Korean food?

Hwoarang_tkd26 said:
I remember seeing on telivision one time, I think it was on the discovery channel, anyways it talking about the foods of different countries and then they talked about Korean food and they were showing people eating live squid.
The people would wrap the squid (tentacles and all) around a pair of chop sticks and dip it in some type of sauce then eat it.
Has anyone here eaten live squid before? What is it like?

What they were eating was actually octopus. I haven't eaten it this way but I watched a guy do it. It was like basicly a battle of wills, and took him a good while to actually eat it.
 
karatekid1975 said:
Live squid ... Ok that's a different story. Sushi is one thing, but LIVE squid ... uh I donno.

I'm with you Laurie. I have only a few rules about food, one of which is "if it is winking at you, don't eat it."

Miles
 
Since my folks are Korean (and my mom is the best Korean chef in the world, bar none), I believe I can give a bit of insight here.


Hwoarang_tkd26 said:
The people would wrap the squid (tentacles and all) around a pair of chop sticks and dip it in some type of sauce then eat it.

The sauce is usually made from fermented red pepper paste, usually goht-chee-jang based. Most of the family, though, ate the squid after it was steamed. Very tasty in conjunction with the sauce.

I have never had the chance to try Korean food, how similar is it to Chinese/Japanese food?

There's a old saying, that you can eat as much Korean food and not gain weight. While it's not exactly true, it is pretty good for you.

Koreans tend to use a lot more seasonings in their food, and the wonderful marinade that gives the bul-go-gee and kal-bee (roasted sliced sirloin and roasted ribs, respectively) is actually a very simple marinade:

sesame seed oil
soy sauce
sugar
garlic
black pepper

That's it. Really.

Not much of the food is deep fried, and a lot of it is sauteed in a light amount of oil.

The rice used is a shorter grain rice (a bit sticky), as opposed to the long grain rice that the Chinese prefer.

The Kim-Chee that many folks here talk about is really not too far away from sauerkraut. The fermentation process is remarkably similar, and the only real differences between Kim-Chee and sauerkraut is that Kim-Chee uses Chinese cabbages, and tosses in some garlic and hot pepper. I still get a bit amused when I see people gobbling down sauerkraut, and then when presented with Kim-Chee, they say "Man, I hate that stuff!"

The noodle dishes are usually made from either thicker noodles that have a good bit of texture to them (for soups or noodles with sauces), or mung bean / potato vermicelli (such as the chop-chae).

The soups are a very interesting concoction. Some are straightforward, others require many hours to prepare. Some are even of the type that you boil down the meat, bones, and all, for a long time, and by the time it's served, it's an exceptionally rich soup.

Stay away from tripes and intestines. :)

The vegetables that are served on the table, such as the spinach, sprouts, and other greens, are usually prepared by blanching them in boiling salt water for about 1-2 min, and then removing them, squeezing out the excess water, and then seasoning them with soy sauce, sesame seed oil, black pepper, and a bit of sugar. Amazing how good spinach can taste this way, yes?

Anyways, if someone has questions regarding Korean food, feel free to PM me. I've got a lifetime of experience, having sampled some of the finest cooking (hey, I do have to pay tribute to my mom and grandmother's excellent abilities).
 
I had some co-workers in my previous job that used to go to Southeast Asia frequently on business. They spoke on more than one occasion of a restaurant that would kill a monkey at your table and then immediately serve the brain raw. At this point I would just walk away.....
 
It's not Korean, but the saying in Southern China is that they eat anything with legs except tables and chairs. This was told to me by someone from Guangzhao.

And I have to say I have had some Chinese delicasies I never thougth I would try. Intestine, Lung, Blood Tofu, Something that was basically cow cartilage...cold cow cartilage, but I turned down the fish head. And I use to shy away from Calimari.

But I have to say the Korean food beats them all. They eat a lot of Sea food alive and I'm not too fond of it when it's dead.
 
Grenadier, yes. I found all this stuff out. I would love to trade recipes with your folks. I just wanna find good KOREAN recipes, not this Americanized stuff. Feel free to PM me.
 
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