강미 | learning korean초밥
A couple of my husband’s relatives are moving away, so this last weekend all the local relatives gathered for a Saturday potluck lunch.
When it comes to cooking, I’m all for making simple food. However, I’m also capable of making cooking more complicated than necessary. I had in mind to make a salad that’s been well-liked in the past, but I needed to pick up a lot of ingredients at the supermarket. So over a Friday dinner of sizzling rice soup Mr. 강미 and I settled on 초밥.
I don’t ever remember eating 초밥 when I lived in Korea, but when I was introduced to it by a Japanese friend, it seemed familiar, so maybe I did. I’ve made it periodically since. It seemed a good choice for the expected audience. They aren’t the kind of people to be put off by out-of-the-norm food, and I had a sneaking suspicion that our host would appreciate the gesture.
I invited 인선 to join us for lunch. When we arrived, I introduced her to our host, who promptly greeted her in Korean and then switched to Japanese (she’d told me that she spoke Japanese, but not very well). Our host (a distant cousin) grew up in Japan and has apparently not lost his language ability. (He later told me that her Japanese was quite good, and only then did she admit to having studied it intensively for a year. When I’m not feeling envious, I’m reminding myself that eventually, I, too, will be able to speak Korean).
Although I don’t speak authoritatively, I’ve been told that 초밥 is not Korean, but Japanese. That was confirmed on a personal level when I caught our host sneaking one before lunch (I should admit that more than a few of those tofu shells tore when I was making them, and one can’t serve torn 초밥, can one?)
You know those dishes in which deviled eggs are served? They make excellent serving platters for 초밥.
I should also mention that when I stopped at the Oriental Supermarket (that’s its name) to pick up the 초밥 shells, I discovered that there is now 아몬드 빼빼로. Mmmm...nice way to start the holiday weekend. Like Lay’s potato chips, you can’t eat just one.
Posted by kangmi on June 1, 2004 at 2:23 PM0 comments