Korean Job Discussion Forums

[prince1900]

I'm so sick and tired of going to restaurants here only to get my food delivered "foreigner-style" - without any spice at all. Today (for the second and last time) I went to a popular kongnamul-gukbab restaurant for one of my favorite meals. When the server brought mine it was without red pepper powder or the usual side dish of freshly diced green peppers. Meanwhile, the guy right next to me got his exactly how it was supposed to be. Why do they do this?

Just because I'm a foreigner does not mean that I hate spicy food. In fact, I love it! If I was working at McDonalds in America and a Korean person came in, I wouldn't give them unsalted fries just because I assume that all Koreans don't like salt. I would give them normal fries the same as everyone else.

This isn't the first time I've come across this either. Another time I ordered my meal only to have the server call it back to the kitchen as "ahn-maep-gae" - not spicy. WTF?! Did I order it that way? No! Just give me exactly what I ordered. If I want it milder, I'll quickly learn how to ask for it. Otherwise, just cook my food the same as everyone else's.

Now, usually I don't hear them yell back to the kitchen, but by the time my food arrives at my table it's been "foreigner-ized" anyway. I even ordered dalk-galbi once and had the server ask me if I wanted it mild. Exactly how are you going to do that? The main ingredient is gochu-jang you dolt!

Okay, I feel better now. Just had to get that off my chest.

[eamo]

Remember, Korea has 'food nationalsim'. They take national pride in their cuisine. They are told by TV that Korea has the spiciest food in the world and that foreigners can't eat spicy food. My boss, a PHD graduate, also thinks this.

It's like a national ignorance.

About 75% of the time my wife and I go to a new restaurant the waitress asks my wife, "can he eat spicy food?".

[suneV]

A story for ya. It's true.

A friend of mine used to work at the same hakwan as me. Outside there was a ttukbokki seller.

My friend had worked at that hakwan for 5 years and spoke upper intermediate level Korean.

He used to eat ttukbokki there about 3 times a week and had been doing so for five years. He told me the same woman had been working on the stall that whole time.

Even after eating ttukbokki there for 5 years and her asking him 'isn't it too spicy for you?' and him saying 'no it's fine, I KEEP telling you' and her seeing him eat it and enjoy it -

Guess what?

- She STILL asked him every damn time!

Now even up to 20 years ago I could understand that Koreans wouldn't know much about foriegners and what they did know would have been from their interactions with millitary personel.

The thing is in Seoul and most big cities here now they have ben interacting with us for at least 20 years now and could know a lot more about us if they just listened and spread the info around.

That's just my opinion anyway, maybe I'm wrong.

Annoying though.

An idea. Korean netizen power is often very influential right? Could someone who posts here and knows korean -

POST A MESSAGE ON A KOREAN NETIZEN SITE EXPLAINING THAT

KOREAN FOD IS NOT THAT SPICY AT ALL REALLY, IS LESS SPICY THAN A LOT OF OTHER COUNTRIES FOODS AND FURTHERMORE, A LOT OF WESTERNERS NOW CAN USE CHPSTICKS AND ACTUALLY REALLY ENJOY SPICY FOOD, ESPECIALLY BRITS WHO HAVE BEEN EATING CURRY THEIR WHOLE LIVES!

[marlow]

Yes, it's not that spicy. Also, red pepper powder is not a magic spice that makes any dish automatically better.

[Newbie]

I feel your pain, but

A) they're really just trying to be nice

B) sometimes Koreans are slow learners. The first big number of whiteys here were soldiers. Poor, uneducated soldiers. Dem folks usually aren't so keen on foreign, spicy food. Sure nowadays, middle-upper class, universtiy educated whiteys love to try new foods and often have a hard on for spicy Mexian, Cajun, Thai food. So, it's amusing when Koreans say "not too spicy?".

[Temporary]

I've been denied service because the ahole ajuma said they didn't have something on the menu, then an explanation later her husband came and told us it was to hot so they couldn't serve us that particular dish.

Its not being nice it assuming that we are morons and that we don't know the god damn difference.

If we can read it on the menu its a good probability we ate it before and we know what it is.

[atomic42]

A frog in a well knows nothing of the sea.
Smile, nod and carry on. The battle is futile.

[NightSky]

heh. I am one of those guys that encourages the myth that foreigners don't like spicy food. heheh.

[da_moler]

And why is it that foreign dishes such as Indian curry are made less spicy in Korea? There are some curries in the UK that are so spicy, I can't even eat them, but all of the curries I have had in Korea (in many different Indian restaurants) are not spicy at all!

Koreans seem to be able to tolerate only the red pepper paste kind of spiciness. I have seen many Korean not be able to eat a Thai dish, complaining that it is a "different kind of spicy".

[Newbie]

[spliff]

Have one of these....they're extra spicy:

[mindmetoo]

[suneV]

[cunning_stunt]

Foriegners generally can't eat spicy food . Personally I love it and don't find Korean food spicy at all (after living in Thailand for so long) , but I asked for the "fire chicken" here once before as "hot as possible" and learnt my lesson .

[marlow]