After hanging out for a few days in Seoul, the first of two trips during the week, I’m flying back to Manila this evening with the wife and kids to spend the lunar new year holiday there.
The Asiana Airlines Children’s Meal.While I can’t deny that the box of treats does keep the kids occupied, at least for a few extra minutes, I do note for the record that it’s mostly full of processed crap.Pasta & Meatballs (2.0)–not too bad actually; leftovers made for a decent anju later into the flight.Lidded cups with straws: an obvious yet outstanding idea, a win-win-win for kids, parents, and clean-up crews.
In a comparison of in-flight bibimbap between Asiana Airlines and Korean Air (see generally 6.21 Bibimbap), Asiana is the winner, hands down, as described below.
So, not only has Korean Air failed to come up with anything new in the 18 years since it first developed this revolutionary idea back in 1997, the progenitor has allowed a copycat to improve upon the original–a one-hit wonder outdone by a cover band–à la Nicholas Cage in The Rock: “Shame…on…you!”
The one chink in the armor was the rice, loosely (and ironically) encased in a tin container, leaving it somewhat dried out by the time of service–unlike the Korean Air spread, which employed hetbahn.The namul components [clockwise from top center]: radish, bean sprout, squash, carrot, shiitake mushroom, cucumber; the best part of the dish was that each vegetable was lightly cooked/pickled to maintain a crisp freshness; while I normally don’t like rainbow colors in my food, I gotta respect the gorgeous range here; kudos for the courage to omit meat!Indeed, a few extra drops of sesame oil couldn’t hurt.Many Korean dishes seem to come with eating instructions (see also 5.232 Woo Samgyupsal); Korean medical soap operas also include subtitles to explain a certain disease mentioned in the dialogue–someday, I will write more about what I believe that this tells of the Korean psyche.Bukeo Guk (2.0)–pollack soup is ideal because the dried fish is meant to be reconstituted with hot water.Kimchi (3.0)–actual kimchi, stench be damned; and from Jongga Jip, one of the most popular factory-produced kimchi brands in Korea, the only one that I buy here in the Philippines.After Step 2, a little less than half of the gochujang.After Step 3, with a spoon–no Korean would ever mix bibimbap with chopsticks.
