KMK: Kiss My Kimuchi?

I love Korean food. Didn’t think I would when I first arrived, but it didn’t take long at all for me to become a kimchi addict. I’ve liked everything so far that I have tried-still not ready for those grub like things but who knows. Koreans pride themselves on their savory delicious dishes and once you’ve had it you understand why.

Which may be the problem since before coming to Korea I never even considered eating Korean food. The dishes aren’t as pervasive as Japanese, Thai, and Chinese cuisine. Back home there is only one Korean restaurant that I know of and that was only because the building used to be a Japanese place before they moved onto greener pastures. Being the red headed step child of Asian cuisine must sting a little and maybe that’s why the article in the Chosunilbo caught my eye.

I guess it’s understandable that the writer is a wee bit peeved. I mean having your national dishes passed off as the fare of another country, Japan no less, must be irksome. Traditional fare like galbi, bibimbap, and kimchi have become karubi, bibimba, and kimuchi on the menu of Gyu-Kaku a Japanese restaurant chain that has locations throughout the world. The customers go in thinking they are having a taste of Japan, but really have no idea they’ve just had Korean food.

I really don’t have the background to know which dishes are truly one hundred percent Korean or Japanese. With the intricate past of both countries being so interconnected things might be a bit murky as to what dishes are natively authentic. Take donkasu and shabu shabu both dishes that I believe are Japanese, but are served up Korean style in many places.

I have to admit though that after reading the entire article it left me with the feeling that the real issue was less about passing off Korean food as Japanese and more about those places not being owned by Koreans.