Our first night in Korea, after a day of touring around 여수, my wife had arranged a 한정식 dinner for us with her family. This turned out to be a very large meal. It included her four older brothers and their spouses/girlfriends, a few of their children that could make it, her mother, my parents, our four children and, of course, myself.
My mother has a difficult time sitting on the floor. Prior to making restaurant reservations, we had confirmed with her that she could indeed sit “Korean style.” However, when she arrived at the restaurant she made it clear that she could not sit on the floor. My parents had been out all day touring with another family and we were to all meet at the restaurant but my 일숙 and I were running behind. 일숙 began to get phone calls from her family asking, “how could you make reservations at a place where your mother-in-law can’t sit!” We were very concerned about what to do if we couldn’t eat there, where would we go and could we find a place with tables that could accommodate all of us. Because my mother couldn’t sit down, everyone was waiting outside in the cold for us to arrive and fix the situation. (Etiquette dictates that no one can sit until the guests do.) When we got to the restaurant (30 minutes late) we were pleasantly surprised that the restaurant servers and 일숙s’ brothers had stacked two short tables (상) and brought in several chairs for those at that table; my mother could sit on a chair and everything went well.
If you have never experienced 한정식 before you will be in for a treat. The meal typically arrives in courses that are representative of the many varieties of Korean food. Because we were late and this restaurant was quite busy, our courses tended to come out about as quickly as they could be prepared so our tables were stacked with dishes full of food rather quickly. Some of the dishes to come out varied from the simple raw ginseng in a leaf with a cherry on top to puffer fish soup (복어국). This restaurant focused mainly on seafood so we were treated to a variety of 회 as well as cooked fish. The meal concluded with some 찰밥 (sweet rice with beans cooked and served in a bamboo cup) and 수정과, a sweet, cinnamony tea, typically served cold.
We met with 일숙’s family in 부산 as well. Her cousin runs a small 횟집 there, consequently we ate very well. The second night we were there my oldest daughter asked for the opportunity to try live octopus (산낙지). I didn’t think that she was up for it since she had a hard time with 뻔데기 (it went in and then it came out again… she said it tasted like chicken but couldn’t get past the idea of what it was). She waited until the plate stopped squirming so much but then she had no problem. My dad even tried some as well as my seven year old daughter. (일숙 warned her to chew real good or it would stick going down but that didn’t stop her.)
In 서울 her family treated us to 불갈비 but again, the restaurant was a sit on the floor only restaurant. Really, you can’t find a very good Korean restaurant that has table and chairs. During our stay, we had asked many restaurants about stacking tables but none were willing. That didn’t stop my wife. She went back into the kitchen and got an empty milk crate for my mom to sit on: once again, no problem.
During our brief trip to Korea we visited with most all of my wife’s family and in the process ate a lot of most excellent food. I think that food and family transcend cultural barriers. What is that saying? “The quickest way to a man’s heart is through his stomach.” Korea can win over anyone with its great variety of food.
