North Korea has closed ten restaurants in the countries of Thailand, Cambodia, and Laos. The restaurants had been specializing in North Korean cuisine, were earning dollars for the communist country, and were popular with South Korean and Japanese customers. The official reason given was the global financial downturn. However, there are reports that waitresses have been recalled and punished for being “flirtatious” with customers.
September 6, 2009
July 14, 2009
Safety standards? Safety schmandards! Those evil Canadians
The Canadian government has forced Lotte Confectionery and Crown Confectionery to recall some of their cookies and biscuits.
Enterobacter sakazakii, which was found in the Maeil powered milk, has been red-flagged by health experts as it could cause meningitis or severe gut infections in newborns. The health risks are greater for infants less than a month old or weighing less than 2.5 kilograms.
[ snip ]
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) issued a warning that people with allergies to milk, eggs, or tree nuts should not consume various snack foods from the Korean companies Crown, Lotte and Surasang. The 10 items include popular products such as Lotte’s Pepero biscuits and Crown’s Sando Choco and Couque Dasse cookies, which contain allergens that weren’t declared on the labels.
Of particular interest is the accompanying illustration, a blond man with a miniature Canadian flag on his jacket arrogantly pushing away beloved Korean products. Those evil Canadians. Safety standards? Safety schmandards. Don’t you people know that our snacks are well-being?
July 2, 2009
Korean food prices second-highest in OECD
Korea has the second-highest food prices in the 30-member OECD. One reason is undoubtedly the fact that Korea pays four times the global average for rice. However, about half of Korea’s remaining farmers (400,000) engage in rice farming, so importing cheaper rice would certainly hurt them. Then again, in the 1960s, 70% of Koreans were farmers. Obviously, Korea is wealthier now than then.
June 30, 2009
Looking for ethnic restaurants? Here you go!
If you’re looking for ethnic restaurants, the Korea Herald has made a nice chart.
I also recommend the following pages from the website Galbijim.
—> Restaurants
—> Ethnic Restaurants in Seoul
Just go to a link that appeals to you and navigate your way around.
Another excellent resource is this map that Roboseyo made.
June 5, 2009
Chili pepper powder not good for losing weight because …
According to two chief nutritionists, one at a medical center and the other at one of Korea’s most respected universities, chili pepper powder, in and of itself, may be good for losing weight. However, most restaurants add a lot of sugar to the powder when making their sauce. Also, the spicier the food, the more rice you may want to eat.
Kim Hyung-mee, chief nutritionist at Severance Hospital, said, “It’s true that the capsaicin in powdered chili has a lipolytic function. But most restaurants put the same amount of sugar as powdered chili in the food to give it both a hot and sweet taste, so people who have to watch their sugar or calorie intake should be extra careful.”
Asan Medical Center chief nutritionist Kang Eun-hee said, “The more spicy or salt food you eat, the more rice you will eventually crave, and that could threaten your health as you take in excessive sugar and high calories from rice. Therefore eating spicy or salty food is not so helpful to dieting.”
It should be noted that Koreans often use the word “dieting” when they ought to say “losing weight.” (For example: “What’s a good way to diet?” // “Skipping rope.”)
May 11, 2009
Warm apple tart with real vanilla ice cream? Mmm …
It seems that there is a place, Gateaux et M’amie, located in Seoul, Hongdae to be exact, where you can get warm apple tart with real vanilla ice cream.
The tarte tatin (6,500 won, $5.20), or upside-down apple tart, is served with homemade vanilla ice cream. The layers of the warm, puffy pastry were crisp, and the aroma of the caramelized apples on top of the tart was irresistible.
The ice cream actually tastes like real vanilla – you can even see the flecks of vanilla bean inside. The vanilla is a wonderful compliment to the crispy texture of the pastry and the fruity sweetness of the caramelized apple. It can be eaten alone, but the portion was so small that I wanted several more scoops.
Except for the part about the small portions, it sounds like a place that I will just have to hunt down the next time in that area.
May 8, 2009
Is Korea finally becoming vegetarian-friendly?
I’m not vegetarian, and not likely to become one anytime soon, but I know people who are, and they can have a hard time in Korea. Restaurants are sometimes not very accommodating, and serving ajummas * will sometimes tell them, “You should eat meat. It’s good for you.” Also, I swear that ham must be considered a vegetable in Korea. I would order “ya-chae kimbap,” or vegetable kimbab, and it would have ham in it. I’d order “salad-uh kimbap,” or salad kimbab, and it would have ham in it. But maybe things are finally starting to change.
Sizzling steaks made with soy beans and vegetable protein, Jjambbong made with vegetable spices infusion instead of chicken gravy, Bulgogi made from wheat protein processed with nuts …
These are foods that can scarcely be imagined without meat, yet meatless versions filled the table at a vegetarian restaurant in Insa-dong, downtown Seoul, last weekend during a regular Sunday lunch gathering of the Korea Vegetarian Union.
There’s still a way to go, however.
Korean society, however, is not so warm toward vegetarians yet, says Lee.
“In the United States or Europe, no one minds when I say I’m a vegetarian. Most of the restaurants even have vegetarian dishes prepared for me. But here, people look at me like I’m an alien when I say that I’m a vegetarian, not that they even ask. They are like, ‘Why do you live like that?’” said Lee [Won-bok, president of the union].
(source)
* “Ajumma” means “auntie” but can be used to refer to any married middle-aged woman with children.
May 2, 2009
Another good reason to drink milk
You already knew that milk is a good source of calcium, among other nutrients. Now there’s some evidence that drinking it with a meal can help you keep from gaining weight.
Drinking milk while eating helps one lose weight because milk helps to decrease the glycemic index (GI), an indicator of the rate and quantity of sugar that comes into blood.
[ snip ]
According to a report released by Japan’s National Institute of Public Health, the GI of boiled rice with dried seaweed was 94, but when a glass of milk is added, with total calories unchanged, the index decreased by approximately 37 percent to 59.
Similar results occurred when reducing the intake of white bread by 20 percent and drinking 100 ml of milk instead. However, excessive milk consumption is not recommended either because milk contains fat. Kang Jae-heon, a family medicine doctor at Inje University Seoul Paik Hospital, recommends drinking low-fat milk if one drinks milk regularly.
(source)
For the longest time, it was impossible to get low-fat milk in Korea, but nowadays, you can easily purchase it at large supermarket chains like Home Plus and E-mart. Even one (though only one) of my neighborhood convenience stores carries it.
Salt in the Korean diet
The Chosun Ilbo has an article, similar to this one that I posted about before, describing how Korean staples like kimchi are high in salt.
Excessive intake of salt is a determining cause for Korea’s top three killer diseases — cancer, stroke and heart disease. According to a report on public health in 2005, Koreans consume a daily average of 13 g of salt, almost three times more than the 5 g recommended by the World Health Organization.
[ snip ]
Excessive salt consumption has been linked to high blood pressure, cardiac trouble, stroke, kidney trouble, gastric cancer, osteoporosis and even obesity.
[ snip ]
The problem is that Koreans take in half the salt they consume from their staple diet, whereas Westerners get most salt from processed food. According to a report by the Korea Food and Drug Administration (KFDA) in 2006, the main sources of natrium for Koreans were kimchi (25 percent), traditional seasoning sauces (22 percent) and salt (20 percent).
[ snip ]
According to the KFDA report, a bowl of noodles contains 7.3 g of salt, already way more than the recommended 5 g. A bowl of instant noodle or ramyeon has 5.3 g, a bowl of cold noodles 4.5 g, kimchi 2.5 g per 100 g and a bowl of soy bean paste stew 2.4 g. In comparison, a slice of pizza contains 3.3 g and a hamburger 2.3 g.
April 15, 2009
The Return of Mad-Cow Beef
American beef suspected of being unsafe is back in the news.
About 13 tons of American beef were falsely sold as Australian products five years ago in defiance of a disposal order issued after a case of mad cow disease, or bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), was reported in the United States.
[ snip ]
In December 2003, when cows suspected of having the disease were found in the U.S. and Seon’s company was ordered to dispose of all American beef, he allegedly destroyed seven tons and falsely reported to the company that he had destroyed the entire 29 tons in the store.
Among the remaining 22 tons, Seon delivered 12.7 tons to discount stores and department stores between August and December 2004. The two fabricated expiration dates of the products and labeled them as “Australian beef,” raking in 280 million won in revenue. The products sold out.
(source)
As frustrating as it was to watch the Mad Cow Madness incite violent protests that caused 3.75 trillion won of damage (about 3.75 million dollars, before the current economic turbulence), I have to say that what these guys did was wrong, and that they do deserve to be punished.
Edit/Update:
Via the Marmot’s Hole, we learn that South Korea is, once again, the third-largest market of U.S. beef.
