남의 떡이 더 커 보인다, or, someone else’s rice cake always looks bigger.
hi. i’m ryan. i’m a food writer. i began my career in america, where i ate my way through new york, boston, la, sf, and many dusty little towns in between. but i was still hungry. so i moved to seoul, south korea in 2010 to find out what things tasted like on the other side of the world.
i’m so glad i did. from purple potatoes to peanut-flavored soymilk, the everyday foods of asia are so different, so delicious and so endlessly interesting - you never have to look far for inspiration. they also provide a thrice-daily excuse to practice my language skills, learn something new, and connect with friendly people. i’m terrible at math, but i believe that food is the other universal language, even when all you can say is cho-ayo (good) and gamsa hamnida (thank you). and the ability to cook and share meals with people is the universal currency. a tomato is a tomato, even when it’s spelled 토마토 (to-ma-to!).
of course, things that are ubiquitous in the u.s. simply aren’t available here, or aren’t available for a sane price. great brunch places, affordable bottles of good wine, chips and salsa … all are hard to find here. and things that were once familiar, like hardboiled eggs or yogurt, don’t taste the same. but as they say here, namwi tteok-ee duhkuh buoinda. someone else’s rice cake always looks bigger.
which means it’s important to share.
