Bean Paste

this is my first blog - i don't know why but i had been riding the fence for a long time on whether or not to start a blog and finally this particular instance has pushed over the edge. Maybe it's because it's something i want to share but don't necessarily want to email every one i know about it, and facebook just isnt the appropriate medium for blogging. also, there have been a lot of FAQ's and lately i've been doing e-mail marathons which get to be a chore, not that writing to friends and family is a chore i love it, but the redundancy of answering the same questions was getting rediculous. maybe eventually i'll make a blog entry that is strictly FAQ's.

i'm sure everyone has noticed that i dont capitalize anything either, if this bothers you too bad. its an annoying habbit i developed in high school thanks to aol instant messenger.


ok so anyway, bean paste... its all over the place in korea, and i'm pretty sure in china and japan too. its used as a condiment, like dipping sauce sometimes. but there is also this form of bean paste that is kind of chalky and really quite flavorless but it's used to fill a lot of pastries. so, imagine a fried dumpling with a sweet donut like dough but filled with this red kind of chalky bean paste thats sort of thick and there are little peices of bean skins in there that you feel are probably sticking themselves to the front of your teeth.
anyway, koreans are crazy about this stuff. sweets aren't really a big deal here, and this stuff is a little sweet maybe thats why they love it, or they're just so used to it. i think westerners are grossed out by it because it comes across as an attempt at healthy sweet. we want real sweet, like feel the sugar grit crunch between your teeth sweet not extracted from nature sweet. for example in elementary school they would have chocolate cake for dessert but they would bake zuchinni in it or something to make it healthy sweet so really it came out as a trainwreck of flavors and textures inside your mouth.

so... i'm at work the other day, and this sickness bug has been going around the office needless to say i'm not feeling super hot let alone feeling like eating strange food. i'm sitting there at my desk when i hear a korean teacher from behind, who happens to know that i'm all about trying new foods. just not these last couple days. i hear this, "eben, want to try some traditional korean food" my heart sinks, the fact that its korean food i know it will probably be something i've either never had, or something i'm not really used to eating especially with a ear/nose/throat melee of congestion. (its probably not campbells chicken noodle soup) and then theres the clencher, the word i dreaded, "traditional" this means i KNOW it's going to be extra unusual and probably more disagreeable. i look back over my shoulder with a worried look on my face. "uh... sure" i say... and step up to the plate
she's holding a tin foil tray filled with rather large dumpling looking things, "oh great" i think, "this sucker's going to take at least 3 bites to finish off" i grab one and pull it from the tray but it is very sticky and sticking to the tray, and the other dumplings. it feels really gooey, she tells me its made out of rice... "they make taffy out of rice?" i think.. its asia, of course they do. "well, at least it's covered in powdered sugar" i tell myself as i take the first bite, making sure its a huge bite because subsequent bites are only going to be more difficult. Quickly i realize that powdered sugar was flour. gross, and the dumpling is filled with lots and lots of bean paste, gross. so i chew and chew and chew... it tastes like i'm chewing a huge wad of raw dough. the korean teacher looks at me, "oh these are so good, you no like? many westerners dont like texture we love it ^_^" "MMmmMmmM" i mumble and sort of give a thumbs up while chewing.. finally i just decide its time to swallow and down it goes, then i realize today was the wrong day to wear black slacks. they are covered in flour. this is awesome. i try to wipe it off only to realize my fingers are covered in flower and now i'm just making a mess... one more bite down the hatch. i reach for my bottle of water...

eventually i finish it, get my pants cleaned up and go about my day. would i do that again? probably not, was i glad i did? of course. i think part of being in another culture, and representing your own country, is showing a respect for those around you. At least being willing to try something, more importantly something traditional and enjoyed by the people shows that you really are interested in their culture and way of life. Especially a country like Korea. I read somewhere korea has learned to survive in the middle of such large economies as china, japan, and the u.s. by literally curling into a ball and getting kicked around. they are an important country but don't always get treated like such. if you do find yourself in korea, make an effort to get to know the people and the culture. it can be as simple as asking about a holiday, or how to read/pronounce something and it will really go along way for your experience with them and their experience with you.