Confession

It's taken me a long time to get to a place where I feel comfortable admitting this, but I think I've been in denial long enough.

I don't like Korean food. There, I said it.

It's not to say that I don't like any Korean food, or that I am repulsed by it. Far from it. There are several dishes that are quite tasty, and I can generally find something edible at any of the restaurants near my apartment.

However, I remember going to a Korean supermarket in Toronto last Spring, and wandering the aisles with excitement and anticipation.

What does this package say?
What's in this box?
What are these ingredients for?
When I come back to Canada, I'll be able to cook all these great new dishes!

Sadly, no. This, in fact, is one of my greatest disappointments in Korea. I like food. A lot. I've eaten well on my travels in Mexico (taquitos from the street vendors), in Turkey (eggplant! and kebabs!), in Greece (eggplant again! and gyros dripping with tzatziki, and lamb stew), and Spain (where to begin? the tapas and the ham and the sangria and Portugal (codfish done six different ways, roast chicken, pasteis de belem). My one night in Japan, I had a delicous beefy brothy dish I won't even try to name. I'm already salivating at the thought of the cooking class I'll be taking in Thailand some six months from now. I like food.

Korean food, though...features seaweed. Prominently. And fish. But not fish in the way that I've come to like it. At a wedding buffet last weekend, breaded, fried, salmon fins were one of the options, and a popular selection at that.

I can eat the dried squid at the bar, and I do, but to me it tastes rubbery, vaguely fishy, and not all that appealing. The fish cakes that turn up in so many dishes here are chewy and flavourless. Much hot sauce is needed to make them palatable.

I'm disappointed, but it would be ridiculous for me to expect a country's cuisine to adapt itself to my palate. So I'm disappointed in me. I like the Korean bbq (dak galbi...mmm), and I like the dumplings, and some of the pastries. I like the Mongolian hot pot (which is also a Korean thing, name notwithstanding), but I haven't fallen in love with the everyday meals and the type of food my students eat on a regular basis. This annoys me.

But I've got another six months to get it right. Wish me luck.