Cycle 15 – Item 140
24 (Fri) May 2024
Spicy Sausage Stew
1.0
at KIS
-Pangyo, Bundang, Seongnam, Gyeonggi, Republic of Korea-
with staff
We held a book fair at KIS this week, the second at this school since I took over (see previously 14.127 Bibimbap & More).
Scheduled to coincide with the event, the school hosted author-illustrator Taeeun Yoo this morning for an author visit.
This semester, we had the privilege of working with 6 authors, initially through our IRIS (Inspiring Readership at International Schools) network:
- LeUyen Pham (15.049 Dinner)
- Neal Shusterman (15.054 Fried Egg Double Smash Cheeseburger)
- Graci Kim (15.076 Large Chicken Burrito)
- Jessica Kim (15.095 Ssal Eomuk + (Cup) Ddeokbokki)
- Ryan Estrada (15.121 Chili Dog & Chips)
- Taeeun Yoo (15.140 Spicy Sausage Stew)
They’ve all agreed to join our MOCA (Meet Our Collaborating Authors) family, starting with LeUyen (see MOCA > LeUyen Pham).
Disappointed to find the main Korean item for lunch in the KIS cafeteria today was “spicy sausage stew” (budae jjigae). Which I used to kinda enjoy, when I was still open to eating processed meats, and when I had access to proper processed meats, like real American hot dogs – indeed, the dish in its original and truest form (see generally 1.265 Budae Jjigae), rising from the ashes of the Korean War, when real meat was scarce for the local population, should include American processed meats, as would’ve been smuggled out the US Army base commissary and sold on the black market. Whereas Korean sausages and hams taste weird in general, at least to me, they’re even worse in soup, where the oils seep out into the broth and make it taste artificially smoky and sickly sweet.
In contrast to my initial positive experiences with the food here last year (see 14.127 Bibimbap & More), I’ve been less than thrilled twice this year (see also 15.098 Orange Chicken with Fried Rice).
(See also HANSIK)
(See also IRIS)