The peninsula of Korea has a chequered history of invasion, occupation and isolation. Divided politically and ideologically into North and South, they share the same cultural values: respect for their family, honouring the elderly.....and being inseparable from their mobile phones (which is hardly ever used to make a call...). It therefor comes as no surprise that the world's largest information technology company, Samsung, plays a huge role in shaping the political, economic and cultural agenda of South Korea. Largely responsible for the development of Seoul (The Miracle on the Han River), Samsung has infiltrated most of our lives in one way or another. We recently bought two televisions for our new home. When it comes to televisions, I have always been stoically loyal to the Sony brand, so making my first Samsung purchase (after intensive research and brilliant salesmanship from Chris at the electronic superstore) changed my cultural bias towards electronic equipment. Achieving the same with cars will be a greater challenge.....
Korea's greatest export, however, is not electronic equipment or motor vehicles, but Korean-Pop (over $4 billion). Whether you love it or loathe it, Psy's K-Pop hit Gangnam Style earned him the title "King of Youtube", and even Ban Ki-Moon, UN Secretary General, wanted to work in collaboration with Psy (Park Jae-Sang) because of his "unlimited global reach".
...and we have reached the halfway mark of our culinary journey! Week 26. I was surprised to learn that there are so many Korean restaurants scattered all around Brisbane. The highest concentration is in the city. We chose Hanwoori Korean Restaurant in Mary Street, one of the many streets in the CBD named after Princesses and Queens of the royal family (Charlotte to the north and Margaret to the south). But it is along Elizabeth Street that you will find most of the Korean eateries frequented by the large Korean student population in Brisbane. There are 150,873 Koreans by ancestry living in Australia, of which 38% hold Australian citizenship. Since 2000, the temporary student migrants from Korea have dramatically increased, fuelled by their desire to study at our universities and learn English. And there was no shortage of young Korean patrons at Hanwoori last night either.
Hanwoori is a Korean BBQ restaurant, where diner participation is essential. Each table is equipped with a built in cooktop grill. The selection of meats, seafood and vegetables to cook are too many to mention. The ingredients are all displayed in numerous refrigerated island counters. You take your plate, stack it high and grill to your hearts delight. It is entirely up to you to decide how adventurous, experimental or safe you want to be in creating your dining experience. Hanwoori must have very clever smoke detectors to distinguish between the composition of BBQ smoke and fire smoke (I know this to be true after research into smoke detectors for our new home, as we live in a level 3 Bush Fire Attack Zone......bless Brisbane City Council) as it gets pretty smoky with all the grills going (similar to the cloud of smoke that was hanging over SunCorp Stadium during the Eminem concert on Thursday night...... again a very different composition.....)
Ma shi ke du se yo!
The boys were in their element. Each with a pair of tongs in hand, turning the sizzling steak, pork belly and marinated chicken until it's cooked to perfection. What separates Korean cuisine from others is the number of side dishes served. There can be up to 12 different bowls of preserved, pickled or fermented vegetables (kimchi being the most popular) placed on the table to enhance the flavour of the meat, chicken or seafood. Essential spices include chili pepper flakes (kochukaru), chili pepper paste (kochujang), soybean paste (daenjang), soy sauce, garlic, ginger, scallions and sesame oil. One could describe Korean cuisine as intensely flavoured, savoury and bold. Apart from the cooking tongs, there are also a couple of scissors on the table to cut the meat into bite size pieces to make eating with chopsticks easier. Korean cuisine does not have separate courses like Western meals. All the dishes are placed on the table at the same time, with rice acting as backbone to all meals. One could argue that the backbone of our Friday Night Out family dinners has to be the sharing of interesting facts about our chosen destination.
There were eight of us last night, with The Molloys and Martina adding to our increased understanding and appreciation of this fascinating country. Here's one worth sharing: The Koreans believe that your blood type determines your personality. For instance people with blood type A are considered to be conservative, punctual and loyal, but uptight and obsessive. Blood type B is a different story: they are lazy, impatient, creative and passionate, and will easily cheat on their partner. Blood type O'ers are ambitious, determined and athletic, but pompous and egotistical. And if you have blood type AB you are cool and under control but elitist and judgemental.
Another interesting fact: Koreans love bullfighting...with a difference, though: no matador, no red cape and no swords. Just bull versus bull. They search for the most perfect fighting machine (big horns, thick necks and low torsos) and put them through a rigorous training regime. Just before the battle begins, the trainer will give his one-ton, testosterone -charged fighter some liquid courage ( a very potent grain liquor called soju).....couldn't think of a better way to start a fight!
Next week we'll travel to the home of bull fighting (matador and cape included): See you in Spain!
No comments:
Post a Comment