Making a foreign cuisine its own
Speaking of Korean restaurants, HowChow just alerted me to a new food blog -- new to me, at least.
The blog, Kevin and Ann Eat Everything, has an excellent post on Korean Chinese food. There are two restaurants in Ellicott City where you can get it, Tian and Han Joong Kwan.
As the blog points out, we think of them as Korean restaurants, but in Korea they would probably be considered Chinese. ...
Kevin, who wrote the post, has suggestions on what to order and so on. But the post also raises the interesting question of what happens when another country takes over a cuisine that we're familiar with, makes it its own, and then introduces the new version to us.
I haven't eaten at either of these restaurants, but maybe you have:
Han Joong Kwan, 9338 Baltimore National Pike, 410-461-1099
Tian, 8151 Baltimore National Pike, 410-418-8198
(Photo courtesy of Kevin and Ann Eat Everything)
Comments
And what ever happened to Yakitori One on Maryland, Korean version of a Japanese noodle house, said they'd reopen in the fall?
Posted by: chowsearch | October 12, 2009 4:50 PM
When I was in the Netherlands recently I scratched my head over "Amigo Pizza." Huh?
Posted by: Dahlink | October 12, 2009 4:59 PM
Chinese food run through the Indian cuisine filter is pretty interesting, too. When I left Michigan, there were just a few places opening where you could get it there.
Of course, one of the biggest examples of this kind of thing is pizza.
Posted by: Lissa | October 12, 2009 7:15 PM
There is a Chinese 'sub-culture' (ethnic-linked) in many if not most Asian countries. It is therefore commonplace to find Korean, Thai, Malaysian, Indonesian, Filipino, etc. Chinese cuisine.
Posted by: Dan D | October 12, 2009 8:34 PM
and really, how is this different from the fact that what we think of as Chinese is largely
American Chinese?
Posted by: City Redux | October 12, 2009 9:40 PM
Many years ago, when I was living in Madrid, I frequented a Chinese-Cuban restaurant. It was years before I could figure out which cuisine "owned" black beans.
Posted by: BankStreet | October 13, 2009 1:35 PM
BankStreet, aren't beans universal?
Posted by: Dahlink | October 13, 2009 3:08 PM
From Wikipedia (which, as we all know, is never wrong):
"Douchi, also called Chinese fermented black beans, is a flavoring most popular in the cuisine of China, and is used to make black bean sauce.
Douchi is made by fermenting and salting soybeans. The process turns the beans black, soft, and mostly dry. The flavor is sharp, pungent, and spicy in smell, with a taste that is salty and somewhat bitter and sweet.
Douchi should not be confused with black turtle beans, a variety of common bean that is commonly used in the cuisines of Central America, South America, and the Caribbean."
Posted by: BankStreet | October 14, 2009 10:37 AM
I've always wanted to travel the world and try different countries' takes on Chinese food. I'm convinced it would be a fascinating book. Thanks for the link!
Posted by: Kevin R | October 14, 2009 11:01 AM