Chapter Twenty: Just Eat It

How come you're always such a fussy young man.
Don't want no Captain Crunch, don't want no Raisin Bran.
Well, don't you know that other kids are starving in Japan.
So eat it, just eat it.

Don't want to argue, I don't want to debate.
Don't want to hear about what kind of food you hate.
You won't get no dessert 'till you clean off your plate.
So eat it.

A friend of mine once said "If ukuleles accordions were considered in the same class as guitars, Weird Al would be bigger than the Beatles."  Whether or not that's true, Weird Al's classic "Eat It" is a good introduction to some of my meals in the past year.

Even though my kitchen is small and I don't have an oven, cooking for myself has been a real boon during my stay in Korea.  I knew beforehand that veggies, rice, and tofu were easily acquired.  Finding things like pasta and spaghetti sauce were a boon I wasn't expecting.  I've gone through a lot of peanut butter too, which at 7 dollars for a small jar of Jif is a gourmet food here.  Though I've documented the challenges of not eating meat in Korea, that doesn't mean that you can't eat well here.

My attempt to make a tofu sandwich.








Vegan ddukbokki (rice noodle soup).  We added raymeon noodles to ours.  This was super good, super spicy, and super filling.








One of many stirfries, this one was spiced up with cashews and a strange form of tofu.







Thanks to some tvp from the homefront, I was able to have some delicious penne marinara.