A Fish Fry?!!!
The funniest things will remind you of home.
You see in Korea they have great fried chicken and they also fry fish. However, the fish here are different, how they serve it is much different and how they expect you to eat the fish is much different.
My parents were from the the South. I grew up on hearty southern soul food. When I moved into my current place, one of the first things I did was buy a full sized range so I could sometimes prepare dishes that remind me of home.
Anyway, I had lunch in the faculty cafeteria today and they had fried fish. The thing is usually fish in Korea is served pretty de minimis. Maybe they'll cut it into vertical slices but sometimes it's a fish complete with the head and tail sitting there on your plate. I HATE picking at a fried fish or fried fish bits with chopsticks and having to pick out the bones. It just makes it pretty anti-climatic when the tiny pieces of fish finally get to your mouth. However, I feel very self-conscious switching it up while eating with Koreans.
So this is what I did. I ate the other stuff, but wrapped my fish pieces in a few napkins and snuck them out. I then ate them in my office the way I would with family or friends back home. The taste sensation was completely different and the grin I had on my well fed face after eating my fish bits southern fish fry style made me happy. It was so funny to me that something so simple put a big smile on my face and reminded me of home.
It was such a ridiculous moment of joy that I decided to blog it. So there it is.
Really? You snuck it out in napkins? Well, too bad you didn't have parchment like they'd have at home... but glad you got to have a taste of something that reminded you of your childhood!
ReplyDeleteNah, I ain't never seen no wax paper over here. They have it, I'm sure. I've just never seen it.
ReplyDeleteMy office is just a minute or two walk from the faculty cafeteria, so it was quick. No fishy bag smell.
But I had mustard and I could eat it with my hands with passionate full flavored bites instead of having to pick at it with metal chopsticks. I was soooooooo happy.