I'm a simple guy. Very simple, if you ask my doctor. When I find something I like I tend to stick with it, even obsess over it. When I find a pair of shoes I like, I buy two pairs and when they wear out I go back to the same place and buy two more. Same with pants. I haven't changed my brand of underwear since I was 5. When I first hit the shores of Korea many, many, depressingly many moons ago I randomly discovered 제육덮밥 (jae-yook dok-bap) while drunk in a Kimbap Chungook in Nowon at 4am. This isn't surprising seeing as drunk at 4am is how I discover most things in Korea.
Well, using the pictures on the wall in the restaurant as a guide I ordered this dish to help transition from drunken fun to vomitting in a taxi. I was so impressed by it, and it's lack of vomit induction, I went ahead and ordered it for lunch for the next month every single day. At the time I was 5 months into my first hogwan job and all the Korean staff repeatedly chided me for not trying other Korean food. I reminded them that I had tried all sorts of monstrosities to cuisine prior to finding this holy grail of gatronomical delight. I get it: red pepper paste. Can I just be alone with my jae-yook now?
Soon, I started trying new things again but I couldn't find anything that matched the contentment jae-yook brought me. Don't get me wrong, I loves me some galbi like any other red-blooded carnivore and I will sit down for duk-galbi with anyone (even my principal!), but for a lunch time meal nothing beats the 'ol jae-yook.
Jae-yook, like myself, is deceptively simple. Though I've seen it come many different ways in many different dishes the basic premise is thinly sliced pork with some vegetables (onion, cabbage, leeks, etc.), a bit of seaweed and some sesame oil on top of some rice. It's really the sauce that makes or breaks the dish. I like mine to be spicy, but not stupid spicy, and a bit sweet rather than salty. I have taken it upon myself to introduce other foreigners to this wonderful feast to the point of forcing myself onto strangers. Unfortunately, very few have shared my love for jae-yook though some have become less devoted repeat customers.
After a year of putting up with the inane questions of my co-workers in the lunch room along with the mandatory lessons in why Korean food is superior to every other type of food in the world, I decided to ditch my school lunch and bring my own. I told my school that my doctor told me that Korean food is too spicy for foreigners and I had to stop eating it. Not surprisingly, this explanation wasn't met with any skepticism and I was allowed to eat my lunch in peace upstairs. Soon, I just started running to the Kimbap Chungook around the corner for my jae-yook, but I have to hide it due to the excuse I gave them. When I am caught I just say that Korean food is so delicious that I'm willing to sacrifice my health to have some. Again, total acceptance of this explanation.
I had jae-yook today and it was delightful. Unfortunately, I saw about 15 of my students there. Jeez, now I know where they go when school's out. Do these kids even have parents, for christ sake? They're just in there hanging out. You're 8. Go home and play!
Well, using the pictures on the wall in the restaurant as a guide I ordered this dish to help transition from drunken fun to vomitting in a taxi. I was so impressed by it, and it's lack of vomit induction, I went ahead and ordered it for lunch for the next month every single day. At the time I was 5 months into my first hogwan job and all the Korean staff repeatedly chided me for not trying other Korean food. I reminded them that I had tried all sorts of monstrosities to cuisine prior to finding this holy grail of gatronomical delight. I get it: red pepper paste. Can I just be alone with my jae-yook now?
Soon, I started trying new things again but I couldn't find anything that matched the contentment jae-yook brought me. Don't get me wrong, I loves me some galbi like any other red-blooded carnivore and I will sit down for duk-galbi with anyone (even my principal!), but for a lunch time meal nothing beats the 'ol jae-yook.
Jae-yook, like myself, is deceptively simple. Though I've seen it come many different ways in many different dishes the basic premise is thinly sliced pork with some vegetables (onion, cabbage, leeks, etc.), a bit of seaweed and some sesame oil on top of some rice. It's really the sauce that makes or breaks the dish. I like mine to be spicy, but not stupid spicy, and a bit sweet rather than salty. I have taken it upon myself to introduce other foreigners to this wonderful feast to the point of forcing myself onto strangers. Unfortunately, very few have shared my love for jae-yook though some have become less devoted repeat customers.
After a year of putting up with the inane questions of my co-workers in the lunch room along with the mandatory lessons in why Korean food is superior to every other type of food in the world, I decided to ditch my school lunch and bring my own. I told my school that my doctor told me that Korean food is too spicy for foreigners and I had to stop eating it. Not surprisingly, this explanation wasn't met with any skepticism and I was allowed to eat my lunch in peace upstairs. Soon, I just started running to the Kimbap Chungook around the corner for my jae-yook, but I have to hide it due to the excuse I gave them. When I am caught I just say that Korean food is so delicious that I'm willing to sacrifice my health to have some. Again, total acceptance of this explanation.
I had jae-yook today and it was delightful. Unfortunately, I saw about 15 of my students there. Jeez, now I know where they go when school's out. Do these kids even have parents, for christ sake? They're just in there hanging out. You're 8. Go home and play!
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