Korean Job Discussion Forums

cosmicgirlie · Joined: 29 Jan 2003

Q--Why is mexican food so DAMN good

A--Just because....

PolyChronic Time Girl · Joined: 15 Dec 2004 Location: Korea Exited

pollyplummer · Joined: 07 Mar 2005 Location: McMinnvillve, Oregon

dulouz · Joined: 04 Feb 2003 Location: Uranus

Mexican food can sit heavy but generally I do enjoy it. Mexicans can do hospitality well.

Heres's a Mexican food joke. When in Mexico, my favorite snack is Emay y Emace. What is that?

Plenty of folks go agog over Thai food. I've been on bus trips in Thailand where we would pull over for food stops where I could not eat any food from one of the 8 - 10 full trays of food presented to me. In Thailand it seems the meat goes to the farang and the leftover parts go to the Thais.

PaperTiger · Joined: 31 May 2005 Location: Ulaanbataar

[quote="Grotto"]One reason Mexican food is so good is that they have access to a wide range of spices and herbs due to their climate and location.

One reason they used to use a variety of spices was to hide the smell/taste of spoiled meat(pre-refridgeration days).

Another is that spicy food promotes persperation and in a hot climate it has a cooling effect.

Also Mexico is a relatively poor nation and they made sure that whatever food they had tasted good...food to be savoured makes you feel fuller?

I love this quote because it totally leads into one of the main points I make about Korean cuisine (not Mexican). Mexico might be a predominantly poor nation, but their food TASTES GOOD. Korea was dirt poor less than half a century ago and they still eat like they're starving to death. No, I'm not taking about six people sharing a 10-ounce steak at the new Black Angus in Kangnam or eating with your mouth open...I'm talking about their bizarre fixation on things that smell rotten (...oops, I mean "fermented").

Why does "traditional" food have to mean "things we ate when foraging for edible weeds was our only option"? Are Koreans really so nostalgic for the days when a watery broth made with rotten bean paste and fish heads were their only choice? Sure, there are a lot of good things to eat here, but there's a lot of things that smell so apalling it's more likely to be called "compost" than lunch back home.

Korea may be the only country with four seasons (HAHAHAHAHA...HA!!!) but they only have one spice here: red pepper powder/paste. This shouldn't be surpising considering the whole country is totally cool with eating rice THREE TIMES A DAY...but damn, talk about lack of imagination AND palette.

Mexico's a poor country??? What's Korea's excuse?

Harpeau · Joined: 01 Feb 2003 Location: Coquitlam, BC

I went to Casa Maya in Hongdae twice on the weekend and was very impressed with the food! The sangria was also tasty. A little pricey, but I certainly enjoyed it.

itaewonguy · Joined: 25 Mar 2003

I think everyone knows how to make some mexican dishes..
its pretty hard to mess that up.. can easily be made once you learn a couple tricks..

mexican food is WORLD FAMOUS!! I think back home there is a mexican place in most cities.. and I remember going to them.. never went to the korean restaurants hahahah
never saw tables of 12 sitting in the korean restaurants drinking soju and eating bimbambap!!
but I did see everyweekend heaps of tables drinking margaritas, doing tequlia shots and eating alot of cool dishes..
mexican food is cool! there is variety and its great party food..

korean food is BORING!! you can pretty much ask your classes for the day it will be something like this..
what did you eat for dinner?
rice and kimchi!
and!!!!
jegae!

kimchi jegae!
dwengjungjegae!
fish!

the end!!

thats the whole SCHOOL!!
and just mine!!
the whole country eats the same food!!!
everything has Gochujung in!
and anyone who says kimchi is healthy is a fucking idiot!!
you know how much salt they put in kimchi??? ALOT!
now you know why koreans have the highest stomach cancer stats!
all the kimchi!!

krats1976 · Joined: 14 May 2003

periwinkle · Joined: 08 Feb 2003

I don't recommend La Salsa Loca. It was over-priced. Also, they were out of beef!! How can a restaurant be out of beef?!! God, get your butt in a taxi and drive to the nearest supermarket, for christsakes. Also, they only had frozen, flavored margaritas. If your dying for Mexican, it's ok, but I was disappointed (it was my birthday dinner...). I've heard the taco place at Noksapyeong is way better. Mexican is easy to make- I usually just make tacos at home.

Does anybody know where to get fresh cilantro in Seoul?

peppermint · Posted: Mon Aug 15, 2005 11:36 pm Post subject:

Cilantro?Saw it at hannam supermarket just yesterday

trevorcollins · Joined: 02 Jul 2004

periwinkle · Joined: 08 Feb 2003

OiGirl · Joined: 23 Jan 2003 Location: Hoke-y-gun

mindmetoo · Joined: 02 Feb 2004

My girlfriend and I went to Casa Maya on Saturday for lunch. It was around 2 pm. The place was dead. We were the only customers. My GF ordered a quesadilla (4,500 won). I ordered the beef burrito (7,000 won). The bill didn't look like much and I was pretty sure my GF would want more than a single quesadilla so we ordered the chili nachos under the appetizers (6000 won). The waitress took our order.

Now I should back up and mention this restaurant used to be in Apkujeong. When I was there last time in 2001, I remember they had calamari on the menu. My Korean friend was big into squid and I was quite amused how much Koreans liked squid, so much so you could get it at movie theaters. So I thought it would be nice to order the calamari appetizer and show her how Westerners generally enjoy squid. The waitress took our order. She came back a few minutes later to mention the kitchen was out of squid so no chance 'n' hell of ordering calamari. I had a good laugh. You could buy squid on every street corner but the one place where I'd want to eat squid, well, they were out. Geez.

So, back to present time. The waitress came back and told my GF something or another about the nachos. I braced myself to find out that Casa Maya was again out of chili or nachos or something.

It was weirder. We weren't actually allowed to order the $6 appetizer. You are, apparently, only allowed to order a $6 appetizer at Casa Maya if you order one of the 14,000 won meals. If you order the 8,000 won meal, well, you're not allowed to pump up your bill with a 6,000 won appetizer. Oddly the menu didn't have this restriction in print.

We were vaguely offended that in a restaurant devoid of customers, where we were trying to pump up our bill a bit, we were told we couldn't order a plate of nachos with some chili thrown on them, and we couldn't pay 6,000 won for that privilege. We just got up and left. We went to the thai restaurant kitty corner, which was packed with people.

Last time I go back.

HapKi · Joined: 10 Dec 2004 Location: TALL BUILDING-SEOUL

Why is "Mexican food' so good?
I think part of the reason is, what you think is Mexican food is actually Tex/Mex, or any other adaption from the real thing. Its the same adaption as what Korean do to "Chinese food", and Rolling Eyes

(feel free to give me some more examples.)
I think most of us would agree that a 2 hand burrito is considered top notch Mexican. However, spending a week in Mexico City last year, I did not see one once, in a street stall or fine restaurant. Also, real Mexican is more corn tortillas, whereas I prefer flour. And molle', I'll pass on that.
But its all good, and I'll take that bast--ard step-child Taco Bell any day.