Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Adventurer]

I tolerate Indian and Mexican spiciness quite well. I have had a hard time with Korean red pepper. I think I am handling it better, but I am not sure I like it as much as Mexican hot sauce, and Indian spiciness seems balanced. Does it usually get better overtime for someone not used to it?

[ajgeddes]

Didn't this happen a really long time ago? I swear we talked about this on here about 3 or 4 months ago.

And what does this have to do with Korea?

[cbclark4]

[pkang0202]

It is talking about Korean food. I fairly certain you can find a link between food in Korea, and Korea.

It might be a stretch for some people though.

[ajgeddes]

[mrsquirrel]

Korean food isn't spicy.

Maybe the odd tingle but even the hottest chillies that they eat here are crap.

The Koreans teachers sit there wafting their hand across their mouth like they are on fire.

Bollocks try chomping on a habanero and doing that.

[eamo]

So, am I right in saying this thread started off on a completely different subject from spicy food?

[RACETRAITOR]

Right now 40 million Koreans are reading this thread telepathically and preparing conversation topics for the next time they see one of us.

[Scotticus]

Yeah, I love hearing from half the Koreans I meet: "Oh, you eat Korean food? It's not too spicy?" I just roll my eyes and say, "It's really not that spicy..."

The interesting thing about Korean food, though, is that I think it's a very different spicy from other food I've had. Indian/Mexican spicy and Korean spicy are entirely different, although I have no idea what makes them so.

[Wangja]

Korean food is neither "spicy" nor "spicy/hot". Adding Korean chilli neither increases the number of spices to make it spicy nor does it add much "heat".

It can be fascinating watching Koreans eat my Indian dishes.

[ajgeddes]

[butlerian]

While I entirely appreciate that Korean food is not the world's spiciest, it is quite spicy for a number of Westerners. I come from the UK and anyone who eats traditional British food - fish and chips, cottage pie etc - will very likely find it spicy as such food does not contain chilli. When I first came here, I found it difficult to eat kimchi but after being here for more than a year, I can eat it without any problems. That said, I still find some food here to be more spicy than I'd like.

[princess]

I have always been able to handle spicy food. My stomach is made of iron and I can eat almost anything. I agree with some of the othr posters on here when I say Korean food is not even THAT spicy. When Koreans ask me if I can handle their spicy food, I can't help but let out a laugh or roll my eyes. or no matter how long you've been here, they are amazd you can eat kimchi. That stuff isn't spicy enough IMO. Thai and Mexican is more fire on the tongue, and I love both of them. So, Korean food is nothing when it comes to spiciness.

[pkang0202]

[Qinella]

I feel a bit dirty, responding to this question which was raised merely to cover up an apparently disdainful topic.

Hmm..

What is the spiciest dish in Korea? Is it bul-dak? I love eating that. It's pretty spicy, but not so much as to make me uncomfortable. However, the last time I ate one of those tiny peppers, my mouth was on fire for about 20 minutes and it was painful.

What I don't get is people acting like eating spicy food is some kind of merit badge. Like check out some of the responses above mine. "Oh, Korean food isn't spicy at all. By the way, did I mention that my balls are so big I pay a little Indonesian boy $2 a day to push them around in a wheelbarrow?"

Give me a break. Everyone has different concepts of all tastes, including spiciness. I've had people tell me that kamjatang is spicy.