Lazy Cooks or...?
I like Korean food. However, some of the ways it's prepared confuses me.
Today we had fish for lunch in the faculty cafeteria. Now I used to avoid fish because, speaking of lazy, I'm lazy and Koreans cook the fish with the bones in it. Now I'm used to my fish being served with the bones removed. I just hate having to pick through it.
However, I've acclimated, and I go through the motions because, if I don't, it means a pretty boring lunch.
But today I really wanted to know why the hell they don't take the damn bones out of the fish before cooking?
I asked a Korean professor who was chatting with me, so thanks Professor 최재구.
He explained that in some dishes the fish is cooked so throughly and for such a long time that the bones soften and are edible. Also, there is a fish called 꽁치류, ggong chi ryu, which is supposed to have very soft bones and in Korean cooking the bones are left in. I figure it's a great source of calcium and Korean society has had it hard, so you take what you can get.
At least that explains why bones are left in SOME fish. I still don't buy it completely 'cause the bones in todays fish selection WEREN'T edible by any stretch. That's just lazy ;-)
Bones left in fish often add more taste during the cooking process.
ReplyDeleteI was being a bit facetious. I know that bones kept in cooking add to favor. ;)
ReplyDeleteIt's just that when you're talking hard fish bones it's a balance between choking (which I've heard of here) and taste ;)