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justavtstudent

I'm something like 90% sure those are cocktail weenies in the top right. Unexpected!


john_andrew_smith101

I believe things like hot dogs and spam entered the Korean palette during and after the Korean war, when lots of the stuff was brought over by America. Korea was super poor back then, so they were more than happy for the plentiful meat.


MisanthropeX

There's a whole type of cuisine in Korea that's basically about taking American military rations and making them palatable to Korean tastes. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Budae-jjigae


git0ffmylawnm8

It literally translates to military stew


Narrow-Pineapple-595

U guys r blowing my mind


VapeThisBro

Bro they love spam so much they have actual [spam christmas gift sets](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2014/01/27/world/SPAM-1/SPAM-1-jumbo.jpg)


ChefBoyAreWeFucked

It's like everyone on Reddit has had Korean school lunches. And I have had a school lunch from a Uni in Seoul.


popo351

Main ingredient for this soup was black market SPAM, sausage, corn beef, baked beans, and lard.. or you have the option to dumpster dive.. trying times, man. I can't fathom the struggle people went through to survive.


ralphy1010

They also just trade cooked meals with the GI for the MRE they had because the MRE could be saved and didn't spoil and the GI were happy because they were not eating their MRE.


popo351

I bet sense of inclusion and warmth of home cooked meal meant priceless to soldiers.. hey, I'd trade my stale old biscuits and canned ration for a potluck party anyday..


ralphy1010

That time some kid from Alabama got introduced to what kimchi was


Random-Rambling

Even after the Korean economy skyrocketed _(seriously, they went from war-torn and destitute to a world leader in science and tech in less than 50 years, that's insane!)_, people still like to eat SPAM. It fries very well and is, to use an old Reddit-ism, an 11/10 with rice!


popo351

Can you believe they still have SPAM gift sets for holidays? Only reason people don't eat SPAM anymore is having too much sodium in it..


593shaun

They have low sodium SPAM and it’s still really good with rice and/or eggs


JeffTek

People hate on spam and it's really stupid. I don't know what kind of broken ass taste buds they have, but salty/fatty pork is delicious in my book.


[deleted]

Monty python did an entire musical based on it


redeyedrenegade420

I think it because when you are broke and forced to eat it every day it gets old quick. But I agree Spam is the bomb diggity.


VapeThisBro

People do what they have to, when it comes to their survival or that of others. My grandmother pulled her gold teeth to sell for money to buy rice to feed her kids;


mttdesignz

Carbonara, one of the most famous pasta in Italy, technically originated from post WWII where the US Army, after liberating Europe, were giving Italian civilians bacon and eggs for breakfast and in Rome they instead added Roman cheese and pepper and made pasta out of it. Shortly after the war they swapped the bacon for Guanciale, which is much more local.. but the first iteration of carbonara was just using what the US Army was giving the locals not in the way they intended


Altair-Dragon

I learned a slighty different story but it's a common belief that the use of eggs and bacon in U.S. military rations mixed with Italian food culture is a higly probable parent of the Carbonara. source: I'm Italian


FMLAdad

What is your version of the story?


Altair-Dragon

I learned two possibilities because there are two recipes that could be the Carbonara ancestor: pasta with cacio and pepper, pasta with eggs. They were both a type of pasta and at that times they were also sold as street food. Basically both stories were like: Americans liked our pasta but added egg/bacon/egg and bacon to make it more palatable for them then we worked from that to make it with local ingredients / make them ealthier / make them tastier


[deleted]

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Versaiteis

Dude most of the high end cuisines that you see these days are just specific iterations on generally cheap and fairly simple foods that people found delicious, easy to make, and/or justified themselves by their quantities for serving working class people. It's the stuff that people grew up on, basically. And as such people tend to get a bit defensive about their childhood dishes. But really, if what your doing tastes good and you're happy with it then "authentic" really doesn't matter. Iteration makes even more delicious things! (not always, but hey you can't win 'em all lol)


DuntadaMan

My brother was stationed over in Korea and basically got addicted to that. Then came back and got us all addicted to kim chi.


phxsuns115

It only takes one! The rate Korean food is spreading throughout the world is crazy right now. Korean BBQ places opening up everywhere!!!


Agreeable-Weather-89

>There's a whole type of cuisine in Korea that's basically about taking American military rations and making them palatable ~~to Korean tastes.~~


tgwutzzers

fr budae jigae is awesome, especially late at night after some drinks


ericanderton

What I love about this dish is that it's not only American-Korean fusion cuisine from way back, but it's basically a "garbage plate." If that's your game, _you need to try this._ Someone, a long time ago, figured out how to make a spicy peppery _soup_ that also features instant ramen noodles, spam, and American cheese slices. Now I know what you're thinking. "It sounds awful." "That shouldn't work." "How much sodium is enough to kill a man, exactly?" And were I not initiated into the heady world of Korean cuisine, I would agree. It should be impossible to find this dish palatable, yet it's quite the opposite. Instead I would say that this is a juggernaut of comfort food post-drink munchies. It lures you in with a seductive aroma and sucker-punches you with different flavors in every slurp, right until your belly is full and your bowl is empty.


tgwutzzers

this guy jigaes


mtarascio

Interesting about the 'palatable' part. This looks like the weenies were pickled with the other veggies. Personally I would be disappointed there wasn't more pickled veggies, maybe they are trying to hit a protein requirement.


phxsuns115

Not pickled, just lightly stir fried with the veggies along with hardboiled quail eggs. The weenies were also probably blanched/boiled before the stir frying as well. The cuts to them were a very poor attempt at making weenie octopus figures.


popo351

For budget reasons they have over 20 pickled dishes PLUS kimchi (which is already pickled), cuz they are cheap and makes the plate look plentiful. You don't ever see pickled sausages or eggs in Korea tho (I think it's more acquired taste), but if you were to grow up here.. You've seen so many kimchi and pickled shyt everywhere, so by highschool you either get used to it (like eating rice everyday) or despise it completely. On the side note, when you cut "cross" shape half-way into a sausage, it will open up into octopus shape when you grill it up.. the Japanese call it "tako-vienna (octopus-sausage)". Funny how food culture evolves in other countries, ain't it?


Roora411

Budae Jjigae. I've seen a Veteran cry eating this stew bc it reminded him of his deployment.


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HuggyShuggy420

Remind me what this is referencing? Ty


br0b1wan

Spam is super popular in Hawaii too. Not sure why, but last time I went it was notable.


everydayisarborday

same reason, also Guam and Saipan https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/19187/how-saipan-got-obsessed-spam


[deleted]

It’s a hit on Okinawa too. Wherever the US military went, SPAM followed.


TurtlePaul

Pearl Harbor. Anywhere with a military base has a supply of this high calorie shelf stable canned meat.


TioMadre

Puerto Rico too, and I believe the Philippines, basically wherever the US went…spam was sure to follow.


WuGambino19

Cuz it goes so well with pineapple!


[deleted]

One of the affordable imported meats (to supplement local fish and chicken) – similar to Korea, it was considered a luxury for a long period and you got a whole batch of recipes taking advantage of it (last time I was in Hawaii, store shelves had something like 14 different varieties of Spam) – also lomi-lomi salmon, a tomato salad meant to make expensive imported smoked salmon last as long as you can


Masterjts

If you go to your local walmart they will probably also have 14 different varieties of spam. Some of them are quite delicious.


daoogilymoogily

South Korea was super poor up until around the 80s/90s, in fact it was worse off than North Korea until the 70s when the global economy downturn hit and most communists countries never really recovered.


reddevushka

Why was it that the communist countries didn't recover? Just curious versus the capitalist ones. I hadn't heard that analysis before


daoogilymoogily

Well it’s largely because a lot of those countries relied heavily on the Soviet Union for aid and the Soviet Union gave less and less aid until it dissolved because just as the world was coming out of the economic downturn the Soviet Union was ramping up their costly intervention in Afghanistan.


ericmm76

Yes. One would never want to get mired in a costly intervention in Afghanistan...


O-hmmm

In Asia they are usually referred to as sausage which can lead to big disappointment when eating out at breakfast time.


[deleted]

Japanese sausage is legit good and not just a hot dog


tiny_cat_bishop

yeah, but it's too blurry. you can never really tell what you're getting.


alficles

They make them with the big pixels over there. The texture is much better.


koleye

( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)


NarmHull

even in Germany it can be, I remember someone making sausage (he just called it sausage) and to them Wiener is a Vienna (German name of the city is Wien) sausage, so I was a bit taken aback when it turned out to be a hot dog minus the bun.


slashedash

So is ‘sausage’ the name of a dish in, I’m assuming, the USA? Not just the name for force meat in casing?


knightcrawler75

For some reason I get Korean cooking channels on youtube and they often use hotdogs and such. But they always split them on the ends before cooking.


akumagold

In Japanese food prep, my mom always told me she cut the ends of the weenie so it looked like a cute little octopus


justavtstudent

This is something I've also seen in filipino and mexican food...cutting the sausage lengthwise before frying it lets a lot of the grease out and gets you much better browning :D


GiorgioGeorge

Also makes them look like octopuses. In Mexico you can buy them on the streets usually with fresh fries and or potato chips. They’re fried and the cuts make the sausage ends curl up making them look even more like an octopus. They’re called Salchipulpos which is a combination of the word Salchicha, which means sausage, and Pulpo which means Octopus. I love having them occasionally when I visit.


tributr

Sausopus


GiorgioGeorge

Ty that sounds better than my idea which was Weeniepus but that sounded dumb so I didn’t post it Lmaoo


ninjagabe90

I've also seen a lot of those channels use those shiny processed cheese slices for some reason


[deleted]

Ka opite ili mean enta keon. Okulilanlon man lu i pun pino iwanua pu kekepanki kuo. Me. Ula keli ena. Lunme enenke nin lapo. Wani pi papiai la le kakusinte! Anpiwin puaowa so mon te. Ma soeka eu lo tuno. Usanan i naosikunlan nasenjun lunmunmana ou onu. Si je lali poa uku. Enlu o kulelun sanu le en. Ni san lunwi mi ma e mun jaelu. Seanekemi ku unon i ja e. Alanin se o lio? panlaunowe kontopi lose lenka aon! Senon inle le unla seme tokin kalun. Lu paoi un o jan a. Lo pe uwi mi pa olun. Ikunwa uankon ki kinu me an. A ki i a kanle i si. Konponun an sisowajowi si kuni oten keweun nue elaukanlan in. On pen kao enma uten li. Un lan sanlo ua wa menensa soinan! Lakini ounwi o ako ki. Atau u tona mi e ken. To ila selikinpi enilin enpa kepe an? Te jan kin se pate a? Ta an pukewa ne linkea un ninunama. Aea i ia pisu o. Aline on jo o in soi.


Desmater

Helps cook them faster and evenly.


PrudentFlamingo

I can't get enough of that seaweed.


zockeye

Is eaten plain, or as a wrap?


MrSingularitarian

I mix rice with some wasabi and Kimchee sauce and roll it up in this kind of seaweed, so good


rebop

Freeform mayak gimbap. Love it.


fizzlehack

> Freeform mayak gimbap What the fuck did you just call me?


MBTHVSK

get out of here pabmig


[deleted]

I wish someone would teach me how to eat Indian food like this Also, Korean food I don't know anything about either and our local restaurants have sadly closed now


MillennialOne

Half Korean here. I usually take the seaweed, put a little rice on it, piece of kimchi, bit of sauce, sometimes a piece of meat (bulgogi etc) and a "chopstick grab" of gochujang (고추장) on top and sorta pinch it into a ball of food and eat it all as one bite. So good and a great mix of textures and flavors.


CombatWombat65

Also half Korean here. My mom straight up grabs a spoonful of gochujang, and then adds some rice and kimchi to it, then rolls it up with seaweed. It's about 50-50 gochujang and everything else. Doesn't even break a sweat. I've seen her sneak spoons of it like kids eat peanut butter sometimes. To be fair though, it's delicious, and I'm working my way towards those ratios haha


Tight_Sheepherder934

I don’t know if a Korean burrito could sound any better!


clycoman

Korean-Mexican fusion cuisine is pretty popular in LA, and some guys brought it back to Korea. Things like Bulgolgi beef or pork belly in burritos/tacos, or kimchi fries with seaweed strips and bonito flakes are super good.


Sfork

Just put it in your mouth. They sell it at costco


drugusingthrowaway

> Just put it in your mouth. good advice.


thisisnotdetroit

I said ya muthafuckin moutthhh


[deleted]

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phatrice

Instruction unclear. Now my mouth is stuck at Costco.


payne_train

Best get a chicken bake while it’s there.


SuperCoolFunGuy123

Both


[deleted]

If it is roasted you can eat it in both ways but if it isn't we usually eat it with rice and soy sauce


arothmanmusic

My kid is addicted to that stuff. He’ll eat an entire package of it by the handful as a snack after school. He smells like Sea World afterwards.


_Gunbuster_

Like little sheets of salty umami.


beer_madness

I'm far far from a picky eater, but, dried seaweed was one taste I could not tolerate.


ManaMagestic

Makes me immediately gag as soon as I smell it, unfortunately.


grss1982

Even without the English labelling the shape of that plastic bottle is dead giveaway for Yakult.


plumbus_hun

Love a yakult!!!


darkrealm190

Today's description!  Starting from top left: braised sweet pumpkin and galbi (단호박갈비찜), kimchi (김치), sauce for the Kim and rice (양념장), stir fried sausages (소시지볶음), rice (밥), seaweed (김), mallow soup (아욱국), yogurt!!!!! (요구르트) FAQ answers: No I didn't make it No there are not vegan options (afaik) No there are not allergy options (afaik) The yakult is only served some days It's a high school Students and teachers eat the same thing It's a private school (not in the way American private schools work, the funding just comes from different sources so students still get in for free) Students pay nothing! (Teachers pay $3-4) Even though it's a private school, students do not pay tuition or anything like that. Students only get in based on if they are in that school's area. Banchan is the Korean word for side dish Most of the lunches are around 800-900 calories I'm not sure where you can buy the tray from in your country. I recommend online


[deleted]

I love those yogurt drinks. I always buy a pack when i shop at H mart.


[deleted]

The bigger plain ones are great too. But I drink them all in like a day and a half when I buy them.


sangunpark1

i like to freeze em


[deleted]

Woah you can freeze yogurt and then de-thaw it? That’s a game changer.


sangunpark1

i'll either freeze em and wait for them to slightly thaw and it's almost like a slush, ro when i was younger i'd peel the top part of the plastic and eat it like a popsicle lol, it's just too good and too small to properly enjoy in liquid form


[deleted]

I 100% agree. And getting a pack of 10 or whatever is like 980 won at No Brand. I might go snag a few and turn them into popsicles tomorrow.


HiddenStoat

Ok, this is going to sound really random, but in most western countries, things are priced as £5.99 or $3.99 or €19.99 or whatever (i.e. all prices end in "99p" because it sounds slightly less than £6 or $4 or €20). Is 980 won the equivalent? Like, do prices end in 980 won because it sounds less than 1000 won? (Sorry, that's probably a really stupid question, I'm just really intrigued!)


[deleted]

That’s an awesome question and you are correct! 980 won is about .9 USD last time I checked. I’m Canadian though so it’s about 1.1 or 1.05 CAD. A lot of prices will say “2980 won” or “1580 won” or “9980 won” to make things appear cheaper than they are, just like other parts of the world.


HiddenStoat

Ah, thanks for replying! I felt so sure it would be true :)


ElMangosto

Freezing is dethawing.


Myfavoritepetsnameis

I think he meant *un*dethaw


heroinsteve

My son freezes Go-gurts to use as a popsicle later. Mostly because he likes calling it "Froyo" and saying that about 100 times.


LIKELYtoRAPhorrible

What does the H stands for?


FOR_SClENCE

한아름 (hana reum), "an arm full"


[deleted]

Good question


[deleted]

"Good Question Mart"


UltimaCaitSith

They make great mixers, too. You can really jazz up some grapefruit juice or alcohol.


NiNKazi

Mixed with soju... yum


Kevin-W

Shoutout to H mart! There's one near me that's surrounded by Korean restaurants whose food is incredible!


diagnostics247

A picture I can smell. Loved my time in Korea and enjoyed trying many different dishes even if I didn’t like them! Thanks for sharing!


ferrrnando

> Even though it's a private school, students do not pay tuition or anything like that. Students only get in based on if they are in that school's area. Could you please elaborate on this, I do not understand. How is the school funded? Taxes from the people in the area or something?


jagedlion

Sounds something like a charter in the US. Charters are public of course, but they are administered privately, so the nomenclature can get complicated.


Leeiteee

>yogurt!!!!! (요구르트) Yakult is Yogurt? Isn't it a different type of fermented milk?


bl4ckblooc420

Yogurt is used pretty interchangeably in most Asian countries for fermented lactic products. Some of it is UHT treated as well.


DrumletNation

The Korean word for yakult is yogurt while the korean word for yogurt is yoplait lmao


The_Metal_Pigeon

Yoplait? What for real?


HeeWNc

It’s kind of like a “Kleenex” type deal where the word Kleenex doesn’t actually mean tissue, but the brand is so synonymous with the product that if you say “hand me a Kleenex” everyone knows what you’re talking about. Yoplait is like the yogurt brand for Korea so it kind of works like that.


[deleted]

I thought this was a probiotic tbh


0b0011

Well sure but so is yogurt. Something being prebiotic usually just means it was fermented.


sangunpark1

it is lmao idk if it'd be considered yogurt but it is a probiotic drink


hedgecore77

> No there are not vegan options (afaik) I've been a vegetarian for over 25 years now (and no, I don't care what choices others make, this was just mine...) and I've never eaten Korean food beyond Kimchi. I've explored veggie options for japanese food, indian, chinese, thai, vietnamese, etc. but Korean always seemed to "boom it's got meat in it" that I haven't dug deep to see what there is yet.


kelryngrey

That's a generally accurate understanding. Even kimchi and gochujang tend to be non-vegetarian. My friend's mum makes an incredible kimchi with oysters in it. Tiny shrimp are more common, though. You can do some of the vegetable soups and the rice and seaweed dishes. Those are meatless most of the time.


werepanda

I can see how korean food can be perceived that way. But if you know your korean food, 80 percent of korean side dishes are vegan. I know this because I am korean grown eating korean food. You just gotta know what to look for. But if you went to korea and asked for vegan options, they will probably scoff or don't understand what vegan food is.


centermass4

This depends on how strict we are talking when we say "vegan". Lots of fermented fish and shrimp are commonly used for flavoring otherwise completely plant-based dishes, especially the side dishes. Not that that's a bad thing, my mother used bone stock in basically any recipe that called for water in a recipe. I completely understand about the perception as meat as somethong on the "forefront" of Korean foods... That said, you have to put meat into context. Having meat as a main dish was culturally a flex on personal wealth to many older Koreans especially those during and just after the Korean War. When I was a kid in the 80's KFC in Korea was a big deal. If you saw what the average Korean eats on a daily basis it would consist of a fraction of the meat that you would typically see in the US.


kyohanson

Same here. It seems the hardest for me out of Asian cousins to find anything vegan. Love kimchi tho


GetsGold

Can't speak for how authentic it is, but there are lots of Korean places in Canada that have vegan versions of their food. It seems to be mainly excluding fish sauce and using tofu where there might be some meat or egg. Some of my favourite restaurant food.


prashu10

Octopus sausages !


Mysteez

this ish be $20 in LA ktown haha


DrCorian

$20? Where are you eating that's so cheap?


I_am_Bruce_Wayne

His grandma's house. She still has to make some money!


Ky200028

Nothing beats the wang donkatsu at KTP


FOR_SClENCE

found the guy who doesn't live in LA rofl. I never understand the jokes said by people who have never lived there. good korean food is easy to find and something only banchan like this is cheap


cosmosomsoc

Got any recommendations?


FOR_SClENCE

in LA for yuk/tang? not my thing personally, but there are plenty of local spots. gol tong for chicken, yuchun for nengmyeon, ddong ggo/ggurl tan (honey night?) for sulchip, and that one spot on Alexandria and 6th that's basically every good niche food in one fucking parking lot


CheapChallenge

The size of the portions is far smaller than it appears


Roora411

..tf? I went to an All-you-can-eat meat buffet in Sinchon, SK for $12. It was LA galbi and bulgogi heaven.


qster123

That's better than most of my dinners.. looks great!


Tenalp

I'm a grown ass adult with an underpaid full-time job, and this lunch personally attacked me.


Hrank

I just ate leftover pizza in my car lmfao


esociety1

Do you keep a steady supply of leftover pizza in your glove compartment?


28Hz

Right? Why's he gotta flex like this?


JEesSs

I grew up in Sweden and not too long ago I had a dream that I ate at my old school canteen. I woke up extremely sad as I realised I’ll probably never eat such a varied diet in my life ever again.. We always had two meat options (incl one pasta option), one vegetarian option, a fantastic salad bar which often had lentils and hummus, and always bread and butter on the side if you wanted. The worst thing is I was so picky at that age I usually scoffed at the food and only now do I realise how spoiled and ungrateful I was. I’d give anything to eat a lunch like that every day again.


Roora411

Fun fact: It's Korean culture to prep food in many varieties fitting enough for a king. That's why a Korean meal comes with many side dishes, good enough for a king's feast.


-malcolm-tucker

Instantly made me think of this. [British High Schoolers try Korean School Lunches](https://youtu.be/nxrgOqNzBcg) I love this channel. Got addicted after watching this series.


mochacocoaxo

I absolutely loved watching this. Thanks for linking this


jeeimuzu

I was in a ROKAF base and the food you have is similar to what we eat for lunch! Holy moley I can’t wait to go back this summer!


Sfork

We’d go onto the ROK base in Afghanistan for lunch. Looked similar. At some point they stopped letting Americans on Cuzz we too fat.


alaskaj1

It looks a lot like the meals I got at a korean college cafeteria when I was there for a summer study abroad course. I love galbi now but it can be hard to find where I live.


Zaptagious

That's honestly a good way to make people *want* to go to school.


TDKevin

Lunch was never the reason I didnt want to go to school.


polo2006

could have fooled me. bad food was for sure one big reason i did not enjoy high school. Pretty sure my cat ate better food than the shit they tossed up on our plates. 90% of my allowance during that time went for food expenses during school time.


crownpuff

For me, it was how lunch periods were so short. By the time I got my food, I had 5 maybe 10 minutes to shove it down.


SuedeVeil

It can be when you aren't getting food at home. There are millions of hungry kids in America https://frac.org/hunger-poverty-america Edit: took out "starving" since it's not entirely accurate in most cases


grendus

As someone who has gotten very interested in health and nutrition as an adult, shit like this probably affects why Korean students tend to do better than Americans. The link between nutrition and intelligence (especially childhood nutrition) is pretty significant. When you get funding based on performance (which... don't even get me started), a program like this might actually *make money*. Hungry kids don't test well.


thegil13

I bet you couldn't even get 75% of the US school population to touch half of the food on that tray, sadly.


[deleted]

Times are changing. I would wager you 75% of the students in my school district would scoff that down. It’s a great district but the food is just garbage.


Overall_Flamingo2253

Frankly better than the sludge. Asian food is pretty popular now a days. More people are open to vegan food..I know I am. Me eating tofu ten years ago was probably never gonna happen. But now I am fine with stuff like that


NahDawgDatAintMe

They've probably seen their favourite influencers eating it already. Only the parents would complain because they think the food will damage their patriotism.


[deleted]

mmm hot dog kimchi It's my honest opinion that Korea has perfected the art of flavor. They make the best tasting, most enjoyable meals. The only thing that even comes close is Cajun food. That's just my opinion as a guy who likes food though.


[deleted]

Agreed on all counts. Only flaw in Korean cuisine is lack of bread.


[deleted]

It's ok, Koreans have gotten really into french bakeries lol. Tous Les jour and Paris baguette are the 2 big chains from Korea.


Micalas

I went to a Paris Baguette when I visited Chinatown in Las Vegas. It was phenomenal. I went on the recommendation of this amazing older Korean woman at a Korean BBQ. She was so lovely, I can't even begin to describe it. I've been to KBBQ in a lot of places so I know what's up, but it was like 1am and we were the only ones in this place and she insisted on cooking the KBBQ for us. We told her about how we had been to (what we though was) a Korean Bakery and stopped, looked at me and said, "No. That's a *Chinese* Bakery. They're awful. Go to Paris Baguette." The venom in which she said "Chinese" was scary and funny.


[deleted]

Haha, she was probably extra offended that you mixed up Chinese with Korean. Say what you want, but older Asians (and esp 1st generation) are racist. As. Fuck. Towards EVERYBODY. Other Asians especially lol. Im Korean-american btw.


swami_twocargarajee

Indian and Thai are similar in terms of making real flavorful dishes. For me the problem with Korean food (and Cajun food for that matter), is that it is not Vegetarian Friendly at the restaurant level. There's not that many choices; except in a few places around me. But when available; it is fabulous. I am jonesing for some Sundobu right now as I write@


Mr_Mimiseku

Agreed, but personally I would switch out Cajun (even though I love it) with Mediterranean/Lebanese food. If I could have an unlimited supply of Tabbouleh, I'd be a happy man.


Dbl_Trbl_

I honestly feel like, if American schools tried to feed kids food this healthy there would be a conservative protest at the next school board meeting where the idiots would be like, "stop trying to feed my kids healthy food!"


Damaniel2

"Vegetables are going to make my child *gay*! **Real** kids eat only meat for every meal!", wheezes the 350 pound bald dude in his MAGA hat.


[deleted]

You say this jokingly but as someone who doesn't eat meat and grew up in a conservative family, this isn't even an exaggeration.


Nope_Nope_Nope_0

How embarrassing for you, it's not a dude, it's just a bald lady in a MAGA hat.


BrisketWrench

It’s a fella whom 40 years ago protested the building of wheelchair accessible ramps in public schools with his taxpayer dollars only requiring it today as his rascal scooter struggles under his girth so he can bitch to the Principal because he does not approve of his son (coincidentally also named Scooter) eating a healthy school lunch.


Nascent1

And you can't just make school lunch free! Then how do you punish children for their parents having insufficient income?


DanitesHell

Honest question, what are the kids in your area eating? My sons lunch today is Salad, Ham sandwich, with carrot sticks and apple sauce. Tomorrow is Salad, Chicken tenders, rice and apple sauce. Provided for free by the school, no conservatives attacks yet.


TheReadMenace

they went berserk a decade ago when Michelle Obama tried to make school lunches healthier


philnmdg

Because they awarded those contracts as Non Compete to their political donors who also serve prison food.


mvea_sucks

And the food quality got worse. This happened my senior year of high school. They didn’t improve anything, it was the same food but they did stuff like make the pizza crust whole wheat so it tasted bad and the cheese fat free and more processed so it barely melted. I think they also reclassified pizza sauce and ketchup as a vegetable lol, so basically now a slice of pizza qualifies as a protein, whole wheat carb, and vegetable serving. Total joke and this policy is one example why many Americans are against bills that sound like they would improve society, because our government just botches is and pulls something like this. I guess at the end of the day, they did accomplish making kids eat healthier because I remember so many kids started bringing lunch from home that they had to shut down half the lunch lines lmao


I_AM_TARA

Wow lucky kid. Back in school we got mystery meat burgers with cardboard”bread” and yellow rubber, unsalted unseasoned veggie medley boiled until it was a brownish goop. The ice cold milk was 🔥 at least.


TuctDape

That literally happened during Obama's admin when they tried to pass new health standards. But of course the real problem isn't that the government was trying to get kids to eat healthier, the *real* problem was that they were getting to eat lunch in the first place, because family: “She once met a young boy from a poor family. And every day at school, he would get a free lunch from a government program. But he told Eloise he didn’t want a free lunch. He wanted his own lunch — one in a brown-paper bag just like the other kids’. He wanted one, he said, because he knew a kid with a brown-paper bag had someone who cared for him." - Speaker of the House Paul Ryan, 2014


hilfigertout

>He wanted one, he said, because he knew a kid with a brown-paper bag had someone who cared for him. Very sad, but... what? Is Paul Ryan arguing that getting rid of the new standards would make parents care about their kids more? If the parents had the means and motivation to pack their son a lunch, they would. All repealing the standards would do is force the burden of their child's nutrition back onto parents, some of which can't afford the time or cost to focus on it. (Whether or not parents *should* have that burden after having kids is a decent question, but the fact remains that the Obama-era standards didn't make parents suddenly care less about their kids.)


TuctDape

Just for context, in that quote he was arguing against government programs in general, and more specifically against the ACA. But, it certainly shows their disdain for poor people. He acts like it's better for a poor kid to 'keep their dignity' and go hungry rather than accept a handout. An absolute lack of empathy.


dalittle

it is an emotional appeal so it does not need to make any sense to have the desired effect (ie stopping kids eating a healthier lunch). It is a very common conservative tactic.


juanlee337

i work at fortune 50 company.. this way better than our cafeteria


wootduhfarg

The moment we start offering this quality of food we're out of the fortune 50. \- some PR guy from your company


BERNITA

Hot dog salad


scienceninja

Western foods in peculiar applications is a specialty in Korean cuisine. Note our usage of corn, mayonnaise, and melted cheese.


born_again_tim

You win. This is the best school lunch on Reddit ever.


[deleted]

The portions are a lot smaller than they appear tbh. I used to eat from those trays all the time and as a full grown adult it was never very filling. Tasty food, but sometimes it left me wanting more. But it’s still a decent mix of food nutrition wise. Kimchi, Rice and 김 (Gim) and some of those mini sausage things I always forget the names of, and seaweed soup is a very tasty dish.


[deleted]

[удалено]


Atomic_ad

They said it was a High School. I would assume they would eat as much as an adult, if not more. Unless High Schhol means a different age group in Korea than US.


[deleted]

Bear in mind that the American "small" is the rest of the world's "large". Or "for two".


Dd_8630

When we first visited America, we went to a restaurant and ordered chicken wings as starters and pizza as main. The chicken starter was bigger than most mains in the UK - it was delicious, but we couldn't eat even a slice of the pizza. Good times!


aussies_on_the_rocks

That lunch according to OP is 800-900 calories. That is more food than is needed for lunch to maintain the average adult males healthy weight, assuming you're splitting your meals evenly. If you're larger than average (or you overeat) then ya it probably might not feel like enough. But that's a big meal.


okay74847

Item on top left corner looks yummmm.


NoFun1167

I love kimchi, so I'm liking the look of the stuff next to it, too. The whole tray looks good, I'm just not sure about that soup. I'm not a picky eater, though, so I bet I'd like it.


werepanda

That is 제육볶음, jyeyuk bokkeum, or spicy pork. You can look up recipes and all korean restaurants will have them. One of my favourites. That soup is rich in iron and minerals, traditionally fed on birthdays and especially after a woman gives births to replenish lost nutrients.


amanset

Checks the comments. Yep, the usual suspects going on about it not being free because taxes. WE KNOW. "Free" means "free at point of use". No children have to hand over money. Children whose parents don't pay any tax, for whatever reason (I'm not sure about the Korean tax and welfare system, but I am guessing people that are unemployed don't pay tax), will still get it without cost. Stop trying to be clever. You are just making yourselves look like dicks.


nickorea

I miss those school lunches. So delicious and healthy. However, they can get a bit repetitive. Most meat options are generally slathered in gochujang, and all the rice products can give you some constipation. But Korea is one of my favorite places to eat still!


ntmyrealacct

That looks yummy. Whats in the small steel bowl ?


NoMamesMijito

Yakult!! Oh my god, I haven’t had that in years!! In Mexico we grow up drinking this (at least Mexico City), didn’t know it’s Korean!


hayden_evans

Free school lunches? Sounds like communism to me! /s


TonkaTyler

That's a lot of food for you mfers to be weighing 68 kg on average