Cycle 14 – Item 141
26 (Fri) May 2023
Luseongyo(?)
2.5
at Bao Chai
(Siheung Premium Outlet Mall)
-Baegod, Siheung, Gyeonggi, Republic of Korea-
solo
Held a one-day mini book fair at Cheongna Dalton School today.
On the way home, I dropped by Siheung Premium Outlet Mall and had dinner at Bao Chai (14.141 Dimsum Set).
Another Grumpy Old Man pet peeve of mine (I might’ve already ranted about this in a prior post) is when Chinese restaurants in Korea use the Korean pronunciation of Chinese characters in reference to dishes, as here. So, for example, xiaolongbao = 小笼包 = “sorongpo” (see for example 13.089 Sorongpo).
Which I could understand for things that’ve been around forever, like jjajangmyeon, which in Chinese would be “zhajiangmian” (see for example 5.072 Zha Jiang Mian).
But for new dishes just coming in, I don’t see the point.
- Writing out “샤오롱빠오 (xiaolongbao)” in Korean does add 2 syllables beyond “소롱포 (sorongpo),” but the additional gliding vowels don’t make pronunciation any more difficult.
- I worry that if “sorongpo” becomes standard – at present, “xiaolongbao” is probably still more common – a Korean traveler will be in China, or anywhere in the world, and ask for “sorongpo” and look like an asshole; by the same token, he wouldn’t be able to correct himself and order it by the proper name because he doesn’t know it.
- It’s also inconsistent, as some things are already well-established by their authentic Chinese terms, such as “dimsum,” which would be pronounced “jeomsim” in Korean. The name of this restaurant should be “Bocha,” not Bao Chai. The xiaolongbao is referred to on the menu as “Sanghai Sorongpo,” which is internally inconsistent because the city should be either fully Chinese “Shanghai” or fully Koreanized “Sanghae.”
Based on the same logic as my Grumpy Old Man pet peeve regarding “How to Enjoy” instructions in restaurants (see 14.337 Pat Krapao Moo Ssab), Korean restaurant operators assume their customers to be blithering idiots, who can’t be expected to embrace/understand/pronounce exotic Chinese words and so must be coddled with the easier Korean equivalents – and in doing so, keeping the customers ignorant and losing out on a potential learning experience.
Recently, I encountered a similar item to “luseongyo” at another Chinese restaurant, where it was simply referred to both in Korean and English as “shrimp asparagus” (see 14.104 Shrimp Asparagus (Dumplings)); the Chinese characters for the dish on that menu are totally different than the characters on this menu. So, I’ve had it twice but still have zero idea what it really is.
(See all GLOBAL FOOD GLOSSARY)
(See all RESTAURANTS IN KOREA)