Some Strange Food Choices

We all think of certain things as being a given. This is especially true with food items. What goes with a burger? Maybe some fries or chips. What goes on a pizza? Pepperoni perhaps. What kind of foods do you find on a salad bar? Some nice fruits and veggies perhaps. All of these thoughts have to be out of your mind when you're dining in Korea.

Pizza. When ordering pizza in Korea, you may want to say something you've never thought of saying before. Hold the corn. Yes, corn is a given ingredient for pizza. It's as common as tomato sauce. It's not unpleasant, but it just isn't Kosher in terms of pizza. So, when you're at Pizza Hut, just say "corn, no."

You know what would go great with that corn-free pizza? Breadsticks? Garlic bread? Salad? Nope. How about some nice pickles. They definitely come free with pizza, it's a given. I have a whole shelf in the door of my fridge that is little tubs of pickles from Dominoes Pizza. Don't ask me why they come with pizza, they just do. Perhaps a pregnant woman introduced pizza to Korea.

French fries. Maybe you call them freedom fries. Either way they are good. There is nothing more American than some nice fries with a burger or sandwich. Did you want those hot? Well, don't hold your breath. Fried potatoes are usually served cold here. Ice cold french fries. When I asked my english co-teacher about the cold fries I said "Why are the fries cold?" She simply said "they were hot when they cooked them." Yes, they were hot at 8am when they cooked them for lunch. So, don't get set on eating some steaming hot fries.

Ketchup or catsup. It's the greatest thing since sliced bread. It goes on everything in the US, and it goes on everything in Korea. Don't be surprised to see ketchup offered for some odd items, just go with the flow. Ketchup for you fish? Yes. Ketchup with cinnamon for cold fries? You betcha. Ketchup for any fried thing? Yup. Sometimes you are just offered mustard. Not big on choices here in Korea.

Tea. Don't hope for some nice black tea like in the US. They drink all kinds, except black. Green. Barley. Yam. Tarrow root. Leaves of all sorts. No caffeine. Not necessarily great tasting. At school when the other teachers say "Mr. Youngs, do you want some tea?" I just say "No thank-you." I can't drink another cup of green or barley tea. I just can't stomach it.

Odd drinks. In Korea no one drinks the water. It contains arsenic. So, everywhere you go they have big water purifiers that give cold and hot water. So, you also find little tubes of drink powders to go in the purified water. You can get cocoa and some nice fruity drinks. Be careful. A teacher offered me a drink. I said "anything cold." Then I took a drink. Mmmmm.... pine. It was a pine beverage. "You don't like it?" I replied "It's good, but in the US we don't eat pine." It tasted like a pine cone. Only in Korea. I guess it's a good thing that the 7-11 doesn't have slurpies. Who the hell wants a pine or barley tea slurpee?

On salad bars, look for lots of quail egg dishes. Also popular are unidentifiable mashed things. Maybe it's sweet potato? Maybe it's mud pie. Don't know. I hope you like Thousand Island dressing. That is ALL that is available here in Korea. If there are other types, I haven't seen them. It's a small country, and the choices are strange and limited. Remember, I'm on an island here. We share a border with North Korea, and we don't trade with them. Everything has to be shipped here. Crazy crazy food.

So, next time you are eating pizza, or enjoying a free salad bar, or simple tea... think of me. Think of having to think in a strange convoluted way. No corn on the pizza please. No pickles with the pizza. Do you have anything other than thousand island? Normal tea? It's the little things that make the difference.