Today we had a good lunch. Like everyday we had rice (밥 bap) and the soup was kimchi stew (김치찌개 kimchi jjigae). This soup has kimchi, pork, and a little bit of other vegetables. Then we had tofu (두부 dubu) with soy sauce, kimchi (김치), and fried dried seaweed (김자반 무침 kimjaban muchim). Today we had a sweet thing at the end of the meal called 떡 (tteok). It is a sweet rice cake that is very sticky.
Food-o-meter- 9/10
Health rating- 9/10
Bites- about 61 on average
Courses- Soup, 3 sides, dessert
Price- About 2,500 won ($2.50 US)
Pieces of hair- 0 (everyday!)
Goodbye and thank you for reading our posts.
Teacher’s Note: Sorry the post from the kids is so short today, we were busy catching up on work missed due to the typhoon day we had earlier this week. My students really enjoyed hearing from everyone who commented, so I thank you all! It was a great week.
I will not answer some of the final questions that we didn’t get to in class today. Chopsticks and spoons are used in Korea almost exclusively. There are forks and knives in western restaurants but chopsticks are always offered, too! I’ve gotten quite good at them since I arrived :) There is no reason to switch over to the knife, fork, spoon tradition of the west. For Koreans (and I’m sure the rest of Asia), using chopsticks is second nature and just as easy for them as using a fork is to the west!
There are a lot of Korean sweets and western influenced desserts, but we don’t eat them often at school. Rice cakes (like the one we had today) are the most popular and are sometimes filled with things like sweet red beans or sesame oil. Dairy is not really part of the traditional diet in Korea, like other east Asian countries which is why you rarely see it in Korean food.
Thank you all again for such a great week. I urge all of you who are interested in Korean food to go out and try it (or challenge yourself to cooking it!) and donate to Mary’s Meals. Let’s support Veg and her truly outstanding project! Lastly, for those interested in life in Korea and Korean food you can find out more at my blog.
Thank you so much, it's been a wonderfully interesting, eye-opening week! I pray you are all kept safe if any typhoons dare to bother you again.
ReplyDeleteI just have to try kimchi now! I do have to say, with regret,-because all your other food looked great- that whatever that grey thing in your rice is- it's probably the most repulsive thing I've ever seen on a plate. Hope it's not the sweet ! Although if chocolate cake looked like that I'd probably be able to give it up, which would be great :D.
Now does anyone know a good Korean restaurant in London?:D
The grey thing is the sweet rice cake. I, personally, don't care for the texture but my students love them!
DeleteI think Kingston in London has some great Korean restaurants!
I really, really enjoyed all the posts this week! I've been so interested in Korean culture (& food) since I began watching Korean dramas last month. I'll be sure to follow your blog, Amanda!
ReplyDeleteThanks. I'm glad you enjoyed them. My students will love to hear it :)
DeleteThank you again for the lovely posts! I will be tuning into your blog as well! :)
ReplyDeleteA great week of posts that made me very hungry each time I logged on! Since I live in New York City, I get to enjoy Korean food often--there is a lot of great Korean barbecue, in addition to the more everyday dishes described by these students (and YUM, that fried chicken! It's amazing). For Americans interested in this cuisine, here is a great online grocery source. They have a location in "Koreatown" here in Manhattan, and I shop there whenever looking for good Korean ingredients. http://www.hmart.com/
ReplyDeleteA very interesting week of posts from Korea. As Korea is one of the very few countries (both parts) in East Asia I have never lived in or visited (although I have had a number of Korean business acquaintances and colleagues over the years who introduced me to Korean cuisine) I have added the teacher's blog to my RSS feed reader so I can keep updated on experiences in this fascinating country. Thanks to all in this Korean school for sharing their school meals this week; the articles have made for fascinating reading.
ReplyDeleteThanks Korea! I love checking in on this blog and seeing all of the interesting and delicious looking foods from around the world! Great job VEG / VEG's dad! I was watching old episodes of Doctor Who in prep for this season's premiere and realized that you look a bit like Amy Pond as a young girl.. plus she's Scottish too! :)
ReplyDeleteSeems like you get quite a lot of rice with your meals, which for me would be very heavy and make me very tired afterwards, having said that I have found all the blog posts this week really interesting and think that I would really like a lot of the food that you eat. My school meals were'nt anywhere near this appetizing or nutritious.
ReplyDeleteAm I the only one who thinks that seaweed is like eating grass? Otherwise Korean food looks good and healthy too. That soup I would definitely try!
ReplyDeleteWhen VEG is starting to post from her school? Looking for to that! :)
Thanks Korea, great posts! :)
Thank you so much for sharing your week with us! Everything looked delicious and your posts were very informative. Well done! :)
ReplyDeleteAnd thanks to you too hansik-teacher! I'm going to look for a Korean restaurant near London. I would love to try some of the foods I'm not as familiar with. I will also start following your blog. It sounds as if you have a very interesting life! :)
The New Malden / Kingston area of. SW London has a huge Korean population ( the largest outside of Korea I believe ) and there are lots of good restaurants. With Koreans eating in them, which is always a good sign.
DeleteWithdrawal is a mature exercise of citizenship. Taxes are paid by people who arrive in schools, hospitals and other public services to lunches, school supplies, wallets, anyway ... Be always ripe with wit and intelligence to denounce what is wrong with the use of public money. Being a citizen is to serve. Maria Queiróz http://blogprotetoresindependentes.blogspot.com protetoraindependente@gmail.com
ReplyDeleteHello Hansik! I am just catching up reading this blog as I am living in New Orleans and my apartment had no electricity for most of this week because of Hurricane Isaac. Thank you all so much for your concern about us in your post on Thursday. Most of the people in my area only had a little bit of damage from the storm like downed tree limbs and some fence posts and shingles went missing, and the biggest problem was most people had no power and it has been very hot every day. There are areas near here that were hit pretty bad by the storm and there was flooding and I worry very much about them. I am glad to hear that you did not take too much damage from the Typhoon!
ReplyDeleteKorean food looks amazing. I tried Kimchi once and loved it. The Kimchi Stew has my mouth watering -- especially after a weak of peanutbutter and jelly sandwiches -- I will have to track down a Korean resturaunt once everyone gets their power back on and things return to normal. Thank you for an awesome week of posts!
~Lindsay