Bippity Bappity Boo

Rice. Along with kimchi it is the heart of nearly every traditional Korean meal. The side dishes are plentiful but they are just that, side dishes. I still haven’t come into this mindset since all the best tastes reside in them. You can’t really hate rice but I don’t think I’ll ever love it as much as Koreans do.

Rice is so important that the literal translation of “How are you?” is “Have you eaten rice?”

In Korea, rice is not just rice. It has it’s own vocabulary…cooked, uncooked, different types. The word I encounter most frequently is bap, cooked rice, and it's always...white.

There is an ajumma that I squabble with twice a week because I don’t finish my white rice. It is an exhausting game of moving it around to make it look like I ate some. Leaving rice uneaten seems borderline offensive...apparently the rice balances out saltiness of kimchi. When I’m lucky I can sneak some out of my bowl. The happy look on her face when she thinks I finished my rice almost makes me feel guilty. I’ve tried to explain that I only eat brown rice…she then proceeds to show me how five grains of brown are mixed into the sea of white.

The way I demonize white rice you’d think I was talking about Kim Jong-un (oh, too sensitive to joke about now?) However, the most health-conscious Koreans I've met also chose brown rice. Since kimchi is one of the world's healthiest foods, white rice must get balanced out...obesity rates in Korea are among the lowest in the world.

Sooo we're eating a lot of rice over here. I can only think of two Korean meals when rice wouldn’t be served in some form. I typically get my fill when I go out to eat and therefore rarely fire up the rice cooker at home (although the versatility of rice cookers extends far beyond rice...banana bread anyone?) It surprises me that in a rice-centric country brown rice isn't more common, or at least an option. Occasionally you get a blend of rice grains but alone Koreans say “the taste is just not good.”

I estimate I average four Korean meals a week…pathetic. If there was ever a time to eat Korean food, it’s now. I generally cook familiar foods and often scope out the foreign food scene when I go out. But lately, I’ve been craving more and more Korean food. Korean take-out is oh so cheap, it’s hardly worth the trouble of learning to make it. Buuuut…cooking is my creative process and sometimes teaching myself to cook a dish so unfamiliar to my cultural upbringing is a welcomed challenge! All the better when I can substitute brown rice! A few rice dishes I’ve braved in my little kitchen:

In my experimental kimchi phase a few months ago you may remember that I replicated kimchi bokkeumbap (kimchi fried rice.) Even kimchi-skeptics appreciate this meal. Kimchi served warm (fried or in soup) is an entirely different beast.

Bibimbap might be the most quintessential Korean food. There are countless variations but the classic is veggies, rice and red pepper paste all mixed together. Sesame seeds, seaweed paper, and a fried egg are common accompaniments. My favorite variation is dolcet bibimbap, cooked and served in a hot stone pot…it stays warm all through the meal! I've made bibimbap but mine was much less photogenic than this restaurant version. On my flight in August I had no idea how to eat this or what it even was. Now it’s one of my favorite foods…how far I’ve come!

Ssambap is commonly offered as a vehicle to eat Korean barbeque. It’s a lettuce wrap with rice, meat, and a bit of doenjang paste. I have partaken most at grilled fish restaurants (seen here...yet no rice or lettuce to be seen!) but at home I attempted a tofu ssambap. With sesame oil and soy sauce on hand, a delicious tofu marinade is all too simple.

Kimbap, the Korean version of fast food. It’s quick and cheap and delicious. There are some non-vegetarian friendly versions but I typically stick to vegetable, kimchi or tuna. Even the veggie version comes with a slice of Spam though I quickly learned how to ask for a modification. Kimbap can be tricky to make if the rice isn’t the right texture or the knife isn’t sharp enough. I learned the hard way. After one failed slicing, I resorted to eating the second hotdog-style (so un-Korean!)

Typical Korean lunch for two... two types of kimchi, rice, soup and plenty of banchan! My fellow diner and I each have our own rice and soup, but the rest is communal. I definitely didn't make this one...