Korean Exchange

There I was sitting in the teacher’s cafeteria and a million little silver eye-balls were looking back at me.  “Go ahead, try.”  I was hesitant, but since Mi-Yong was enjoying the little tiny fish, I decided to give it a try.  They were actually pretty good; crunchy, salty and a little sweet.  I am talking about myulchi bokkeum, a popular Korean side dish.  After Mi-Yong saw me eat and enjoy her native food, a bond was created and a friendship blossomed.  Mi-Yong Kim was an exchange teacher from Korea that became my “shadow” for part of the school year.  Her goal was to learn the “American” methods of teaching ESL and to bring those methods back to her country where she teaches English.    There were two Ms. Kims; Mi-Yong worked with me, and the other Ms. Kim would meet us for lunch each day.  You should know that I never eat at the teacher’s cafeteria, it’s too far from my classroom and with only a twenty minute lunch, I usually don’t have time to eat there.  However, with the Kims, I made the extra effort.  In return I was blessed by partaking in an experience I will never forget and lunch became my favorite time of the day.

The first day we had lunch together was amazing.  As I sat there with my simple ham and cheese sandwich and my water bottle, the Kims brought with them an array of small containers, teas, and the slimmest metal chopsticks I have ever seen.  Watching them eat was like watching a work of art.  The way they would assemble the various dishes and then sample from them was mesmerizing.  I was astonished to see how they would delicately use the thin chopsticks to pick up a small thin square of dried seaweed and then make a rice-roll filling the thin paper like square with white rice all in one swift movement.  When I asked them why their chopsticks were so different from what I was familiar with they said, “Korean metal chopsticks are more hygienic and because of their size and shape it takes more skill to learn how to use them, that makes you smarter.”  Suddenly I felt dumb, since I was already an awkward chopstick user (I had a flash back of my Chinese students laughing when they saw me eat with chopsticks one time we went on a trip to China town in NYC).  Little did I know that the correct handling of metal chopsticks is said to involve the simultaneous use of 30 joints and 50 muscles in the fingers, and many of Korea's national successes have been attributed to the mastering of such complex movements and feats of hand-eye coordination. 

What followed after that first lunch was a thing of beauty.  As it turns out Mi-Yong was learning how to cook traditional Korean dishes.  She told me that this was the first time she had to cook for herself, since her mom did most of the cooking back home. For her it was important to learn how to cook Korean food if she was ever going to be a good wife.  As a result, she would cook Korean lunches for me and I was a willing food taster.  I don’t know if this arrangement was fair to her since I never had Korean food before and I had nothing to compare her cooking skills with.  But I enjoyed each meal and I think she enjoyed watching me eat them.  She took such pride in the preparation, the quality of the ingredients, and the presentation.  I asked her how did she find the ingredients and she told me the journey she took on the weekends into NYC to a Korean market to bring the ingredients back to Jersey.  I felt horrible, there I was stuffing my face and Mi-Yong went through so much trouble to make the dishes!  Knowing this made her food taste even better.  The love and dedication that went into each meal was priceless.  I didn’t know what to do, if I told her not to go through the trouble I would risk insulting her, but at the same time I felt bad she did go through the trouble.  So, I decided to go on the internet and found a few closer Asian supermarkets in Jersey to try out; as it turns out there are plenty in Jersey (see the list provided). In return, I also cooked for her a few times and she also was a willing taster of my eclectic cuisine.

The highlight of my Korean food experience with Mi-Yong had to be the day all the Korean exchange teachers invited their American counterparts to eat Korean BBQ at KeoKu Korean Restaurant on Rt. 46 in Parsippany, NJ.  Our group went and had a great time.  For the Korean teachers it was an opportunity to teach us about their culture and for the American teachers it was a moment where we felt like they did, excited and a little out of place, but willing to try something new.  When we arrived, I was surprised to see that each table had a small grill.  The Korean teachers ordered for us Gogigui, which means meat roasting.  This included Bulgogi, thinly sliced beef sirloin or tenderloin, and Galbi, marinated beef short ribs.  Along with the Gogigui came numerous banchan (side dishes).  Many of the side dishes were fresh vegetables such as lettuce, radish, green beans, and green onions.   The most popular of the side dishes was Kimchi, which for me is like spicy Korean sauerkraut.  Other side dishes included rice, a steamed egg dish, fish, meat, and soups.  I later learned that traditionally Koreans eat meals with anywhere from 2 to 12 side dishes, all which are served at the same time.  The fun in this is sharing the side dishes, thus a Korean meal becomes very sociable.  At KeoKu, the Koreans could tell that the Americans did not know how to start the meal, the waitresses at KeoKu were very kind and patient and showed us how to use the lettuce to wrap the grilled meat and some side dishes to make a sort of lettuce wrap.  I have to say that at first I was clumsy and got the meat juices all over myself, but the food was so delicious that I didn’t care.  Mi-Yong was right there with me with a hand full of napkins to help me out.  Included with the meal we had Bori Cha, Korean Barley Tea.  The soothing warm tea had a mild nutty taste.  I’m a tea lover, so I enjoyed it, but my favorite was the Soo Jung, Korean Cinnamon Tea. 

I loved Soo Jung so much that I went home and got a recipe off the internet and tried making it my self.  It didn’t turn out the same; I later found out that I didn’t let it simmer the right amount of time, but once I figured out how to get it just right, Soo Jung has become a family favorite.  As we ate and drank, the conversation was about the food, and the Koreans’ experiences living in New Jersey for the first time.  I asked Mi-Yong how close was this food to what she had back home, and she said it was the closet she could find during her time in Jersey.   What a blessing to have such a wonderful experience, I felt like I had traveled to Korea and I didn’t even step on a plane. 

Mi-Yong also had the opportunity to sample some of my food and culture.  During Christmas break I invited her first to my home and then to my church’s Spanish Speaking group potluck dinner and she was able to sample food from Puerto Rico, Colombia, El Salvador, Cuba, Ecuador, Costa Rica, and the Dominican Republic.  Again, the conversation at the table was about the food and what each dish represented to each person that brought it. 

The highlight of the night was when Mi-Yong entertained us with the Korean Haegeum.  Imagine, a room full of Latinos and a beautiful Korean playing the Haegeum, a traditional Korean string instrument that is played while the musician sits on the floor pretzel style and it’s held vertically on the knee of the performer while played with a bow.  The fun part was listening to Mi-Yong play Jingle Bells on the Haegeum!  These are the moments I love about living in a diverse area.

I have many great memories of my time with the Kims.  My meal at KeoKu was so memorable, that I went back with my husband several months after the Kims returned to Korea.  I missed having lunch “Korean Style” and I miss the Kims.  To my surprise going back to the restaurant was bitter sweet.  It was great to have the food, but something was missing.  I wanted my husband to feel what I felt that night I first went to KeoKu or all the other times I had lunch with the Kims, but how could he?  The most important ingredient was missing, the Korean friends that made the experience so special.  Without them the food was still good, but it was not extraordinary.   

If you live in North Central Jersey and want to try Korea BBQ try:

KeoKu Korean Restaurant
245 US Highway 46, Parsippany, NJ 07054
973-844-0032

SIMPLE KOREAN RECIPES:

Soo Jung –Korean Cinnamon Tea

Ingredients

• 5 cinnamon sticks
• 1 quart water
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar ( or to taste) – [I added Agave or Stevia as a sugar substitute]
• 1 teaspoon pine nuts, lightly toasted – [you can also use sun flower seeds]

Directions

1. In a saucepan, combine cinnamon, water & sugar. Bring to a boil, then turn heat to low & simmer for 20 minutes, before setting aside to cool.
2. After tea has cooled, chill it in the refrigerator.
3. To serve, remove cinnamon sticks & pour the cold tea into cups or glasses, then garnish with pine nuts.

Dried Korean Anchovy - Myulchi Bokkeum

Learng more about Korean Food

- Korean Cuisine Documentary

- Korean American Cooking Show - Kimchi Chronicles

 

Some of the Asian Markets in North Central Jersey are:

 Asian Food Market : 1011 U.S. 22, North Plainfield, NJ ‎

(908) 668-8382 ()‎

HMART - Edison : 1761 New Jersey 27, Edison, NJ ‎

(732) 339-1530 ()‎

AsianFood Market : 1339 Centennial Ave, Piscataway Township, NJ ‎

Centennial Square (732) 645-3018 ()‎

Mitsuwa Marketplace: 595 River Rd, Edgewater, NJ ‎

Waterside Plaza (201) 941-9113

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References:

Images - Myulchi Bokkeum, Korean Chopsticks, Korean BBQ, SooJung, Haegeum