Food Post Trial, Part One

If anyone knows me personally, you know that there are three things I am pretty ignorant about: 

1) Politics 

2) Rhythm

3) Cooking

Now, over the last couple of weeks I'll admit that I have been taking an interest into those those three particular things. I feel like politics is something that everyone should be educated on, and I think it's crucial to understanding how the world works. Rhythm... well, I just want to prove those who called me tone deaf that I'm not (though, the struggle...). Cooking, well, at this point in my life, I don't think I have another option but to just go ahead and do it. 

So, just a bit of a background - I have never cooked a meal before in my life. No rice, no pasta, no chicken, no nothing. I've fried plenty of eggs and made some omelets; pancakes sure; no problem on sandwiches; cut some fruits, and the basic stuff like that... I have never really been in a situation where I've had to cook for myself (microwaves everywhere!) and was never really interested in the kitchen period. There are two main things that are different now: 

1) I am trying to be more careful when it comes to my nutrition

2) All of the Koreans restaurant have no English menus and no pictures

I have been living for close to two months now, and the cooking adventure began from day one. But since I want to keep things in this blog interesting and Koreanish I'll also include one of the most fascinating and fun things about traveling and getting to live abroad: the local food! So be prepared for the obligatory food blog post!

Cooking at home

It's been a challenge, but I have to say that I am pretty proud of what I have been able to master in this time. The kitchen tends to scare me, mostly because there is fire involved, and knowing myself if I have to wait for things to cook I'll go and busy myself with something else and forget all about the food and BOOM, fire.  But since I have a tiny kitchen there really isn't too much to screw up there. 

I have been solely using a pan and a pot for cooking (leveling up!) and I have mostly stuck with stir frying vegetables, frying chicken and making soup. What I have learned in the process is that cooking isn't really that difficult... preparing the food before the actual cooking is the most time consuming thing, but honestly I am really surprised to see how simple it is - the simple stuff anyway. Not making any cakes any time soon. 

I've also managed enough patience for the boiling of the potatoes and the carrots. Those are not fun to wait on, but they're simple enough to let them do their thing while I work on cutting or preparing something else. 

I have to say that I'm loving it. I'm loving cooking dinner for myself and it does make me feel a bit more... mature? Self sufficient? Prepared? Normal? 

But of course, this not being my first time, there have been some mishaps. 
1) I burned rice. Twice.
2) I smoked the room while cooking chicken that wasn't totally unfrozen. Twice.
3) I didn't totally peeled off the skin from the onions, that was nasty.
4) I didn't stir the soup well enough so it was super lumpy
5) I ruined broccoli 

One of the other things I have been made more aware of is how quickly food goes bad. I tend to try to stuck up on groceries for the week and I've really been amazed at how much food I've had to throw out because it goes bad... 
I'm somewhat ashamed to bring all of these new found insights, since I realize how logical it all. But never too late to start something right? I'm also excited to be picking up recipes to try out back home. One thing that I truly regret about not taking an interest in cooking earlier is the fact that I could have learned how to cook some of my favorite Georgian food, or Chinese dishes so that I am always able to get a taste of those memories whenever I feel like it. But then again, there's always the internet. 


Korean Food

I have a very personal love/hate relationship with Korean food. To start I have to say that it's amazing, and I love it, but boy has it been a journey. 

I remember one of my first days at school we had chicken with some spicy sauce. One of my co teachers warned me about the spicy sauce. My answer: I'm Mexican, I can handle spicy! 
Nope. 
No I can't. 
Well, now I can. 

Seaweed, kimchi and rice
New Obsession

But it was such a shock - that initial meeting of the Korean spicy to my taste buds. Kimchi I love, and I actually really enjoy its spiciness. But there have been somethings that just burn, and they burn with such an intensity that I have never really come across it before. 

Asian spicy is very different from what I'm used to, and from what I'm proud to say I can handle. I had Sichuan food in China and that was also a surprise but I learned that it didn't really burn my tongue, it just numbed it, and the more I ate the more I felt the burn in my lips but not necessarily in my mouth. 

Korean spicy - well, this spicy builds up. At first you really don't think much on it - again, that Mexican cockiness of THIS IS NOTHING makes me feel pretty damn good about it. But the more you eat, the more the burn builds up and then it just hits you out of nowhere.

One of the spiciest things
I've ever had. Ever.

Every time I go to a Korean restaurant I feel it like a personal challenge. That is really what it's all about now:
"Is this going to be too spicy?" No, of course not, and I will prove it to myself and conquer your spices, Korea. 

Koreans also have this really interesting thing called tteokbokki which is basically a small rice cake that sucks in all the flavors and the spices of any dish. It's like a little mushy sponge and every time I've gotten it it's been like one of those surprise flavors jelly beans. It's becoming one of my favorites here in Korea.