Asian culture

[karatekid1975]

I found this topic on another forum. I thought it was pretty interesting. I hope this is a good place for it.

Anyways, the topic was about how the MAs got you interested in the asian culture.

Here's my story: When I started in MA (TSD), there was this Korean lady that grew up in America at my dojang. We became friends. She would tell me about the food, culture, ect. And laughed at us (jokingly) about butchering the Korean language LOL.

Anyways, she invited me to dinner at her house. Her mom who is old fashioned "off the boat" Korean and barely knew english (broken english). She cooked the meal. OMG!!! It was to die for! It was REAL Korean food. She made it all by hand from scratch. I fell in love with it. It tasted awsome, and I never had it before that.

Ever since then I would eat at the local Korean restaurant. Then I moved up here (NY), and found another one, but it's a little out of the way. So, I learned to cook Korean. It's not as good as my old friend's mom's cooking, but still good. I also like the culture. I learned a lot from my friend, and from some research.

But I have also gotten into Japanese, Thai, Vietnamese, and Chinese food (My instructor now is Chinese). But the Chinese food in restaurants in this area is Americanized. It's kinda crapy (greasy). But I learned to cook Japanese food pretty well, and a little of Thai and Vietnamese.

We have also collected asian stuff. We have a few asian "looking" peices of furniture, a Chinese scroll for good health, Korean Flag (for our future dojang) and various Japanese weapons.

I want our next house to "look" like it came from Japan (we are getting it built). That would be the coolest

So what's your story?

[Superfoot]

I started martial arts because of my interest in philosophy, and because of my interest in martial arts movies. It was not so much about learning to fight as it was about wanting to develop a sense of mastery over myself, and the challenge of pushing myself to my limits and beyond. I could not handle being a sedentary individual. I was always hyperactive growing up, so martial arts was the perfect outlet.

From a cultural standpoint, it was intresting studying different martial arts because of the different languages used, and how there are some similarities in grammer and vernacular used amongst different artforms. Being of Asian (non-Oriental) ancestry, I was curious to see how many of the Buddhist philosophies linked with my own upbringing and also with other countries across Asia. I also noticed that as staples of culture move through Asia, there are certain changes that occur which fascinated me. For example, in Indian Monk Bodhidharma is referred to in Cantonese as Damo, and in Japanese as Daruma. I was unsure about the flow of Buddhism from India to China to Japan, as I thought that Buddhism travelled from India to China, first, and Japan second. However, the Japanese pronounciation seemed closer to the Sanskrit word. So I decided to research upon on the peculiarities of each language and observe what affects the enunciation of words in each language. From there, my interest carried on in the same vein. From language to philosophy, to cultural customs and rituals. The same goes for boxing and fencing, which despite not of Asian origin, I would research up on in a simialr fashion. Some say it is a "geeky" endeavour to research and read. But at the end of the day, you may very well lose your house, your car and your worldly possessions. But you will never lose your education.

Regarding food, I have been searching for the famous "Kimchi" for a while now. Since you have experience, and this would pertain to the culture of Asia, would it be too much to ask you to throw down some recipes? Superfoot is no Supercook unfortunately. Well not for Kimchi anyway.

[karatekid1975]

Cool story Superfoot. I did a bit of research myself, so I don't consider it "geeky."

Yes, I do have plenty of recipes for Kimchi. BUT it also depends on how you like it. Most recipes I have are HOT (spicy). Some Kimchi is made with radish (Daikon), cucumber, ect not just cabbage. I do have recipes that are less hot, if you like that. Let me know which one you perfer, and I'll post it

[Superfoot]

Thanx KarateKid1975

Hot and Spicy please! I heard of the Kimchi made with radish, but I never tried that. Is that really sour?

Thanx again.

[karatekid1975]

Hey superfoot.

No, I don't think it is. I have only made the radish one once, but it wasn't sour that I remember.

Ok here's the recipe I use on a regular basis First off, you will need a couple of jars to store the kimchi in. You will need a big mixing bowl to soak the cabbage in. Ok, here goes.

one 5lb head of Chinese cabbage (nappa)

sea or kosher salt (roughly 2 tablespoons)

Cut the cabbage into bite size squares, place it into the bowl, and sprinkle the salt on it and mix well. Fill the bowl with water, just enough to cover the cabbage. Let it sit for a minumum of 4 hours like this. Or overnight. The longer you let it sit, the softer the cabbage will be (I like mine a little on the "crisp" side, so 4 hours is enough for me). Then you will rinse the cabbage well in a pasta strainer, to remove the salt (if you don't, it will be WAY salty). Keep the cabbage in the strainer till you make the sauce, which is:

1 Daikon radish (about one third to one half the size of the cabbage), julienned

1 head of garlic minced

2 to 4 green onions, julienned

1 to 2 tbsp of ginger minced

1 to 2 tbsp of brown sugar

2 to 8 tbsp of Korean hot red pepper flakes, or fresh hot red pepper to taste (I use 6 tbsp of the flakes, and it's plenty hot).

Some recipes call for fish or shrimp sauce. About 2 tbsp if you wish to use it, but it's not really needed.

Anyways, mix the sauce well in that large bowl. Dump the cabbage back in and coat the cabbage well with the sauce. Now you have kimchi BUT if you want the real stuff, you have to let it marinate in the jars. Place the kimchi in the jars. Let the kimchi marinate in the jars on a self or counter for three days. Then three weeks in the frig. NOW you have good kimchi

You can always cut the recipe in half to make a smaller batch if you wish. And the kimchi keeps for months in the frig.

[Superfoot]

Thanks. I assume all the ingredients can be found in a local supermarket, and the Daikon and sauces @ Oriental markets? I'll find them all soon. Once again thanx for the recipes.

[ovine king]

in the uk, you're more likely to find the daikon listed as mooli.

[karatekid1975]

Yes, Superfoot. In the states, we can find the ingredients in our local market. But, like ovine king said, it may be under a different name in the UK. Or find a good asian market.

And you are welcome If you want any more recipes, I started a thread called "Recipe Trading Post." Check it out.