Dinner tonight was Korean crab and tofu stew, served bubbling hot! No amount of blowing on spoonfuls of it would seem to cool it down, making this the perfect meal for a chilly San Francisco night.
"This dish is spicy. Do you mind spicy?" the waitress asked. "No, I don't mind spicy at all." This conversation is the curse of the white guy who likes Asian food, but I've grown accustomed to it and almost expect it. "Sure I do. Don't you read my blog?" is what I'm thinking inside. ;-)
Side dishes served with the jigae included mul kimchi (watery kimchi), cabbage kimchi, spinach, kkaktugi (cubed radish kimchi), bean cake, fish cake, tofu with yang nyeom jang sauce, simmered potato, oi sobaegi (cucumber kimchi), and two types of blanched bean sprouts in a little sesame oil, garlic, and salt. All of them were delicious, but the best was the mul kimchi -- so zesty and refreshing.
The meal actually began with this freebie dish, jun (savory pancake) with yang nyeom jang sauce (soy sauce + garlic + fresh chillies + sesame oil + green onion). I usually make my yang nyeom jang sauce with a little chilli powder, so I was surprised to try this simplified version. The jun was great, by the way.
Whew, the meal ended with this refreshing slice of melon. Even though I was stuffed again, I always find room for something sweet and nutritious (and free) like this.
Two more days in San Francisco!
Comments
Glad you are having so much fun..!! can't wait for the rest of your review.. :)
Posted by: Mama Bok | April 30, 2006 09:42 PM
Johnny,
I love it when you show me Korean food. Love it. To be honest, the dim sum menu looked a little pedestrian to me (no offense), but the shots from tofu jigae and bibimbap dolsut make my eyes roll back in my head and my leg shake a little. Whoever is eating with you is very lucky.
How do you eat the crab/tofu jigae? Do you spoon it into a bowl? Spoon it over rice? Last time I ordered it, I would just bite into the crab shells, and my parents thought it was wierd. Of course they were eating with really bad chinese manners; I'm sure the waitress was appauled at us.
Posted by: john patrick | April 30, 2006 09:55 PM
MamaBok: stay tuned for more!
JP: I'm so glad you brought this up. Actually, this being the first time I have ordered/eaten crab jigae, I felt at a complete loss to know the proper way of eating the crab legs. I improvised by taking one out at a time, letting it cool a little, and then broke it into two pieces. I then did my best to suck out the meat without making too much of a fuss.
Can a Korean person please jump in here and let me know if this is the correct way?
As far as spooning the jigae over rice, I have been told by a Korean friend this is a big no-no. According to her, one is to first consume the jigae with a spoon; next comes a spoonful of rice to cool the tongue, and so on. The idea, as she explained it, was to enjoy the jigae on its own and then use the rice as a sort of cooling mechanism. It works, too.
Posted by: Evil Jonny | April 30, 2006 11:03 PM
Oh, man, it's barely 7:00 a.m. and I'm drooling.
Posted by: Rose | May 1, 2006 05:04 AM
I laughed after reading this entry- there was a weight loss ad directly below it.
Posted by: homer | May 1, 2006 10:24 AM
Delicious! I have trouble getting it spicy enough, too - "No really, I mean it, spicy. Really spicy." It scares all the Caucasians I eat with because they think that means it really will come SPICY. Little do they know the discrimination we palefaces face in Asia.
Posted by: venitha | May 1, 2006 08:47 PM
There is no such thing as a free melon.
Posted by: The big | May 2, 2006 04:32 AM
yah, my first instinct is not to spoon jigae over rice, because you have to keep the integrity of your rice. however, when I ordered it with my family, we wondered if we should just spoon out of the same bowl, or ask for soup bowls. Then there was the problem of where to put shells (we had also ordered a shellfish dish).
Some Korean people I know always tell me, oh, there are no RULES when Korean people eat... and they sincerely believe themselves, until I sweep in with my own cultural tendencies... and that's when the get uptight!
I had a korean waitress once, who yelled at me for neglecting my naeng myun. I said, oh, what was I supposed to do? And she answered, YOU SHOULDN'T HAVE ORDERED IT. Sometimes I go to that restaurant and watch her yell at other customers. I kind of have a crush on her.
Posted by: jpv206 | May 2, 2006 06:14 PM
Rose: sorry about that. If it helps, I just looked at that entry myself and gave myself severe hunger pangs.
Homer: ha ha!
Venitha: There's spicy-paleface discrimination here in the US, too -- believe me!!
Big H: thank you, Mr. Philosopher. I will chew on your thoughts, like a little snack.
JPV: I'm so glad I'm not the only guy attracted to sassy Korean women. It's such a turn on watching them insult and humiliate people with their strong opinions. Is it getting warm in here?
Posted by: Evil Jonny | May 4, 2006 07:27 PM