I haven't eaten beef in many years, but I was surprised by how good the dish tasted. The fried snail was also very delicious.
Then, I took a bite of the fish stew. My throat burned and the texture of the fish felt slimy in my mouth. I quickly swallowed the soup and took a sip of water, but the aftertaste lingered. I apologetically refused more stew when my host mom offered it to me.
At first, I felt really guilty about not enjoying the stew. Was my host family offended? Was I not being open-minded to Korean culture? As I gave it more thought, however, I realized that I didn’t have to like all Korean food to appreciate Korea. Even at home in America, I love most but not all of the food my parents and friends make. There will always be some foods that I prefer, and others that I don’t like in any culture; the most important thing is giving the new things a chance when I can.
The food we ate for Seollal was prepared in a lot of different ways. Kimchi, an essential side dish to any Korean meal, is created by letting cabbages or radishes ferment in chili powder and garlic. There were a few meat dishes. There were little square omelets mixed with green onion. We also had fried fish. Lastly, we ate a little bit of bulgogi, or grilled beef. Bulgogi is mixed with various spices and then freshly grilled outside. Other than that, my host family also ate a lot of rice cake and vegetables.
After dinner, my host family also ordered fried chicken to the house. Fried chicken is a very popular snack here, and I really enjoy the flavors.
