If a Trinidadian, Jamaican,
Indian or Mexican tells you that something is spicy. Believe them. They know
what they’re talking about. They speak the truth.
If a Korean tells you that
something is spicy, sometimes it is, sometimes it isn’t. First check to see if
they’re not just saying that because you’re non-Korean. They may have heard
about some European man who took one taste of regular ddeokbokki,* broke into a
sweat, turned red and dropped dead on the spot while school children nearby
slurped theirs down, unbothered, out of little paper cups. Based on this wildly
exaggerated story, many Koreans have come to the conclusion that their food is
too spicy for ANY foreigner (insert eye roll; I could write a book about their
generalizations about Westerners). If I may offer my non-expert opinion, the
gochu** did not kill him, he went into shock from encountering flavor for the
first time in his life.
If a Japanese person says that
something is spicy. It’s not. Ignore them and feed it to a toddler.
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* stir-fried cylinder-shaped rice cakes, usually seasoned with spicy chili
paste; popular after school snack
**spicy red pepper that figures prominently in Korean cuisine
December 27, 2019
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