soon doo boo jigae

I often get asked the question, what's your favorite type of Asian food? (Or in rare instances, "Oriental food," asked by completely oblivious non-asians...) Anywho, I have to say, I have no answer for this rather complex, yet general, question. I like it all. Put it in front of me, and I will eat it.

I go through my phases of course. Recently, I've been waking up at night with the sushi sweats- longing for a bowl of rice topped with grilled unagi and fresh hamachi. This past winter, I went through a mild obsession with Cantonese-style congees, especially congee with dried scallop and 100-year old egg. My love for Thai and Vietnamese cuisine is everlasting. They all satisfy my cravings in different ways.

On a recent night, we went out for Korean spicy tofu soup. Soon doo-boo jigae. Kind of rolls right off the tongue, doesn't it? Served in a hot earthenware casserole, it's a bubbling brew of spicy stock (pork or seafood), shrimp and oysters, pork, or kimchee, and the soon doo-boo: the deliciously creamy silken tofu. I like mine with an egg cracked on top, left to firm up in the hot soup.

I always forget just how satisfying Korean food is. It's like eating a box of chocolate liquors in one go: intensely intoxicating, heady and bold. Korean food is proof that a good sweat can work wonders to cool down the body. Everytime I leave a Korean barbeque or finish a hot bowl of jigae, I feel as if I've just come out of a bathhouse- calm and sedated, mopping away at my brow.

korean potato salad

Why Yes! Asians eat mayonnaise too! Especially Japanese and Koreans, who are probably more familiar with the Hellman's brand than any middle class American family. Similarly, they use something called Kewpie mayonnaise, which is much akin to its western brethren, but contains a whole lot more sugar, stabilizers, and comes in a convenient squeeze bottle with a star-shaped tip. You know, for whenever you get the hankering to decorate some deli meat, or a hand roll. This ubiquitous condiment is used mainly as a binder for salads, with the most common being Korean or Japanese style potato salads. (There's also a popular Korean fruit salad dish that uses mayo as a dressing.)

Have you ever sat down at a Korean restaurant to be happily greeted with dozens of small plates of cold dishes and snacks, even before you've even ordered? These are called panchan, and are usually highly seasoned, spicy/sweet and sour, to stimulate the appetite. Some more popular ones are of course, kimchi, bean sprouts salad, wheat gluten, cold cucumber salad, fried soybeans, seaweed salad, and mashed potato salad. This last dish may seem oddly out of place with all of its creamy, fatty gloriousness, but is in fact, quite common in Korean households. In a culture where most of the ingredients are fresh, healthy and discernible, I suppose they can get away with splurging on one that's the complete opposite.


Korean Potato Salad

1 lb. potatoes
1/2 cucumber, sliced lengthwise
1/2 yellow or Spanish onion
1 carrot
1/2 cup mayonnaise or Kewpie
1 tsp sugar
salt and pepper, to taste

1. Peel the potatoes and roughly cut into 1" pieces. Put into a pot, cover with water and boil until fork-tender, about 10 minutes. Place the carrot, whole, into the pot as well.

2. Meanwhile, thinly slice the cucumber and set aside. Slice the onion into thin rings and soak in a bowl of cold water.

3. Drain and roughly mash the potatoes, leaving some large bite-size pieces. Let cool. Dice the carrot into 1/4" cubes. Drain and pat dry the onion slices.

4. Add the carrots, onion, cucumber, mayo, and sugar to the potatoes and mix well. Season with salt and pepper.