Cycle 15 – Item 46

20 (Tue) February 2024

Nakgopsae(sam)

2.0

at Sawi Sikdang

-Seongsu, Seongdong, Republic of Korea-

with W, WEB staff

Sawi Sikdang is a Korean restaurant.  Specializes in hotpots featuring octopus combined with other ingredients.  Part of a franchise chain- currently 22 locations.

While “sawi (사위)” means “son-in-law,” various tag lines strewn about the restaurant refer to “jangmonim (mother-in-law).”  The sign next to the front door reads: “With the soul/love/support of my mother-in-law.”  The implication would seem to be that the mother-in-law is in charge, and the son-in-law does the work.  Very strange in such a patriarchal society, where men generally don’t cook, especially not for or at the behest of his mother-in-law.  Where the fuck is the wife in all this?  Where’s the son-in-law’s mother, who would be loathe to let her precious son work for his mother-in-law, particularly as a cook.

My relationship with my mother-in-law (The MIL), where I do cook for and at her behest (see most recently 14.282 Rigatoni with Scallops & Mushrooms in Cream Sauce), is exceptionally rare.  I’m certain that my brother-in-law (W’s brother) has never cooked for his mother-in-law.

Historically, the daughter-in-law cooking for her mother-in-law would be a normal thing, but that’s also changing.  In 18 years of marriage, my wife has cooked for my mother once, where the kitchen burst into flames, so ungodly were the circumstances (see 4.048 The Wife’s Mother-in-Law’s Borthday Hansang).  As far as I’m aware, my sister-in-law (W’s brother’s wife) has never cooked for her mother-in-law.  No reason to think that will ever change.

Incidentally, neither W nor her brother have ever cooked for their parents.  I doubt that the sister-in-law has cooked for her parents.  I have cooked for my parents, and everyone else around me (no citation needed).  No reason to think that will ever change.

Nakgopsae is not really a thing.  As per this restaurant chain, it’s a combination of NAK(ji) (octopus) + GOP(chang) (intestine) + SAE(woo) (shrimp), along with aromatics in a spicy broth – which is dumb, because the intestine is technically daechang (large intestine), as noted in the description, so the dish should actually be called “nakdaesae.”  It could simply be called “nakji jeongol (hotpot),” with other components added according to personal preference – in fact, we did add SAM(gyupsal).  Obviously, the name is a marketing gimmick, capitalizing on the modern trend of portmanteauing everything, which drives me absolutely fucking insane (abfune).

Meh.  The food itself would’ve been okay, if served in a humble restaurant without any of the artifice.  But it didn’t live up to the bullshit.

Not an outright BAN, but I will never return (at least not of my own accord).

(See also HANSIK)

(See also RESTAURANTS IN KOREA)