Fast Food Nation--Almost
Not much is going on these days. We're kind of in a lull before things start to get crazy with our trip to China and then getting ready to come home. It seems like there's nothing to write home (blog) about...but then the other day I realized how there are so many strange things that we've become accustomed to--they just seem normal to us now, but they're actually really different from the U.S.
Take fast food. Korea isn't quite as big on fast food as the U.S., but there are still quite a few Western-style fast food joints here. Of course there's McDonald's, and Burger King (although we don't have one in Daejeon), and there's also KFC and Popeye's (like KFC, but it's found more in the South, I think--I'd never had it before coming here). Oh, and Subways are around, too, but they aren't so common. Then there are the upscale fast food places (well, they're not actually fast food, but that's what their food reminds me of) like Bennigan's and TGIFriday's.
A lot of Koreans, especially younger ones, like to eat fast food, but the most popular place is a McDonald's ripoff called Lotteria. We can't figure out why it's so popular, because its meat is even more questionable than McDonald's! You can see this fast food trend in Korean waistlines, too--you'll rarely see an overweight adult, but among kids it's becoming much more common. Obviously this could become a real problem, especially because studies are showing that Asians are very susceptible to adult-onset diabetes (there was an article about this awhile back in the NY Times online).
Anyway, enough about how fast food is bad; we've heard it all before. (If you haven't seen Supersize Me, you should, although I confess it hasn't made me stop going to McDonald's!) It's probably not going to kill you if you don't eat it all the time, anyway.
We eat fast food here once every couple of weeks. Joel's favorite is Popeye's--they have a tabasco chicken sandwich that he really likes, plus their biscuits are pretty awesome. My problem is that none of the fast food places here have any 'healthy' options like grilled chicken sandwiches or salads--I guess Koreans only eat fast food as a treat, not as a dietary staple! In fact, the menus are way more limited than those back home. Most places don't even carry diet cola, with the exception of McDonald's.
I do like the the new curry fried chicken at KFC, plus they have 'mini gogomas,' bite-sized bits of fried sweet potato coated in some kind of sweet cinnamon coating. Fried chicken is really popular here; you can find little chicken stands all over the place. The pieces are much smaller than those at KFC, and they taste way better, so we usually don't eat at KFC anyway.
It amazes me how much fast food we used to eat. There aren't a lot of options in Fairfield, so we used to eat at Subway, Burger King, McDonald's, or KFC/Taco Bell 2-3 times a week! Here, there are so many cheap restaurants that serve quick, healthy Korean food that we only eat fast food when we're needing a break from Korean food. Last night I was thinking about all the delicious food I'm going to eat when we come home, and then I realized how difficult it can be to get Korean food outside of cities, and I started to panic. I love Korean food so much! Americans seriously don't know what they're missing.
Guess we're going to have to learn how to cook Korean food. Any volunteers to be guinea pigs?
Take fast food. Korea isn't quite as big on fast food as the U.S., but there are still quite a few Western-style fast food joints here. Of course there's McDonald's, and Burger King (although we don't have one in Daejeon), and there's also KFC and Popeye's (like KFC, but it's found more in the South, I think--I'd never had it before coming here). Oh, and Subways are around, too, but they aren't so common. Then there are the upscale fast food places (well, they're not actually fast food, but that's what their food reminds me of) like Bennigan's and TGIFriday's.
A lot of Koreans, especially younger ones, like to eat fast food, but the most popular place is a McDonald's ripoff called Lotteria. We can't figure out why it's so popular, because its meat is even more questionable than McDonald's! You can see this fast food trend in Korean waistlines, too--you'll rarely see an overweight adult, but among kids it's becoming much more common. Obviously this could become a real problem, especially because studies are showing that Asians are very susceptible to adult-onset diabetes (there was an article about this awhile back in the NY Times online).
Anyway, enough about how fast food is bad; we've heard it all before. (If you haven't seen Supersize Me, you should, although I confess it hasn't made me stop going to McDonald's!) It's probably not going to kill you if you don't eat it all the time, anyway.
We eat fast food here once every couple of weeks. Joel's favorite is Popeye's--they have a tabasco chicken sandwich that he really likes, plus their biscuits are pretty awesome. My problem is that none of the fast food places here have any 'healthy' options like grilled chicken sandwiches or salads--I guess Koreans only eat fast food as a treat, not as a dietary staple! In fact, the menus are way more limited than those back home. Most places don't even carry diet cola, with the exception of McDonald's.
I do like the the new curry fried chicken at KFC, plus they have 'mini gogomas,' bite-sized bits of fried sweet potato coated in some kind of sweet cinnamon coating. Fried chicken is really popular here; you can find little chicken stands all over the place. The pieces are much smaller than those at KFC, and they taste way better, so we usually don't eat at KFC anyway.
It amazes me how much fast food we used to eat. There aren't a lot of options in Fairfield, so we used to eat at Subway, Burger King, McDonald's, or KFC/Taco Bell 2-3 times a week! Here, there are so many cheap restaurants that serve quick, healthy Korean food that we only eat fast food when we're needing a break from Korean food. Last night I was thinking about all the delicious food I'm going to eat when we come home, and then I realized how difficult it can be to get Korean food outside of cities, and I started to panic. I love Korean food so much! Americans seriously don't know what they're missing.
Guess we're going to have to learn how to cook Korean food. Any volunteers to be guinea pigs?
posted by AJ at 8:24 PM
1 Comments:
you should see if you can get an extended layover in Hawai'i. Then I'll gladly be a guinea pig!
and I'm serious. you really should. I'll try to have a bed in my place by the time you arrive. :)
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