Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Dazed and Confused]

Living in the UK in '93 I missed Oreos, iced tea, Nacho flavored Doritos, and Picante Sauce. I never really thought about Oreos until I couldn't get them.

Living in China in '95 I missed homemade chocolate chip cookies, spaghetti, Mexican food, bread, cake, and American food in general.

Living in Korea since '97 I've missed Butterfingers, Reese's Peanut Butter cups, Cinnamon Life cereal, pickled okra, Mexican food, sour cream, cottage cheese, cheese, my favorite south Indian restaurant, and rootbeer.

I miss cheese and onion pastys, cider, and salt and vinegar crisps from the UK.

I miss Uiger food from China.

From Korea I'll probably miss takalibi, jongak kimchi, twenjang chigae, and kimchi bokumbap.

[littlelisa]

I miss Montreal bagels, good Italian food, good food from (insert country here... I miss the variety, really), croissants that are not shit, French-style bread, variety of cheeses, including some that are stronger than extra mild, that are not processed to death, good quality chocolate, raspberries, heirloom tomatoes, etc.

I love hallabong here, 누룽지, jeon, how a table can get filled with delicious banchan, I like a lot of the tea, like omija, maemil, and some of the green teas (I have a friend who has some green tea grown on Jirisan and it's amazing). But overall I miss more food than I would miss here.

The Floating World, BAHAHAHAHAHAHA. Indian restaurants here are not more authentic. But to each his own...

[The Floating World]

[ajuma]

Nang-myeon. You just can't beat iced soup on a hot summer day!

[northway]

[ThingsComeAround]

I really miss bagels from home. They don't count the number of raisins to go in each one, rather take a handful and drop it in the batter for a nice saturation.
I miss baked goods, and baking. Cakes, pies, breads, cupcakes, muffins, cookies that aren't dry the second they are cool and crumble in to a zillion pieces when bit
I miss coffee service (the diner crowd knows). Going to a diner or restaurant, getting milk OR cream, and unlimited refills. Coffee here is made to look at (WTF IS WITH THE HEARTS?).
I miss the variety of cheeses and pastas. Manicotti, ravioli, lasagna, zeppole, and cannoli. Black and white cookies. Risotto that doesn't resemble Deulsot bap.
Pancakes at any time of day without having to wait on a ridiculous line.
Egg Nog


Things I will miss when leaving
Kimchi- For some reason, when its fresh, its superb. Old kimchi gets a pass
Kalcooksoo- This noodly soupy broth found its way into my heart.
Jeon- When I go to Chinese restaurants I can get it, but minus the bits of octopus and oysters.
Banchan- Even in Korean restaurants in NY, they don't load your table with sides like they do here. Even at top dollar, when your food is made by non-Koreans
Live Octopus & Eel barbecue- This just isn't found in NY. Seafood guidelines pretty much prohibit having fish tanks outside a restaurant (other than crab/lobster) so its quite the pretty penny to get a squirmy dish.

[mjchung]

Whether I'm here in Korea or in the US, I always end up missing the oysters that I've left behind.


When I'm here, I miss fat, clean oysters on the half shell served by the dozen. Requires only the tiniest squirt of lemon, little cracked pepper, and a Sazerac.

When I'm in the US, I miss the tiny, briny Korean oysters that pack a whallop. No better garnish for roast pork. Incredible poached or fried.


-----

In fact, it's the local variations on ubiquitous ingredients that I tend to miss the most:
Korean beef vs American beef (the clean taste of awesome Hanwoo beef tartare vs a beefy, juicy dry aged rib eye).
Nashi pear vs Bartlett pear (I know that Korean style pears are available worldwide, but nothing compares to local and in season).

For specialized foodstuffs, I tend to have better luck finding reasonable facsimiles of American food in Korea than the other way around. It's because anything I can't find, I make at home. Probably because it is much easier to make chorizo or roll my own pasta in Korea than it is to source live eel or sea snails in the US.

[thebektionary]

[NYC_Gal 2.0]

Jewish kids sometimes like cinnamon raisin. As a Jew from New York, you're only half right.

Also, goyim isn't a polite way to say non-Jew. Gentile is.

The best bagel is pumpernickel everything (custom order that takes a few days for them to make, but worth it.)

The best Indian food that I've had that wasn't made by my Indian friend's grandmother was in NYC on 6th Street between 1st and 2nd Ave, though some are moving up to Murray Hill (nicknamed Curry Hill.) Most of the establishments have Indian cooks and owners. There's a huge Indian population of Indians and Pakistanis in New York, and New Yorkers are known for being food snobs, amongst other things.

I also found 2 really decent restaurants in Staten Island (of all places) because there were at least 20 local clinics where the doctors were mostly Indian or Jewish, so it had a great customer base. There was a vegetarian one, which was great because it was also Kosher because of the lack of meat/dairy mixing, and an omnivore one for those who ate meat.

[laynamarya]

Foods I miss from the US:

~Fresh blueberries, raspberries, and the availability of pretty much any kind of fruit I want (starfruit, anyone?)

~Burritoes from Anna's Taqueria

~Spinach-artichoke dip with baked pita chips

~Americanized "Chinese food"

~Amazing pastries from the bakery where I used to work

~Great gnocchi

~Snobby tea boutiques with 100 kinds of tea, crumpets, and clotted cream

~Steel-cut oatmeal

~American corn!

And, not exactly a food, but answering the question, "What do you want to eat?" with the name of a country rather than "rice" or "noodles."

Things I am certain I will miss if/when I move back:

~Gamjatang

~Galbi jjim

~Pajeon/ buchujeon

~Maesil and bori cha

~Dweji kimchi chiggae (especially when I have a cold)

~Creamy sujebi

~Dalkdoritang

~Korean sweet potatoes

And most of all: Patbingsu!!

[pmwhittier]

After reading this post and all the boards here at Dave's, I am tempted to load up a second suitcase with nothing but Reese's Peanut Butter Cups and open up a shop once I get there! I leave out Monday and will be in Daejeon by Tuesday evening.

[thebektionary]

[littlelisa]

[littlelisa]

[fermentation]