Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Scaggs]

Hey all,

I just arrived in Seoul and I am having a bit of a time here getting my body adjusted. With time change and sleep issues, my stomach's been quite unsettled. What would be some good calm and commonly found food choices while I am getting situated? Thanks for the help in advance.

Michael

[Ya-ta Boy]

For starters, how about a bowl of boiled (or steamed) white rice?
You can't get any blander than that.

삼게탕 (sahm gay tahng) is pretty good and not spicy. It's just boiled chicken with rice.

[Qinella]

[dulouz]

Mac-cheese. $3 a box.

[Hollywoodaction]

[Scaggs]

Thanks for the advice everyone. Right now I am in a hostel so my cooking options are somewhat pinned in, been going with a little bit of eating out and my stash of life-saving Clif Bars I brought with me. I think tomorrow I will see if I can find somewhere with sahm gay tahng ... sounds right about what I'd like to be eating.

[djsmnc]

[otopo]

Kimpap (킴밥) restaurants are everywhere, cheap, and mild.

When my stomach is upset I just have rice and milk, which does the trick.

All of my meals are provided for me, so I eat Korean food 100% of the time (minus a Western meal about every two weeks). I had really bad stomachaches for a while and everyone told me to stop eating spicy stuff, even though you might want to try everything, give your stomach a break. I didn't eat kimchee or anything spicy for about a week and a half and that did the trick. Give yourself a break on the Korean food as you are adjusting, your stomach will be less sensitive with time.

You can find enough ingredients for Western food at most Emarts and Homeplus, though you might have to be a little creative.

[OiGirl]

-cheese sticks and chicken fillet (but I think they took that off the menu recently) at Lotteria.
-fish cutlet at any Japanese restaurant.

(These are my "no red pepper for me for a few days" meals out.)

[millsy99]

I swear by this stuff! The Korean lady at our snack shop said it has ginger in it. Dunno if that's true, but Chil-sung tastes sort of like Sprite or 7-Up, only better IMHO. You can find it everywhere--better still would be ginger ale, but I don't know how available it is. Ginger is really good for upset stomach.

[kat2]

Try getting some instant ramen. Don't put the spice pack in. Just put in some butter and a little salt. Bland but tasty. Not exactly healthy, but easy on teh stomach.

[periwinkle]

Mashed potatoes and gravy; vegetable soup; beef stew; chicken salad; fried rice; stir fry..... If you don't feel like cooking, you can buy cans of chunky soups and chowders in just about every grocery store.

[Hollywoodaction]

Here's a list of online stores that sell imported food.

http://kr.dir.yahoo.com/Business_and_Economy/Shopping_and_Services/Food/Imported_Food/

[huntjuliehunt]

Korean food is really repulsive, so you need some good imported foods. One thing to stear clear of are the bowls of pig snouts in Itaewon. Also, you don't want to eat dog soup on your first couple of days. The imported foods cost so much money, you won't be able to afford most of them. You could get some apples, but they tend to cost 90 dollars for a gift box of 11. Unless you want the kind of smaller, kind of nastier and uglier apples.

Bananas will keep you living, and you can find some decent bananas here for twice or thrice the price of back home, but that still makes them affordable, and quite a life saver.

Milk in Korea smells funny and tastes bad, so don't even try it. Even soymilk is weird here. Drink a lot of bottled water. There was a milk scandal in Korea a few months ago. I don't know exactly what happened, but a Korean woman told me she'll never drink milk or eat yogurt again after seeing the Korean milk scandal on the news. It was making people violently sick.

If you go to SweetSpace in Apgujeong, you will find crackers and peanut butter and Campbells soup at low prices. Too bad Campbell's soup is loaded with salt, but it could help settle your stomach and nerves.

Don't trust the poultry here. Asia is known for bird flu and they don't take good care of their animals before killing them. They also don't care what part of the animal they eat, so you'll find nasty skin and pieces of bone and fat. Either that, or you're stuck with processed meat that tastes like rubber at places like Subway.

Tuna fish is a good option, and Asia's tuna fish has the lowest mercury in the world.

Hope I helped!

[laogaiguk]