On 1/3/2013 3:37 PM, cshenk wrote:
>
> Bryan, I eat korean and thai kimchees not watered down for roundeyes.
> I totally get it on the taste vs heat. Sadly chili is one of the areas
> where too many fools do not get it. I can assume you are not one of
> them from how you present it.
>
>

Back in the 70s, my wife and I went to a strip mall restaurant called
Aloha Hawaiian Barbeque in the SF bay area. My wife is a roundeye (we
call them 'haoles') but was raised by a Korean step-mom. She ordered a
bibimbap but could not bring herself to use the catchup-like sauce that
came with it. She requested some real gochujang and the look of absolute
confusion on the servers face was priceless. The owner had to come out
so that she could explain what she wanted. The food was not bad
considering that it wasn't Hawaiian but Korean and the owners were
neither Hawaiian or Korean. We went back there several times because
there was no other place around that served Korean.

At the time I was pretty ignorant of Korean foods since most Korean
establishments in Hawaii were bars and strip clubs. I thought my wife's
bibimbap looked pretty good and was horrified when she started mixing
the whole thing up into a big gooey mess. These days, I'm more familiar
with the dish and am only slightly repulsed when they mix it into a
gooey mess.

Korean food has come a long way in Hawaii and the mainland and the
number of bars and strip clubs have diminished greatly - this is a good
thing. Heck, we're even driving Korean cars and cooking and washing
clothes with their products. Who wodda thought?