Americans = US citizens.
Now, USA is a huge, vast country, etc. etc…
#35
“I have to agree with the blandness of Korean cuisine. I’ve got nothing against spicy food, but I do have a problem with every dish on the table being made from the same spice, to the point of not being able to taste any other ingredient.”
I couldn’t write better. I eat Korean food, but not with the same pleasure that I dig into Thai, Viet, Middle-East, etc. . One of the reasons is because of the taste(I have the right to not enjoy it: I eat it, but don’t enjoy); other reason is because of the very similar taste among all dishes. Boring.
Well, as if July 2006, eleven years:
http://nymag.com/news/intelligencer/17588/
One of my all-time favorite photos.
I note, and with some agreement on my own part, the acid reaction of many expats here to Ms Maeng’s statement. After one has been bludgeoned with the ‘can you eat spicy food’-'do you like the kimchi’ stick for a few years you gain license to scoff at each and every claim made about Korean cuisine.
man! why on earth would anybody blow up at such a piece of puff pastry?
btw, i’ve known about ten thai people who owned thai restaurants. every single one of them said they toned down the spice in their food. and why? every single one of them said the same thing:
‘americans don’t like spicy food.’
will we now see a gang rape on thailand?
i doubt it.
I laughed when I read #35
“We North Americans may only eat bread, potatoes, pizza and hamburgers, but at least we eat them all at different times of day and not at every meal.”
Ooh, my grandma from the UK taught my mom how to cook, and I am happy to say I grew up eating potato at EVERY meal, breakfast-lunch-dinner. Yum! But I concede your general point.
A comment on here once said there was a fortune in North America waiting to be made by the person who introduced one of the better Kimbap chains, and I agree. C’mon, bibimbap, really well-made dongkas, the variety of kimbaps and all the other things you can find in a kimbap restaurant – they’re all freakin’ delicious. If they could make it as affordable in NA as they do here, someone would have a runaway success.
I now add Thais to the following list; thanks for the headsup, Pawirogi:
EVERGROWING LIST of NATIONALIDIOTS THAT GENERALISE:
1. UniStatians (and not Americans, as was pointed out earlier)
2. Koreans
3. Welsh
4. Israelis
5. Japanese
6. Filipinos/Filipinas
7. Norwegians
8. Martians
9. Ethiopians
10. Paraguayans
>>
155. Qataris
156. Thais
157. ???
Pow Pow is abosultely on the mark for a change. Why should anyone take childish Korean self-aggrandizement seriously?
C-c-c-c-c-c-c-c-owabunga!!
After seeing that, I just wanna say, “Mizz Maeng, I like it SPICY HAWT~!”
Because its shoved in our faces by every casual acquaintance for months at a time?
I mean, I judge professional and casual relationships now by which of The Questions I’ve already answered. Mr. Park and I haven’t spoken much, so we have not achieved the Four Seasons level yet. But Mr. Kim and I have gone through the Four Seasons level and have gone through Spicy Food and even on to Korean Women, What Do You Think Of (level 3). We have not yet passed the Korean Women, Have You Ever Dated level yet though. That takes a lot of soju.
Dogbertt…
You really think so? You think Ms. Maeng is all that?
How ’bout this lil’ Thai dish:
http://www.asiansexgazette.com.....news09.htm
oh, NSFW, BTW
My in-laws still ask me whether or not the kimchi or jjigae is too spicy for me. (While it is almost always delicious, it is almost never too spicy.) I wouldn’t find it so unusual, except for the fact that I’ve been eating meals over there on a fairly regular basis for the last seven or eight years. They’re very nice, bright people, but I don’t expect the question to disappear without professional deprogramming.
As for Tteokbokki, I could come up with a list of at least fifty or sixty better Korean meals or snacks. (Purely subjective, I know.) If I was really hungry for jjigae, I might be willing to pay $10 or $12, but tteokbokki?
Another bittersweet message from my work computer Firefox.
So when my Korean ex girlfriend said that she wanted to go to Thailand and ‘do bad things’ is this what she was referring to? Cuz if so, I think I should call her back up again.
We’re apparently not patronizing the same restaurants… Even in Korea, some of the stuff I ate in Chinese restaurants had me sweat a bit [and I am pretty much chili proof]; but now that I spend most of my time in Chinese regions [or, pimiento-wise, worse], I take the usual warning 很辣! han lat! ~ hen la! seriously. Beyond the % of capsaicin, what I’d rather point out as shortcomings in the Korean food is its relative blandness, as in lack of varied spices [plural, ie flavours; think 30 spices+ to make aloo gobi for instance]. While I love Korean food, it’s not a food I can eat everyday because it gets slightly boring to my taste buds.
In the end, this thread relates a bit to another thread, where Korea being or not part of the world was hotly discussed. Korea has yet to accept that foreigners can adapt to Korea [food, language, culture, yada yada], probably because Koreans have tremendous difficulties, and a strong unwillingness, to adapt to other cultures. Time might help, although I am doubtful.
“Korean food isn’t spicy. It’s hot because of the peppers,” an employee of an Indian restaurant clarified for me once. She is correct. The distinction between “hot” and “spicy” seems to be lost on many people.
In the heart of New York City? Does the greeter check passports at the door? I suspect what the waiter means is that 70-80% are not ethnic Koreans.
Yup, that tought hit me too. In conjunction with another one — based on the photo supplied, I don’t see too many non-Korean faces in that restaurant…
“In the heart of New York City? Does the greeter check passports at the door? I suspect what the waiter means is that 70-80% are not ethnic Koreans.”
Does it really matter what foods are spicier than Korean and/or what foods you think are spicier than Korean food? Do you have to be so anal? The whole point of the article is that more non-Koreans are starting to try out Korean food. End of story. Finished.
“요즘 미국인은 매운 음식을 먹는다”
“Americans are eating spicy food these days”
What a stupid generalization! There are obviously many Americans who don’t eat spicy food.
wow, what a barrage of expats in Korea- Han.
over something like food.
Nah, Korea, it’s not really something special you got, it’s over blown, Nah, Korea, Nah. Nonsense, Korea, nonsense.
You’re wrong Korea, you’re wrong.
They’ll eat it if they like eating it. If they don’t, they don’t.
#52,
“In conjunction with another one — based on the photo supplied, I don’t see too many non-Korean faces in that restaurant…”
Had you read the whole post and clicked on the ‘here’ in the last sentence, you would have understood the ethnically homogeneous clientele.
I don’t know what I find more amazing, that a post about tteokbokki can garner 56 comments in just under seven hours, or that it has today’s joint declaration in Pyongyang beat 56 to 11.
#55,
1) Who cares if New Yorkers eat tokkbokki? Do you see me writing an article in the Globe and Mail because maple syrup is sold in Korea? I already have a quote ready for it to explain the popularity of maple syrup: “Koreans eat sweets nowadays”.
2) Americans eat spicy food nowadays. So, they never ate spicy food before? Well, you and I both know that New Yorkers come in all shades and colours. It’s a melting pot, right? The stereotypical blond-haired blue-eyed bread-eating milk-eating weaguk is not the norm in New York. You’d think that someone who has lived in New York for over 10 years would have noticed. Once again, I think the reporter misquoted her (or the editor did a hack job on the article in order to fit it on the page).
Correction: Who cares if some New Yorkers eat tokkoboki?
There is nothing anal about pointing out the fact that New York City is an incredibly diverse place with many foreign-born residents and newcomers arriving ever day. Do you have to be so sensitive?
#56,
See that a sign that Roh’s shenanigans are putting us on edge.
While we are on the subject of Korea only having one pepper with which they slather all over their food, does anybody actually know what pepper 청양고추 is? Its obviously not cayenne or jalapeño…
Considering all the good and interesting Korean food, why would people be interested in “tteokbokki”!!? Why not “Chew-a-tong”.
(how’s that for a home-made Romanization?)
I think tteokbokki is one of less hot Korean dishes… I regularly patronize Thai, Sichuan, etc restaurants in Singapore (an incredibly diverse place) but I’ve never found any dish to be unbearably hot, but maeun galbijjim that I had in Korea last year was so ridiculously hot that it gave me a stomachache.
Korean dishes that are popular among foreigners such as bibimbab, bulgogi, galbi, etc are in fact some of the blandest dishes in Korean cuisine, so perhaps that’s why many people consider Korean food bland.
“There is nothing anal about pointing out the fact that New York City is an incredibly diverse place with many foreign-born residents and newcomers arriving ever day. Do you have to be so sensitive?”
I never said anything about New York City. I was talking about the people who were scrutinising every single and insignificant detail when clearly the article was written to highlight the point that Korean food is becoming popular.
#64,
those are all Korean food 101 for foreigners. Rest assured anyone calling Korean food bland here is much more well versed.
#65, please read between the lines.
Korean food has been “becoming popular” for decades. How many stories like this have we seen? I have a cookbook by the late Judy Hyun, copyright circa 1970. A forward written by a NYT food critic noted something like, “Korean cuisine is becoming increasingly common in this country.” I am a zealous ambassador of Korean food, having taken many non-ethnic Korean friends to Korean restaurants here in the States, but alas, Korean food is an acquired taste and will probably never gain a diverse following.
Shouldn’t “dissidentdave” be “dictatordave”, based on that avatar?
Hey now! That’s not true… we’re only half tree-hugging, Nike-wearing hypocrites! The other half are shit-kicking, gun-toting rednecks. Get your facts straight, man.
Yes, it truly is the White Man’s Burden to be served bland food when one asks for spicy food. ‘course, in my family, I’m the only one who really likes spicy food (and my brother lived in New Orleans, ffs)… So yeah, I think it’s fair for a restaurant owner to make generalizations based on their market, even if they know that it doesn’t hold true for all members of the group. ‘Course, she’s still catering to the stereotype… After all, she could have said that Americans are eating more Korean food these days.
“…that a post about tteokbokki can garner 56 comments in just under seven hours…” So, It’s just confirming that Tteokbokki is Hot Stuff.
“32nd Street is more than 20 blocks away from Central Park and its environs”
Yeah, Korea Way is in the Garment District. A lot of Korean textile/garment importers.
I often wonder why so few herbs and spices have made it onto the penninsula. Surely basil has been brought here just as the pepper was. Why was it never incorporated into some dishes? Why is it not grown here? Who could possibly think badly of basil? Certain indigenous seasonings must have always been here and are surely here still. Why are so few utilized?
Imagine how bland Korean food was before the pepper.
the expat is famous for his demand that each korean treat each westerner as an individual while he feels free to assign collective guilt to every korean for the actions of one korean. ain’t it ironic?
Does anyone understand what Pawi is mumbling about?
Uh…from what I recall, the average “classic” American doesn’t really eat much spicy food, with the hot sauce at Taco Bell being the standard. Thus, all the pointers about restaurants claiming their customers didn’t enjoy the spicy food, ’cause it’s one thing if you’re mentally prepared to say, “I want some spicy food!”, and another to have it on a daily basis. But yes, America is incredibly diverse so you will have many groups of people who love the stuff, but when Tex-Mex is a fast food joint down here and cajun cuisine somewhat obscure for your average bagel-munching American, the spicy comment was understandable. Also, IMO, I think only Indian-subcontinent cuisine tends to be more shit-inducing hotter on a regular basis. As always…this is being said tongue-in-cheek
.
# 73,
Thats hardly a fair thing to say. Korea uses fermentation to add flavor to food. So before the 16th century, before the introduction of chili pepper, Korean food had plenty of flavor.
Seriously, I don’t know what the hub bub is all about here. Every non-Korean I’ve taken to eat Korean food with has said a variety of things about Korean food, but bland is certainly one of them.
@ sonagi
‘Many here complains about how Koreans treat them as a collective (Koreans assume westerners can’t eat spicy/hot food), yet the complaints themselves use nebulous “Koreans” or its variants while referring to either quote of a single person or tiny sampling of the population. It is therefore hypocritical and/or contradictory.’
Pawikirogi, is that about right?
Maybe Ms Maeng needs some political-correctness sensitivity training or maybe some of you nits need to lighten up some.
Hey, I love Korean food. There’s a place in Kangnam, one row back of the main street that has multiple char-broil grills in line behind glass that makes bul dak and to me, it’s about the best chicken I’ve had in my life. And it is spicy. But you say you had fermentation to add flavor, so you had fermentation. I don’t think I’d be such a big fan of kimchi without the gochu. Last year I lived above a family that was using something fermented that smelled like baby vomit. Seriously, I thought their dog had a horrible accident.
I’m just wondering why Korea developed as such a vacuum of seasoning. Almost zero herbs and spices. They grow almost everywhere, naturally. Not here…or if they are here, why never utilized?
“The first time I was confronted by a soup in a korean restaurant, I found it was too salty and spicy, and full of murky items which for all I knew had been dropped in by a mistake. I was glad my host did not reveal the contents. [...] The proud master of these sidedishes was a tight roll of what could have been passed for used bandages. So this was Kimchi.”
Michael Breen did eventually come to love the food, and the country. There might be a new ad line in there somewhere, once this Sparkling nonsense has run its course. Eg: “Korea! Just ignore your first impressions!”
PS: #74, nicely put.
#80
“I’m just wondering why Korea developed as such a vacuum of seasoning. Almost zero herbs and spices. They grow almost everywhere, naturally. Not here…or if they are here, why never utilized?”
Bingo!
If it’s truly hot spicy that you’re after, then it’s the Thai Cottage in London.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/t.....577962.ece
Strange that they would serve spicy food in London, though, because British people don’t like spicy food.
Wow, 83 comments over bland processed rice. Knock yourselves out.
“Does anyone understand what Pawi is mumbling about?”
No.
‘Does anyone understand what Pawi is mumbling about?’ sonagi
besides your little idiot friend trying to save you from the embarrassment of asking a stupid question, yes, quit a few people understood what i wrote…including you.
‘here’s what pawi was saying…’ bum
‘#74, nicely put.’ linkd
i understood him totally.
I don’t know about the other dishes, but the price comparison for ddukbokki in Korea vs NYC is inaccurate, mostly because it is not by serving.
I’m sure it will be cheaper in Korea by serving as well, but the difference won’t be $2 compared to $19.99.
The $2 is probably at some pojangmacha or street food vendor while the $19.99 is probably a huge dish as an appetizer or anju.
Wow, this comment thread is a piece of work! You want truly spicy Korean food without the patronizing “Oh, you can eat spicy food” comments? Pop by my in-laws’ place in dinner, where no one talks or gets up until 장인어른 is finished, and the gochujang and jalapenos are served up by the bucketload, and the kimchi is slathered in gochugaru. Thai cuisine is still spicy, but a walk in the park after that. I guess you guys get it soft in Seoul….
Duh, I forgot to mention that my in-laws live in Daegu. Get out of the capital for some down home cooking some time….
jesus christ. all this over ddukboki.
what’s more interesting to me about this article is that most “american” (white) friends who had any sort of “dduk” with me, hated it. They don’t like the sticky or chunky doughyness of it.
a long time ago when i used to waiter in korean restaurant, I saw a liberian who always would get ddukbokki. I asked him why he always get ddubokki instead of something else and he said that it reminded him of a casava dish from back home.
obviously the korean writer thinks “american” means white people from northeast. i’ve noticed that it’s a lot harder to find “HOT” salsa here as opposed to California where I had the best (real) tacos. spicy dishes are almost always at ethnic restaurants. I’ve been to pubs here who would sell fish and chips, but they don’t have tabasco sauce.
the most spicy food i’ve ever had was Indian. But come on. I have tons and tons of “american” friends who never even eaten Indian let alone know what vindaloo is. They think pad thai noodles is spicy. I hear real Thai food is extremely spicy, but hell… it’s all fusion here in new york. All the zagat reading gastronomes in New York thinks spice is what poor chefs use to cover up their lack of culinary skills.
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