Adventure with Korean Cuisine

June 11, 2022 - Reading time: 4 minutes

The hubby arrived safely by plane yesterday afternoon despite a hiccup with parking at the Charleston airport which resulted in his first ever missed flight.  Oops.  Those of you who know James, also know that he is NEVER LATE for anything.  Fortunately, the good folks at Southwest were graciously accommodating and secured him a later flight without any added fees.  His feet were on Texas soil by 2:00 p.m.  I know I'm easily impressed by shiny things, but the concept of jetting about on this planet of ours to reach a destination thousands of miles of away in a few hours still blows my mind.  Having just taught a mini-lesson in April to my students about the history of the Wright Brothers' first flight at Kitty Hawk truly underscores just how far aviation technology has evolved in only one century.  We live in amazing times and more often than not we take that fact for granted. 

It got hot here yesterday, too.  The official high was 100 degrees with a "feels like" of 104.  Today and tomorrow are forecast to go even higher.  Even so, we opted for a dinner out last night that involved heat at a close range (but in an air conditioned restaurant) - Korean Barbeque.  Now, our little nuclear family have been sushi fanatics for as long as I can remember, including James who can be a somewhat picky eater.  He did, however, live a year in Japan as a boy, which instilled a more open-minded tolerance for vegetables served in Asian dishes.  But, last night we discovered that Korean Barbeque adds a whole new layer to enjoying delicious Asian cuisine.  

We were seated at a cozy table for four by the window.  In the center of the table, and you'll see this if you look closely at the photo, is an oversized metal hubcap-like grill for cooking. The boys had eaten here twice before and ordered the "All You Can Eat Premium Deluxe" option for the entire table, along with two bottles of Soju (more on that in a moment).  Minutes later our server arrived with four tall glasses of water and several side dishes including rice bowls, sweet corn, seaweed salad, kimchi (regular and spicy) and cold noodles (that's how they are traditionally served).  These were followed by a butcher board of three select cuts of raw seasoned pork, beef, and chicken.  She placed kitchen scissors and metal tongs alongside the board, lit the propane flame beneath grill, smiled warmly at us, declared, "Enjoy!" and then walked away.

The boys took immediate command.  They masterfully seared portions of each cut for several minutes, then distributed them among our plates.  This process was repeated at regular intervals and we feasted like royalty.  Yes, some of it was spicy, hence the copious refills of water, but it was all delicious.  I learned that I am a big fan of kimchi (regular and spicy) as well as seaweed salad, dishes I had never before tried.  I held my own with the chopsticks, too.  Well, except for an accidental slip of spicy red kimchi from my sticks and right into James's lap as we were posing for selfie. (Photo evidence provided below.)  He was wearing nice white cotton shorts.  Fortunately, his napkin was folded three time thick over the left leg where I dropped the food, so no harm, no foul.  

When the second round of butcher block meat cuts arrived, the boys took the liberty of ordering Soju, a traditional Korean rice wine consumed in shot glasses.  Sip or shoot, it's your call.  They ordered both the "fresh" and the "apple" versions.  Oh man...this stuff packs a punch.  Both were good, but the apple version is dangerous, dangerous, dangerous.  It tastes identical to a sour apple Jolly Rancher.  With a 12% ABV, it is candy juice for adults, indeed.  Is it no wonder we slept like we'd been knocked out last night?