Julia Child
In this world of fast-food and FAST everything for that matter, I really appreciate and am inspired by the Korean cuisine. Nothing is fast about making Korean food. There are no drive-thru windows that I know of offering this cuisine.
Fortunately, I live in Seattle, which is abundant with ethnic food from all over the world and up in North Seattle, where I live, Korean food is everywhere! This was a blessing we did not know we'd find when my Korean husband and I arrived at our house in Seattle in 2006 after spending nearly a decade in Asia.
Within a mile or so of our house, I can count a dozen Korean restaurants offering various dishes. We even have a Korean spa and norebang (singing room) not too far away. Needless to say, my husband feels right at home here.
I wish I could tell you that after living in Korean and marrying a Korean man, I've mastered the Korean cuisine, but I haven't. Not really.
The thing about Korean food is it often includes many side dishes. Making the side dishes alone would take several days. Then you have the main dish and often you have a soup.
I can make various soups and a few rice dishes, (dol sot bi bim bap, duk mandu guk, kimchi jigae, daeng jang jigae, etc.) but I'm not sure how tasty they are and I don't have copious amounts of time to make all the intricate little side dishes! In fact, that's probably one part of the Korean cuisine that's gotten faster to prepare because many people pick up already prepared side dishes in Korean supermarkets.
Above is a picture of a dish called Duk Mandu Guk (Rice Cake and Dumpling Soup). Many Koreans eat this dish on New Year's Day. Since we have so many excellent Korean restaurants right next to our home, we go out for Korean food a lot. I hope to try and prepare more Korean food at home this year, but I may cheat and buy the little side dishes to make my life easier.
What is your favorite cuisine? Do you like to prepare it at home or go out to eat?
