Halfway through my month-end accounts closing work tonight, I took a break to browse the internet and stumbled upon Korean cookbooks. It’s a section in the bookstore that I had never touched, which got me thinking about whether I love Korean food.
The answer should be simple.
I can easily say I love Indian or Indonesian food, as easy to admit that I am not a fan of Vietnamese or Malaysian cuisine.
But do I love Korean food?
Err…
I thought I did but did I?
I was introduced to Korean food by my Korean friend, Jin, who, at that time, I didn’t know was Korean. He invited me to join him for a quick meal in an air-coned Hawker centre near Dhoby Ghaut MRT station between our scheduled day classes. He helped me with the order of Osam Bulgogi* (squid and pork bulgogi served on a hot plate) with a rice combo.
I then decided I liked Korean Food.
Months later, also in Singapore, Vi introduced me to Bibimbap which I didn’t like at all. This made me question my liking of the cuisine from the land of the morning calm.
A couple of years later, I went to South Korea and enjoyed Korean cuisine during the trip.
And now, almost ten years after that, Korean BBQ could easily be one of my favourite food-related group activities, with Mrs Kim being my go-to place.
And between then and now, I have eaten plenty of Korean chicken.
All these ponderings conclude that I love Korean food, but not all. I am not a fan of Bibimbap, most variations of army stew and fried chicken, and anything Kimchi based. Could this be why I don’t have Korean recipe books? The same reason why I haven’t cooked Korean cuisine once?
Well, I guess it’s okay to only partially like a world cuisine, isn’t it?
*Spicy Osam Bulgogi still is my default order in Korean restaurants until now.
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