Thank you, Asia "Korean cuisine" (98 days left)

 Thank you, Asia series.  98 days left.

Kimchi.  Kimbab.  Korean BBQ.  Bibimbab. . . Korean cuisines.  Without living in Korea for four years, I would never have known these foods that I now can say I totally enjoy.  (These and many cuisines from around the world. . . perhaps another day's post?)  

I remember specifically sitting in the teacher's lounge in 2010 at Notre Dame Academy prior to leaving for our grand adventure abroad to South Korea.  I remember my colleague Chris learning of the coming moving and asking me, "Do you like kimchi?"   I had never even heard of kimchi!  "I don't know," I said.  "I've never had it."  As I recall, within the next week Chris brought some kimchi to lunch and let me smell and taste it.  It didn't seem like anything I was interested in.  What would Korean cuisine be like, I wondered.

Well, little did I know that I would come to crave kimchi - the fermented and spicy cabbages of Korea that come in as many varieties as homemade apple pie.  There is even an entire museum in Seoul devoted to kimchi.  

Freshly made kimbab (much like a California roll) at a tiny shop window - my favorite being the tuna type, is a nice lunch all by itself.  We once were in a cooking contest where we were charged with making the best kimbab.  I lost.   (Alas, I won't be recreating amazing kimbab back in Wisconsin.)

Korean barbeque - What can I say?  You sit around an indoor grill, cut up thinly sliced beef, pork, or even duck with a scissors, along with cloves of garlic.  Grill the meat, then create a tiny "lettuce wrap" using large lettuce leaves to protect the bite size meat sprinkled with rock salt, and dabbed with ssamjang paste. Maybe add some steamed rice.  But the best part is the 1000 side dishes that come with the meal.  

Bibimbap is my go-to now if I see a Korean restaurant anywhere else.  This dish comes with a spicy paste so you can choose whether or not you want it mild or super spicy.  I go for the spicy!  I even astounded an American stewardess once choosing to use it on my plane food of bibimbap.