Korean Food While Traveling

An important ingredient could not be found at the grocery store.

Tell Them I didn't Cry, is Jackie Spinner's memoir from her duty as an embedded reporter for the Washington Post. In the book, she talks about Friday night dinner parties that she hosted. Her meals became quite popular with the journalists and contractors in Iraq and featured a wide range of cuisine. The Friday night menu depended on what was available at the supermarket that she would go to in Baghdad.

Spinner described the problems with keeping a supermarket stocked in a war zone. She explained that markets in Iraq rely on vendors from a wide range of countries and a store could sell food from Mexico one week and the following week, the stock could come from the Philippines.

After completing my first week away from home, I promised my housemates that I would make Bulgogi for Sunday dinner.

Bulgogi is a traditional Korean meal consisting of strips of marinated rib eye steak cooked on a tabletop grill. This is only a part of a meal that includes lettuce, rice, and Kim Chi. I have never been to Korea, however, I have always been interested in exotic food and learned to cook Asian food in 2002.

The commissary provided the essential ingredients for making bulgogi. While deli sliced rib eye from an Oriental market is preferred, the Navy Exchange Commissary offered flank steak. The garlic and green onions and Asian pears were plentiful and I got several hot peppers to grill with the meat.

There was plenty of rice and lettuce. There was no Kim Chi in stock; however, a large Papaya from the produce section was fine. Also, I got the ingredients to make a small batch of corn bread to enjoy with the meal.

It would have been nice to have garlic paste and a bottle of Sochu to serve with a traditional Korean meal; however, that was not a problem

But the commissary does not sell Sake.

Sake, a Japanese rice wine, is blended with the onions, garlic and pear to add additional flavor to the marinade. After searching the wine aisle for few minutes, I realized that a bottle of Sake that could not be found in the commissary.