How I survived when I couldn't speak, read, or write Korean

In this post I will share four survival tips on how I used to select Korean meals back then when  I couldn't speak, read, or write Korean. But before I do so, you have to know or you may know that the most common ingredient in Korean food apart from chilli, tofu and radish is eggs! 

Korean food: Bibimbap with sunny-side egg.

I always thought eggs were for breakfast or salads. Not until I came to Korea, I was surprised to see sunny side eggs served with rice. In most soups they just break an egg and let it boil with other vegetables. In Kimbaps the egg is always in the middle, popping up. Not forgetting the dip fried Korean street foods, most of them are coated with eggs! 

In the next paragraph, I listed the 4-tips on how I used to select Korean meals and I also recommend these tips to all non-Korean speakers.

1. Use your sense of sight because what is you see is what you get .

2. If it's looking reddish it's spicy so if you can't handle spice move to whitish soups

3. Check the main ingredient, ask again and tell them what you don't take (with google translate and picture, lol). You have to be careful with meat dishes because sometimes pork can look like chicken or fish.

4. Ramen soups contain trace elements of pork it's written on the box, best way to eat ramen is to ditch the soups and use your own SEASONINGS.

I wasn't a picky eater not until I discovered that eggs were the main culprit causing allergies on my elbows and sometimes on my chest. I did the elimination method and to my surprise my skin became flawless! I didn't need any doctor, it was clear to me that eggs do no good to my system.

I envy you all who eat eggs without allergies. As for me I now avoid fried rice because of egg. Some Korean soups contain eggs, ramen too so my ramen intake is also low, I resort to the rice noodles and I now prepare my Egg-free Kimbap at home! 

Who else is allergic to eggs? 

I hope you enjoyed reading this post. That's how I survived when I couldn't speak, read, or write Korean.

Spicy foods breakthrough 'kimchi superfood?'

    I grew up with constant upset stomach which automatically detoxify after eating spicy foods. In other words, a little chilli sauce could just send me to the restroom.  Before I came to Korea, I was worried how I would survive with all the Korean spicy foods around. 

Rice with black sauce, spicy kimchi, bibimeon and sea weed soup.

    Like for every Korean dish, if you see red-stew-like color be rest assured it's chilli! Whilst in Zimbabwean dishes if you see red-popping it's definitely a tomato. 

So yaah, at first  I thought maybe I would find tomato stewed menus in Korea.. Alas! There wasn't any.

Korean food: rice with spicy chicken, soup, spicy kimchi cabbage and radish type  and soy pan cake.

    Then, I guess my gastrointestinal system got aware of it and decided to normalize.  Yaah, you heard me well, from the first day I ate kimchi, I never experienced any "running stomach" or grumpiness. So it's now that I really wonder what is the secret nutrient in the fermented Kimchi that stopped my lifetime chilli-triggered upset stomach. Up to now I can't figure out but I can say, the Kimchi fermented microbiomes corrected my gastro-fauna to accept all the chilli. Forget the 'microbiome' term lol, just know that kimchi settles well in my stomach now!!

Raw sea food kimchi.

So yeah you can guess the taste of kimchi, it's fermented so yaa that kombucha/vinegarish taste is the one I enjoy whenever I eat it. 

Thank you for reading my spicy food breakthrough 'Kimchi superfood' story. Please check out my videos where I was enjoying Kimchi. 

My next blog I will share tips on how to select Korean menu for non-korean speakers.

How I mastered using Chopsticks

I knew Asian community uses chopsticks to eat. From the TV programs I noticed that they were 2-types of chopsticks, the wooden and stainless steel types. I wasn't surprised to see chopsticks the day I first ate Korean meal in Korea back then on 26th of March 2011, "Bulgugi rice' at Keimyung University.

Since it was my first meal, I just used the spoon throughout. I tried chopsticks for  a short while but they were sliding from my hands, yes, they were falling down on the floor not on the table.  😂😂

So I thought, 🤔 how will I manage for the next 3-years. Few days later an idea came to me. I had to practice till I perfect my chopstick eating skill.

I had to buy and eat Ramen, not with a spoon

but with chopsticks. Please check my Spoon the Ramen challenge

Luckily they sold wooden chopsticks attached to cup Ramen. That was the beginning of my success story to handling stainless steel chopsticks. I repeatedly tried on other foods then 😎 I became a pro. Now I can even cook with chopsticks, yeah 😂. I hope you enjoyed reading my chopsticks success story in-few-words. Have you ever tried chopsticks? Please check my YouTube video where I was trying to cook chicken with chopsticks.

My next blog, I will share my kimchi taste review. 

Thank you! Kamsahamnida.