I'm starting to develop yet another cold while being here. I know you basically are what you eat, and I'm starting to believe I'm sick mainly due to the diet here in Korea. I've never been picky about food, but since I've been in Korea and my body has suffered the consequences of this diet, I'm finding that I'm disliking Korean cuisine more and more everyday.
So here are my: 10 Things I dislike About food in Korea
1.
Too High in Sodium
All soups, meat, and side dishes are extremely high in salt and sodium. I constantly feel puffy after eating Korean food. If I'm not careful, I wake up every morning, feeling like I ate one of those huge bags of movie popcorn. One day my lips actually puffed up after eating restaurant soup. Trust me, it's not the way to go about the pouty lip look.
2.
All the Animal Parts are Used
It's not fun to be served soup when all you do is stare at a bowl of octopus legs, chicken livers, or fish eyeballs. Nothing turns a hungry person off more than (as Gabe says) having your soup wink at you. You know you shouldn't be eating something when you ask, "I wonder what part of the chicken
this is", while barely being able to chew it.
3.
The Fruit is Expensive (and dangerous)
The fruit here is expensive. I never thought I'd be forking out $9 bucks for 4 big apples. And normally, knowing that fruit is good for you, I wouldn't mind spending the money. But since the pesticides here are so strong...I'm afraid I'll grow an extra arm after eating one of these apples.
4.
The Water's Unsafe to Drink
Yes, the water back at home isn't so safe either, but here you can actually smell the dirtiness of the water as it comes out the tap. We have to buy all our water cause I don't even trust boiling it. I felt drinking water from Algonquin Park was safer than here.
5.
Fried Foods
I've never seen so many fried food places in my entire life. KFC is the McDonalds of Korea and there is about 10-15 fried chicken places within a 5 minute walk from my apartment. Outside the school there is about 3 vendors which sell fried chicken, fried kimbap, etc served in a thick greasy red sauce for less than a buck. The kids love it and always come to school with these cups of greasy dough and fried chicken. We think North America has an obesity problem?....give Koreans 20 years and they'll be exactly the same as us.
6.
No Whole Wheat
I was shocked to find out everything here has been processed 10 times over. All the breads and pastas are white and the rice glows. I might as well eat Uncle Ben's Instant Rice for the nutrition I'm getting from these foods.
7.
Thousand Island Dressing
I'm usually not picky about my salad dressing, but after about 2 weeks, I was sick of Thousand Island cause they put it on
everything. On my sandwiches, on the coleslaw, on the salads.....it's pretty disgusting having it almost everyday. Blah. I don't understand why it's the dressing of choice.
8.
Not a lot of Vegetables
Before I came here, I was excited to eat all the different Korean-prepared vegetables. Now that I'm here, I struggle to incorporate 2 vegetables a day into my diet. The only vegetable served with lunch at the school is kimchee, which is a fermented spicy cabbage (yes, it's as gross as it sounds). I force myself to eat it everyday, just so I can say I've eaten a vegetable.
9.
Too Much Egg
Don't get me wrong. I like eggs. But Koreans put it in everything. Soup, rice, kimbap, dumplings. Not only is it unhealthy to eat that much egg in a week, but the constant taste of egg in your food gets a little bland very quickly. There's only so many ways eggs can be prepared and I think I've now had all of them.
10.
The Whole Milk
Now, if you like whole milk, you'd be fine in Korea. But I've been drinking 1%/skim milk almost all my life...and the milk here is like drinking a thick, glowing milkshake. I only use it when I'm craving a bowl of cereal (which is rare now, since all the cereals here are sugar-y, yet another food problem of mine), and even then I cringe as I pour it on.
(click to enlarge)
|
