Indulgence Corner (of the healthy sort): Homilhodu

I work at one of the few schools with a female Principal. She’s nice, I guess, but we don’t really interact much. It turns out that she used to be the head of some English department for the government… and yet she doesn’t speak English to me. The Vice Principal’s a jolly man who enjoys calling out, “Hi, how are you,” and “I’m fine, thanks,” in a rapid-fire order in the classic Greeting Foreigners Formula that Koreans have ingrained into them, whenever he sees me, whilst holding up his right hand in the British Royal way of “waving”. At times, it’s pretty amusing…

Principal: Hi! How are you?
Me: I’m doing pretty good. How about you?
Principal: I’m fine, thank you! And you?
Me: ..I’m doing well…

He totally rocks. Well, when he sees me, he would normally say that, but at around lunch, as is custom, he always tells me to eat a lot and to eat well – in Korean, of course. At lunch, he normally sits with three other men around his age, one of whom is the traffic director at the front of the school and we always make it a point to smile and wave to one another when I pass the school gate. One day, I was turning into the hallway that led into the staff lunchroom; it’s essentially the science lab. Yes, they have a fully-equipped science lab. First person around the corner was the Principal who told me to eat a lot, then was another of his Lunch Posse who nodded at me and smiled. Then there was the last member of The Posse; the traffic director. He also told me to eat a lot of grabbed one of my hands to place a small, round object wrapped in white tissue paper and told me to eat it along with a barrage of Korean; I decided he was telling me it was good for me so I must eat it. It was from Homilhodu.

It’s a chain of stores and cafes that specialise in sweets featuring walnuts and what he handed me was their signature product. It’s this ball of dough surrounding an entire walnut within as well as a ball of sweet bean filling in the middle. There’s actually a small, but cute branch within my neighborhood that I often pass by on the way to school, but I never went in at first, because I didn’t know what they sold. Now that I know, I plan on visiting very soon as their products appear to be pretty healthy and delicious. It just hasn’t happened yet because there always seems to be food in my apartment and there’s only me to eat it all, so I haven’t gotten around to it.

Sadly, I don’t think the branch in my neighborhood features everything that could be found in their cafe, but some selections include their signature item (the walnut-paste-ball-of-happiness), stuffed buns and other bread-pastries, as well as pies (or so they call it – looks more like tarts instead), cookies, and waffles.

All I know is that this place screams out for my family; it’s exactly what my mom and sister would fall for. Nuts in a subtly sweet dough and a bean paste in the middle? Yes, well, I come from a family of health nuts (pun not intended though appreciated) and I supposed I’m a bit influenced as such. Even if you’re not into that, just look at what you find inside the wrapper!

Basically, just try it out if you haven’t already. 🙂 Yes, that’s the main point of this post.

Looking Deeper

From what I remember of Koreans in the States, they stick to themselves. It’s a fact.

My university was host to quite a number of Korean students, international or otherwise, and they stuck together like glue. They might interact with you, but it’s mainly for academic purposes. Then you’ll see them hang out in groups with other Koreans speaking in their own language and essentially shutting out every other ethnicity that isn’t Korean. Of course, there are some exceptions, particularly of the Korean-American groups, but they also tend to gravitate toward other Korean-Americans. I told one of my coteachers about this. Her response?

It happens, but that’s bad. Their parents sent them overseas to study and to learn English. They’re not supposed to only talk to other Koreans and speak more Korean… It’s a waste of an opportunity.

Well, I agree as well, but what can you do? I sort of see why they did that though. You can observe the foreign population in South Korea, or more specifically, Daejeon. They form online groups and communities and contact one another, hang out, etc. It’s a way to sort of have some sort of social life while living away from other people like you; people who are more familiar with how you work and not to mention the lack of miscommunication, though that’s a lie. Even when you’re fluent in the same language or no matter how much you know one another, miscommunication happens (read: romantic relationships in general). I try not to fall into this, but once in a while, I do find it nice to hang out with other native English speakers and be foreigners together, because when alone, I try to blend in, which is pretty interesting because although it works for the most part, it’s not as fulfilling when you just don’t know the language that well. I’m not one who likes to talk, but it’s a nice option to have. Plus I hate not understanding things; it’s utterly infuriating and even though I have a smile on my face, it doesn’t mean that I’m happy to be out of the loop. Not that they would know I was out of the loop in the first place. >.>

However, when you’re in Korea, you see the bad and the good and the truth of the matter is that in every country, you have your rotten eggs. However, you also find the gems within it all. I have noticed that Koreans tend to be pretty generous and hospitable. Sometimes, even that’s an understatement. Interestingly, it happens mainly with females; I guess there’s the whole gender barrier that Koreans tack onto relationships.

Shabu Well Buffet

I just love trying new things and sometimes, it annoys me how I’m (mostly)-vegetarian. Needless to say, I know that being vegetarian in Korea’s pretty hard so before I set foot in this county, I told myself that I would allow myself to be flexible. Where I normally wouldn’t drink broth derived from animals (or seafood) or eat food cooked with or touching cooked animal flesh, I would here. Otherwise, I would be one hungry teacher and me hungry isn’t a good thing. Even so, I always go through a vague sense of dread when it’s time for a teacher dinner or a meeting out with native Koreans. Although the vegetarian community is growing, most of that’s happening in Seoul and a majority of Koreans don’t fully understand the concept. Plus, outings usually mean soju which is inevitably paired with meats like samgyupsal and snacking foods like soondae (Korean blood sausage) and gopchang (intestines). Even my beloved ddeokbokki usually contains fishcake and lets not think about the broth that they might be using. It turns out that they truly thought of this this time, even though that they were puzzled at my self-enforced dietary limitations; sometimes I’m puzzled by it too, but it’s a good challenge that keeps me interested in life. So… for tonight’s dinner with the other fine-arts and non-homeroom teachers for my male coworker’s last day working at our school, I found us here:

Indulgence Corner: Orion’s Diget

I seem to be on a roll when it comes to these supposedly healthy snacks and sweets. As I type this, I’m snacking on these tofu chips that I obtained at Tous les Jour, a Korean bakery chain, which will be featured in an upcoming post on Korean bakeries. Nope, this post is dedicated to a cookie. ^^

See? There's a picture of whole wheat on the box. 😀

It’s not just any cookie, either. It’s 다이제, or pronounced Daijae and officially romanised as Diget, and it’s one that features “wheatmeal” in it as well as chocolate and we all know chocolate is complete win. This particular box contained 8 individual packs within, which, in turn, possesses 4 cookies each. It’s a crunchy cookie and as your teeth takes a bite, you can feel it breaking and crumbs start scattering, but no matter; you’re eating a cookie that makes you feel a little less guilty (exactly 9 percent less guilty) for eating said cookie. As you chew it and it combines with the saliva in your mouth, it becomes this cookie paste and you can taste the little grainy bits of this “wheatmeal” along with a bit of chocolate. I mean, you can see it too, but don’t you ever wish that you could sample items in pictures or on the TV, rather like in that one scene from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory? I personally think that layer of chocolate on the bottom could be just a bit thicker, but perhaps that’s just wishful thinking. The good news is that both the chocolate and the cookie itself aren’t too sweet; they’re just right. Dipping it in milk just makes it that much better.

What I really don’t get, however, is why it’s only 9 percent wheat meal. I mean, why not just go for the full ten percent or even take the leap to fifty percent? That would make me feel fifty percent better for being the only person who ate that entire box of cookies. Granted, it did take me almost a month to finish it, but still! It was all mine. Now that I think about it, I’m glad it was all mine. ..That’s not the point. The point is that I’m going to be diabetic before I know it. Also: what’s up with the name? What does “diget” even mean? The only thing I could think of was how perhaps it’s just Konglish for “digest” but “diget” makes it sound just that much more French (deejzhay) which makes it more chic and elegant and marketable all in one. I mean, the French are known for their baked goods, yes? Anyway, this would imply that the cookie is somewhat good for you; perhaps with the added fiber, it would help the foods you ingest go through your system better.

All around, it’s a good thing. :] Or so I tell myself.

[RECIPE] Premium Vermont Curry, Mild

I honestly don’t know why I decided to make a post of this; I made it from boxed curry. It’s not that difficult. Even so, I like noting the differences in what one country makes of some other country’s products. For instance, I’m in love with the Japanese Golden Curry (mild, of course) that I would occasionally purchase once a month to satiate my want for curry that doesn’t make me gulp down a cup of water during and afterwards. I don’t do well with spicy foods (or hot foods in general) which is funny, since I currently live in Korea and they love their spice and I have a soft soft for Indian foods and Indian curry is definitely spicy. I can overlook it due to the paneer, among other things, though. 🙂 Even so, the first thing I do before doing anything when working with boxed mixes, I still glance at the back of the box. In this case, it was a bad idea because I froze and stared at all the hangeul staring back at me. One-point-five seconds later, I pulled myself together and looked at the hangeul and picked out what I knew and worked from there.

In other words, I pretty much just made it like I made my Golden Curry; I’d never tried Vermont Curry before, so I was excited.

My stomach's grumbling...

Two things are for sure: it’s still good and absolutely delicious, but it’s also spicier than Golden Curry. For instance, Golden Curry’s mild curry doesn’t feel spicy at all, something my old roommate didn’t quite like (but I loved). Vermont Curry definitely leaves a tingling sensation and after three bites, I had a trusty cup of milk at my side. I’m not sure if this is because of it being a different brand or how Koreans generally love spicy food and the brand decided to cater to the masses. Either way, I totally demolished it. 🙂 Next time, I’ll try Golden Curry is see if that one decided to take on some spice as well.

*****

PREMIUM VERMONT CURRY, MILD

INGREDIENTS*
1 block of fresh, firm tofu; cubed
1 cup of Carrot, cubed
1 cup of Potato, cubed
1 cup of Zucchini, cubed
1 cup of Eggplant, cubed
1 to 2 tablespoons of cooking oil
1 full package of Premium Vermont Curry
Brown and white rice, cooked
**all measurements are approximate. I filled up a plate with an 11-inch diameter.

INSTRUCTIONS
Saute the carrots, potatoes, zucchini, eggplant, and tofu in some cooking oil for a couple of minutes, or until they appear to be halfway-cooked. I usually wait until the zucchini and eggplant appears to be somewhat soft and some sides of the tofu are lightly tinted brown.

Add three-and-a-half cups of water to the vegetables and bring to a boil. Simmer for around 12 to 18 minutes, or until the potatoes have cooked through, but aren’t of the mashed potato variety. Break up the curry blocks and slowly dissolve it within the simmering mixture until completely homogeneous and simmer for five more minutes before serving over a mountain of freshly cooked rice.

Revel in the fragrance and let the flavors dance across your taste buds.
Caution: hot.

Indulgence Corner: Yeonyangkaeng

I’ve always seen these boxes sold both individually and in packs. My male coworker told me that it was a traditional Korean candy. I was tempted – I’m all about trying new things and getting to know my new home – but then he said it was basically all sugar. That stopped me. I love sweets but if it’s too sweet, I don’t like it anymore. That was my main complaint about American sweets; they’re always too sweet! As a result, I always ended up overlooking it, but it was never completely out of my thoughts. I decided that I would try it one day. Today, I hung out with a friend who’s been living in Daejeon for two years with her Korean-American husband and his parents. We stopped by her place, which was pretty nice, and she gave me a bunch of stuff: a bag of mint, an apple, and this when she found out I had never tried it before.

Looking at the name, Yeonyangkaeng (연양갱), I had no clue what I would find inside. It was sort of heavy for candy and when you shook it, the contents moved up and down longitudinally. Then you open it up to find a foil-like packaging encasing something soft and malleable. My next thought: so, it’s a chewy candy? Anyway, back to the name. I was curious at if the Korean had any meaning so I looked up each character individually after I realised that all three of them showed no hits on the dictionary.

연 – (1) kite, (2) year, (3) stanza
양 – (1) sheep; (2) quantity, amount, volume; (3) yang [as in yin-yang]; (4) both; (5) miss [title for young females]
갱 – (1) gangster, mobster; (2) gang, mob

I soon decided that the words held no true hint for what lay within so I just opened it and saved me the trouble and thought-space. Yeah, I thought it looked pretty interesting as well. Taking a bite, then another, I decided it reminded me of sweet red beans, a common ingredient in traditional Asian sweets. I wasn’t sure, though, and I didn’t fancy looking up everything on the box, so I randomly googled this sweet and found this:

Haitai’s “Yeonyangkaeng” red-bean jelly bar, first introduced onto the local market in 1945 and still popular today, embodies the kind of existential, chicken-or-egg quandry that drives certain nationalistic Koreans crazy. Ask any Japanese person, and they’ll tell you that Yeonyangkeng is simply a Korean version of Yokan, a classic Japanese sweet made of adzuki-bean paste and agar traditionally served at tea ceremonies. When I called the Haitai headquarters, however, they insisted unequivocally — and rather haughtily — that Yeonyangkaeng is a “purely Korean” product. Meanwhile, a lot of younger Koreans assume that it’s a traditional Korean sweet as well, simply because it’s been around for so long. So which is it: Japanese or Korean? I would argue that that is a pointless question, since it is both and neither. Yes, Yeonyangkaeng was doubtless inspired by Japanese Yokan; at the same time, however, Yeonyangkaeng is as old as Korean democracy itself, and as such has become part of the historical fabric of Korean culture. Once again, it is both and neither, in the same way that French fries are neither “purely French” nor “purely American.” Anyway, the point is how does it taste? I would say that it tastes great — not too sweet, and a lot healthier than most of the other junk available in convenience stores these days. So lighten up, Haitai: regardless of its nationality, Yeonyangkaeng tastes exactly the same — and that’s good enough for me!
[source]

So! There you have it. It’s a red bean-jelly (or agar) bar. I agree with this dude; it’s not all that sweet, or at least it could be sweeter. However, that doesn’t mean it’s subtle. There’s definitely sugar. I only ate one-third of the “bar” before I decided to save it for tomorrow and I’m definitely going to search for some water after this. It is pretty good though. I normally don’t like beans but there are no chunks – just the smooth, bean texture, somewhat similar to mashed potatoes, and the sugar content just creeps up on you. However, without looking anything up, I know it contains 1.3% locally-grown glutinous rice (국산 찹쌀 1.3% 함유). Perhaps that’s the thickening agent that they used?

Indulgence Corner: Bungeossamanko

I love the fish-shaped pastries here. Last week, I was on a mission to get ice cream but I places I went to only had individually-sold ones. I decided to get two different ones to last me until I could go to Lotte Mart to get a nice-sized box of the cold treats. This was one of them… because I love the pastries, why not the ice cream?

Bungeobbang in ice cream form. ❤

Instead of the soft, thin dough-crust surrounding a sweet bean mixture, there’s a light, rice-based “shell” surrounding a thick layer of vanilla ice cream and a 1.5 mm thick layer of a sweet, vaguely bean-y spread. Yes, that picture is somewhat misleading.

I wanted to kiss it goodbye... and took a chunk of his face instead. Oops.

I thought it was pretty good. It’s a good size and I’m glad the picture was misleading. The ice cream wasn’t all that sweet but the bean layer was – in fact, I actually ended up drinking some water after finishing this animal-friendly fish. The design’s cute and I love the outer shell since it gave it a nice texture and something to crunch into. The shell, however, is somewhat like two parts coming together so it moved from time to time, threatening to open and spill out its precious cargo, but that was it. 🙂 Nothing spilled; I wouldn’t let it. Now, my only comment is if they lightened up on the sugar they added in the bean, I would love this a lot more. Also: I always see it in packs of five or six for around 5,000 won, give or take several hundred won, depending on where you go. Isn’t that a bit steep? Even for a snack favorite?

Nothing’s Perfect

When western society thinks of Asians, they think of how they make good grades, are good at math and science, how they general possess small eyes, and other generalised stereotypes. Interesting how most of them are academic-related, it’s also interesting to see how their education system works. Since I’m working within the system, I get a nice – and, at times, not so nice – view of how it is… or at least how it is in Korea.

Here are just a few points I noticed.

Just One of Those Days…

It’s half past ten and I’m sleepy and with a good mind to just take a shower (well, after I skim through tomorrow’s stuff) and crash. However, today was just one of those days. The days that make you rethink things or even begin to. The days that makes you wonder why you woke up in the first place, why I moved to Korea, why I decided to come here to teach of all things. This was one of those days that make me want to just collapse where I standing, pull at my hair in frustration, and do serious acts of violence all at once.

Okay, it wasn’t that bad, but it’s bad enough that I felt even halfway there because I’m someone who takes things at face value (but also overthinks things but by the time I come to a conclusion, I’ve also decided it doesn’t matter anymore) and tends to give people and things the benefit of the doubt. Things don’t normally bother me and when they do, I brush them aside or just ignore them. I guess some things just built up – not to mention that this is the last week that male coworker of mine, the one who was aiming to be my boyfriend and supplies me with episodes of Bones, will be working at my school. That means that I’ll be stuck with a bunch of female coworkers who I do like but we’re just not that close beginning next week. The whole Wall of Professionalism prevents me from being close and they only really talk to me when we’re alone or when they need something. I’m already someone who hesitates before talking to people and this really isn’t helping.

Indulgence Corner: Lotte Jewel Ice Bar

Ice cream is becoming a necessity after I get home from work and sometimes, I may indulge in one after taekwondo. Like tonight. Right after school today, I went straight to Lotte Mart because every other place doesn’t sell ice cream in packs, which seriously irks me. I can’t go to the store every day to buy just one individually wrapped ice cream product! What kind of ice cream fiend would I be?? Well, I went out and got a two pack – one of those 1+1 ones (aka buy one get one free) and on top of me obtaining twelve bars of ice cream, one of them happens to be a healthy one!

The red tape attached it to the other bag. ^^ Ignore it.

It's simple and the colors are subtle; rather calming in a way. Definitely cooling. ^^

You heard me right; I said healthy. On the back of the bag, it proudly states that one bar contains 15 mg of vitamin C and 2.5 grams of dietary fiber – not to mention how it’s only 70 calories per bar. I wasn’t sure how it would taste, but it turned out to be pretty good and thirst quenching, though I still downed a cup of water to top it off with all the sweating today’s workout gave me. Basically, it’s name isn’t misguided. It’s sort of subtly sweet and slightly tangy – somewhat reminiscent of frozen yoghurt but a bit more watered down. Scattered throughout the stark white bar itself are these pastel-colored cubes. I thought they would be like jello, but they aren’t. They are literally lightly colored ice cubes that gave a nice, crunchy texture to the somewhat softer and sno-cone like white mass that surrounds it. I know because I wasn’t expecting it so the first cube almost fell onto the ground and the second cube did end up on the ground. >.> I quickly picked it up and popped it into my mouth; five second rule and all, haha… Can’t go around wasting edible things like that and definitely not ice cream.

My ending verdict? It’s a good, simple bar that makes me feel better than eating the real ice cream bars that contain probably twice the amount of calories. It shall be my post-taekwondo bar! Either that or on my next trip, I quickly find another ice-based bar to fulfill my sweet tooth and need for cooling down…

I also need to figure out how my AC works before I really need it.