Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with korean

Solo Traveling for older women in/around Korea?

Jujee — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 10:19:05 -0800

My mom is nearing 60 and is thinking about going back to her home country to travel alone. I'm all for it but it also worries the heck out of me! I wonder if there are any "older" korean women travel groups that she might be able to hook up with...and what the pros/cons are. Are there any places out there that she should particularly stay away from? I could just be overprotective here... but would love to hear any input about solo/group traveling in / around korea and whether there are any travel groups for older women. :) TIA!!!

Help! I underthought a plate of noodles

any portmanteau in a storm — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 22:07:53 -0800

What is the name of this cold noodle dish? Most likely Korean or Chinese food. This one's been bugging me for a while. About 6 years ago there was this restaurant in Kyoto called "Kara Kuri" which pretty much served one dish which I will now describe:

Cold noodles, around spaghetti size

Topped with cool vegetables (I forget which ones now but along the lines of shredded cucumber, lettuce, bean sprouts, etc) and cold, unseasoned chicken or pork

A dipping sauce, probably made from some kind of spicy bean paste

Garnished with sesame seeds

You could specify how spicy you want the sauce to be and they would make your sauce with more or less of the spicy ingredient accordingly.

If you pour the dipping sauce onto your plate of noodles, it will be much, much spicier than if you dip the noodles into the sauce. So there is probably a layer of (sesame) oil on the top of the sauce.

I'm guessing it's based on something Korean or Chinese but I haven't had anything like it apart from when my wife tries to recreate it from memory (which tastes pretty good, but memory fades so we're never sure how close it is).

Help me figure out this Korean karaoke manual!

eamondaly — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 08:01:06 -0800

Can you or anyone you know read Korean? Our favorite dive bar bought a Taijin Media Ziller TKR-880 karaoke machine, but the manual and menus are entirely in Korean and we can't figure out how to transfer songs to the unit via USB. Here's the manual. Rick Astley needs your help!

Mmmbap

mkultra — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 08:47:59 -0800

How do I get my bebimbap rice crispy? I recently purchased a stone dolsot and have started making bebimbap at home. All good, except I can't get my rice to crisp up in the pot. I'm currently cooking my rice in a separate pot, heating the dolsot in the oven to about 450°F, lining the inside of the dolsot with oil, and scooping the rice in. I can hear it sizzling, but it never seems to get crispy at all.

Is there something wrong with my technique, or is my oven simply not going to get the dolsot as hot as I need to?

korean dinner etiquette

tamarack — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 08:42:48 -0800

Invited to a Korean household for dinner, what do I bring? If I were in Korea, what would be the polite/mannerly type of thing to bring as a small thanks-for-having-me gift?
Super-extra-bonus points for confirming pronunciation of my friend's name: SeonHye (fem).

좋은 한영사전 알습니까?

non-kneebiter — Sat, 30 May 2009 17:06:15 -0800

Looking for a cheap, non-romanized Korean-English dictionary. My brother is looking for a Korean-English dictionary and has had trouble finding one to his liking. His specifications:

-non-romanized and not a phrasebook
-electronic or book
if electronic, non-speaking; without color screen or mp3 player
-including hanja (Chinese characters)
-cheap (< $80)
-used is acceptable

Any suggestions of what brands to look for or websites/ bookstores to check out? Also useful would be shops IN SEOUL where good dictionaries can be found.

Cheers!

A romantic nuclear bomb couple movie?

Phyltre — Wed, 27 May 2009 05:04:54 -0800

Identifilter: A modern-day east-asian movie about a girl who was apparently built as some kind of bomb or war weapon? Roughly 3 years ago, I saw a commercial spot on television for a movie involving a girl in a romantic relationship, but apparently she wasn't entirely human because she was changing into some kind of war weapon or bomb or something. I think the promo might have run on G4. It was live action, and was NOT Machine Girl. I originally assumed the movie was Japanese, but it could have been Korean I suppose. The two images I most strongly remember from the promo are the asian couple sitting on a park bench, with lots of city skyline scenery, and a large explosion (possibly nuclear.) Maybe the girl was some kind of nuclear bomb?

Around once a month I google the odd keywords but always come up empty. Does anyone know of any movies that sound similar to this?

The hardest won manhattan ever

smartyboots — Sun, 24 May 2009 00:32:34 -0800

Where can a Manhattan lover find bitters in Daegue, South Korea? My brother is in Daegue, anxiously awaiting his firstborn. He got some good bourbon at the duty-free, and even managed to track down sweet vermouth and maraschino cherries - where can he find bitters? Or better yet, where can he find a Korean equivalent? Any tips as to what might be an acceptable substitute?

Difficulty level - not that high. He's fluent in Korean, he just needs to know what he's looking for.

best scholarly books about the Korean War

Postroad — Sat, 23 May 2009 08:56:01 -0800

Names of a few of the best scholarly histories of the Korean War for a thesis paper for college as history major, with an emphasis upon the military aspect, especially about the Chinese army joining the North Koreans.

How useful is French in English-speaking Canada?

smorange — Fri, 08 May 2009 00:12:12 -0800

What kinds of jobs are available in Canada--but outside of Quebec--for someone who can speak English, Korean, and French reasonably fluently? Preferably, though not necessarily, on the West coast. Basically, I'd like to know if learning French would open a lot of doors for someone who can already speak English and Korean.

Korean Grill House need not apply

TheWhiteSkull — Fri, 01 May 2009 08:58:45 -0800

Best Korean Barbeque on Bloor? I'm taking some friends out for Korean barbeque this weekend, and I'm looking for recommendations for the best grill-at-your-table places, ideally in (but not limited to) the Bloor & Christie corridor. My criteria for evaluation include not only quality and selection of meats, but quality and variety of panchan, other dishes (mandu, pajeon, etc.), atmosphere and such.

2C-i

ed\26h — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 09:48:43 -0800

What is the legal status of the designer drug 2C-i in South Korea?

Give me my kimchee, please.

typewriter — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 08:28:50 -0800

Is there a Korean restaurant in Toronto that delivers? I love my bulgogi and I would like it delivered. Is there such a thing in Toronto? I can get Greek, Thai, and Eritrean delivered, but not Korean. Does anyone know of a place? I live in the East End of Toronto. Please hurry, the kimchee deprivation is making me weak.

What fishy organ did I eat?

Rora — Sun, 04 Jan 2009 16:02:15 -0800

What fishy organ did I eat? When I was in South Korea, I was taken out for a meal of agujjim, a spicy fish stew made with angler fish or monkfish. The dish includes the fish's internal organs, not just the flesh.

My host offered me a special part of the fish. It was bumpy, about the size of an almond and ovoid. I don't know what colour it was, being covered in spicy red sauce. I was told to let it cool down because the thing had liquid inside and would be very hot if I bit into it right away. When I ate it, it was very firm, like hard cartilage and the taste was bitter. It was indeed full of a watery liquid. I can't say I really enjoyed it.

Ever since I ate that weird thing I've been curious as to what it was. Any ideas?

호떡 at Home

larsks — Sat, 03 Jan 2009 16:52:38 -0800

KoreanFoodFilter: I'm hankering for hoddeok (호떡). Help me out! In my recent trip to Seoul I fell in love with hoddeok, the filled pancakes served as street food throughout Seoul, hot off the griddle or deep fryer. Do you have a recipe for these that you're happy with? I've found one or two while searching online, but I don't know how accurate they are. Share you recipes and tips with me so that I can make these tasty morsels at home! For bonus points: are the hoddeok on the streets of Seoul made with wheat flour or rice flour?

And I especially like the sweet black beans

oflinkey — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 09:11:10 -0800

Is the fact that I really like eating the banchan more than the meal at my local Korean restaurant looked at as odd? I hate to admit this, but I think I almost love banchan more than many of the dishes I eat at the Korean place. The ladies at the restaurant seem to think this is weird. I am wondering if they think of it the same way I would if someone came into my (imaginary) restaurant and really, really liked eating horseradish and relish.

I know that banchan is often translated to "side dishes", but I have had some Korean acquaintances in the past tell me that it is more in between condiment and side dish. Just wondering what those Mefites in know had to say.

Excel, talk to me in Numbers, not Korean!

Anonymous — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 10:30:32 -0800

Excel Language Issue: Why is it speaking Korean when I want English numbers? Asking for a friend: I work in an English speaking environment, but feel more comfortable working in Korean, so I have both Korean and English languages activated in Windows.

For some reason today, when I type, for example "07-08" to represent the years 2007 & 2008, it translates it into a date, in Korean. Usually, I'd right click > Cell > Number type "general number". Except - this cell is ALREADY set to "General Number". So - why is it insisting on using date format?

need some kimchi

mammary16 — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 07:49:58 -0800

Can anyone recommend a good, relatively cheap Korean restaurant in Manhattan? ... maybe around Chinatown?

Can anyone tell me the artist and title of this Korean song?

Fareed — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 22:30:39 -0800

Can anyone tell me the artist and title of this Korean song? Hey all:

This is my first post, so yay! Anyway, I have had this Korean song for a long time, but I'm not Korean and I don't speak Korean at all. Could someone who DOES have some experience with Korean language or culture tell me who the singer of this song is, and what the title is? If you can link me to a translation of the lyrics, and/or if you can link me to another site that hosts a copy of this song with the artist and title (so I can verify for myself), I would REALLY appreciate it.

Thanks in advance!!

Link: The song

ask Mikey, he'll eat anything...

bolognius maximus — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 20:00:15 -0800

Can anyone identify the mystery ingredient? I decided on Korean food tonight, ordering the seafood stir fry somethingorother. This is a shot of the leftovers. The item in question is the brown strips. On examination in the restaurant, my dining companion and I were both of the opinion that it was animal tissue of some sort. I was hoping it was a gourd strip. It was not. It appeared to have a body cavity of some sort. Marine worm? Random body part? Does anyone know? Thanks in advance!

Best Korean food in Portland?

Joseph Gurl — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 20:19:43 -0800

Best Korean restaurant in Portland? Coming to PDX next week and want to take some friends out for Korean food. Where's the best place to do that?

Can you recomend any Korean language learning resources?

KokuRyu — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 00:34:24 -0800

Help me learn Korean. Can you recommend any websites for learning basic Korean? I would like to learn basic grammar and language functions, and basic vocab. Succinct, well thought-out webpages that teach hanja would also be great. If there is a textbook that can be ordered on Amazon, that would also be great.

Please note that I'm looking for recommendations by people who have studied and learned Korean - I have looked up a few websites using Google, etc. (probably Naver would be a better bet, but I can't read it). Nothing I've found so far has really struck me as being any good.

Listening (especially mp3 files that can be downloaded onto an iPod) would also be great. Apparently my pronunciation (of the little Korean that I do know) is really strange. I have Korean friends that I can practice with (but they are not very good at teaching the language).

I have been a Japanese translator, and have learned some Mandarin - I'm familiar enough with Northeast Asian languages and dialects to actually use my intuition to create shortcuts during the learning process.

But I need a Rosetta stone that will teach me Hanja, basic conversational expressions and strategies, and pronunciation and listening.

This is more of a hobby, but it does come in handy with my line of work.

Coming and going in Korean and English

stavrosthewonderchicken — Tue, 27 May 2008 02:35:51 -0800

Languages: 'I'm coming' versus 'I'm going' in response to 'Come here!' So one of my students and I were talking about this, and I didn't have a good answer. In English, when your Mom says 'Come here!' the normal response is 'I'm coming'.

In Korean, the response translates directly to 'I'm going'. There's an interesting shift in perspective there (in English, I'm coming to you from your POV, in Korean I'm going over there from my POV), or interesting to me, at least, and one that I can't really explain, even by pulling explanations out of my butt, which is, I admit, my wont sometimes.

It's odd, because given the individual/group-centric cultural tendencies in play, I would have expected the opposite result. I expect that it may just boil down to English's tendency to respond to a question (unless it's 'do') or command using the same verb previously used, but I wonder if there's more happening.

So, yeah, two part question. Anybody have any ideas what's going on here, and for our speakers of other languages, which way do the languages you know express the motion in this situation?

Dduck Bok...huh?

mezzanayne — Mon, 05 May 2008 16:58:51 -0800

How do I prepare this "Hot & Spicy Rice Cake Stick" (Dduck Bok Ki)? I recently bought this Korean grocery item but I don't know exactly how to prepare it. The instructions are in Korean but what I can glean is that I need to mix the seasoning packet with the rice cakes, add water (how much?) and then microwave the whole thing (for how long)?

Can you help fill in these blanks? Do you have a favorite way to enjoy Dduck Bok Ki?

Snow Flower, I'm sorry I love you

markovich — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 03:49:15 -0800

I need the english lyrics of this Korean song - but synced to the singer. It's a lovely sad song! It does not have to be that particular version, more something that will give me an idea what he is saying at each particular moment. The chinese translation with the lady singer would be easy for me to understand if I could get the lyrics matched up with the english lyrics. Thanks!