Mexican in Korea P.I.

Today I decided to write about something I know very well...being a Mexican in Korea. Mexicans in Korea are not something you see a lot, at least, not as much as you see USAians (I hate calling them "Americans" because America is a whole continent and not a country, and we're all Americans from Canada to Brazil, FYI!) in Korea; so I guess you can say it's still a "new thing" and I can tell because, in order to support this post, I was doing a bit of research -as I usually do- and found nothing...at least, nothing useful. So, that means that not only there are very few Mexicans in Korea (about 600, give or take) but the ones here aren't very active on the internet (they don't blog, vlog, write for any kind of media...nothing, really). So, other than my sister, I did not find any Mexican blogging in/about Korea. 

My Mexican Self

My Korean Self

Anyways, I'd like to start by saying that it is kind of odd that for Mexicans being rare in Korea, there are whole bunch of "Mexican restaurants", particularly in Seoul -where I live-, not sure about the rest of the country. This range of restaurants go from -the already a classic lol- Taco Bell to Don Charly, passing through places like Julio's, that call themselves a Mexican restaurant that is "even better than authentic", even though they play Bossanova (Brazilian music) as background music. Now, as a Mexican who respects herself, I have NEVER ever been to nor tried the food from Taco Bell because...well, why would I? I can tell it's all Fake-o McFake just by looking at their pics. I will say that Don Charly is the best Mexican "restaurant" (in Mexico we'd just call it "antojeria" for the kind of things they serve) I have tried in Seoul. I have tried several but that's a topic for another post (reviews and all).

A decent Mexican Food restaurant in Seoul

Being a Mexican in Korea is...funny, most of the times anyway. It's always fun getting people trying to put a finger on your nationality cause we clearly don't look like "gringas" but don't have the single-eyelid thing going on (to make them think we're from somewhere in Asia) either and then again Mexico is so far from Korea that that nationality doesn't even come up in their radar lol And when it does, 2 things -mainly- come to their mind: "Tacos" and "Tequila", oh yeah, it feels pretty amazing that in spite of having hundreds of years of -interesting- history what the world knows about us is Tacos and Tequila. But in a way is fun (funny?) cause you get to have a sort of an instant connection with people cause they meet you and they all go like "Mexico, really? Wow! I LOVE Mexican food!" (as if they've actually tried the real thing) and then I go "OMG, really? Me too!", then we all laugh and smile and it's like we're already friends cause we've got something in common ^_^

It's also cool cause people don't instantly hate you as they hate USAians (I mean old people, generally speaking) and most of the times they find you...exotic, and well, I guess that in a place like this...I sort of am (?). You know, my eyes, my hair...those are the features people most comment on. I've always considered I have small eyes (because I do!) but here, people is like "oh, you have such big and pretty eyes!" lol Also, when I wear my hair natural (curly) they just love it, like, they think I did something to it, when the fact is...I was too lazy to actually do anything on it that day.

A day when I didn't do anything to my hair...but washed it! lol

One of the parts I like the least, well, more like I totally dislike is the part when -again- Mexico is so far that -most- Koreans are very ignorant about it and it's not their fault...entirely cause we're two completely different cultures and set so apart from each other that, up to certain point, it is kind of understandable, I mean, I only knew so much about Korea before coming here. But when they think Mexico is a poor country and all they see/imagine when they think of it is this:

What Mexico looks like...in Korean's imagination.

A dry-flat-dirty surface with tons of poor people on it. And yes, poverty does exist in Mexico and yes, it a country in "development" but, come on, you gotta widen your horizons a bit more and -at least- do some google-ing or naver-ing (for Koreans). This is how Mexico looks like, at least Mexico City -where I am from. It is a big, modern and AMAZING city, to be honest. Hectic and polluted, yes, also, but still quite pretty and interesting. So, before imagining we come from a dirty hole, please use  your super fast internet connection and get informed ^^  

What Mexico looks like...in reality.

Umm, writing this post actually just made me miss Mexico and, as odd as it is...this is the very first time I miss it since I left over 6 months ago. Food? Yes, I missed that ever since I was having my last Tacos before even getting on the plane to Japan last summer but Mexico itself? Not one bit...until now. *deep sigh* Anyway, moving on.

Being a Mexican in Korea is also cool because you get to play the "Foreigner Card". What is it, you wonder? Well, it's when you use being a foreigner as an justification to get things, you know, cause foreigners are still sorta new to Koreans and they wanna impress them with their country and culture and stuff. So, even though I'm generally not a big fan of using it, I admit I sometimes do recur to it. It's good when you wanna get into shows, TV Network performances, clubs, etc. It can also get you a lot of free stuff, though that just may be us, I don't know...cause we have some foreigner friends and they're always amazed at the things that happen to us or we get, or even the people we meet lol 

That is all for now...but then again, it's only Part I, which is all I could think of so far but I'm sure more things and memories of experiences will come to mind later for the following Parts, so stay tuned!  
     
  

Street Food in Korea

Street Food is, generally, one of the biggest attractions when visiting a place -especially these days- and Korea isn't the exception. Street Food is usually for adventurous people, as not everyone dares to eat food off of the street stalls, to be honest, they don't know what they're missing!

As Mexican, I grew up in a culture filled with Street Food and I LOVE it, I mean, not for nothing Mexican Street Food is considered one of the Most Delicious in the World! So, not only am I used to street food but I am an enthusiast of it; no matter where I go, I gotta have street food. Of course, always being precocious enough as not every street stall meets -at least- the minimum hygienic standards one would look for in a place to eat.

Street Food in Korea has a wide variety that goes from very delicious to pretty nasty things, going through a lot of weird stuff! lol (seriously)

Tteokbokki (떡볶이 – spicy rice cakes). Rice cakes in a spicy red pepper paste sauce, one of my personal favorites, though the taste varies quite a lot depending on the place, but it’s usually very good, tasty and spicy.

Sundae (순대 – blood sausage). Coagulated pig’s blood, glass noodles and barley, with pig or cow intestines for the sausage skin. We have something similar in Mexico called “moronga’, and I find them almost equally disgusting. 

Odeng (오뎅 – fish cakes). They are skewered on a stick and left in a broth, they look like long-gross brown-colored tongues…or something lol It also looks like Mexican food called “pancita”, which is maybe the reason why I don’t like it, though the disgusting taste also contributes.

Twigim (튀김 – Fried Snacks). It’s a variety of things like shrimp, eggs, kimbap, sweet potato, lotus root, peppers, eggplant, etc, dipped in a batter and deep-fried. The good thing here is the variety, it’s always easy to find something you like.

Dalkggochi (닭꼬치 - Chicken skewers). Portions of dark-meat or chicken skewered together and grilled over open coals, covered with a tasty marinade throughout the cooking process. These are good and well, with chicken and/or meat, you can hardly go wrong…though I did get a stomachache both time I had it (true story!).

Jeon – (전 - Korean pancakes). It’s a sort of pancake made with vegetables, kimchi (or other stuff) and batter, they’re fried up and made flat and round -just like a pancake!

Hoddeok – (호떡 – Sweet pancakes). A sweet (and in my opinion, much better tasting) version of the previous pancake. These are made of balls of dough and filled with cinnamon, and occasionally nuts. Then they’re put into a shallow pool of oil, squashed to form a pancake, and then flipped to finish cooking and melt the sugar inside.

   

“Olden Days” Hoddeok (옛날 호떡 - Sweet pancakes). The variation of the previous one , it is prepared in a similar way but this one is cooked in some kind of rotating waffle iron, making it not oily but dry as well as airier and crunchier. They’re both delicious if you ask me, but the first one is better for cold days.

And there seems to be another variety of them, though I'm not sure it is actually hoddeok as well, they're the same round sort of pancakes but these ones are filled with crystal noodle and vegetables, so it's like salty variety.

 

Bungeobbang (붕어빵 - Crispy fish-shaped pastries). This one is a crispy pastry shell stuffed with either sweet red bean paste (not my favorite) or cream (my absolute favorite!). They’re usually served hot and that makes them even yummier.

Gyeranbbang (계란빵 - Egg bread). A sort of oval-shaped piece of bread with an egg baked on top of it. It might not sound very appetizing, but it is actually good. I mean, bread and egg? What can be wrong with that? lol

 

Ojingeo (오징어 - Grilled Cuttlefish). Dry and grilled cuttlefish, well, needless to say I haven’t tried this one but just by the smell I can tell you not everyone loves it. Though perhaps Andrew Zimmern (Bizarre Foods) would!

Beondegi (번데기 - Silkworm pupae). Silkworm pupae. Toasted warms, pretty much sums the whole thing up. We also have a similar thing in Mexico called “chapulines”. Try them under your own risk, if the smell doesn’t kill you first that is!

Kimbap (김밥 Stuffed Rice rolls). Seaweed stuffed with cucumber, crab, turnip, a bit of sesame oil and a variety of things such as tuna, pork and stuff. I used to look at it as if it was “cheap” suchi…because it sort if looks like it, only this is served the whole role together (though it is cut up) unlike sushi, which is usually laid in a nice way; but now I really like it! I’d say it’s definitely one of the good ones.     

So, if you're looking for a quick bite with the local taste, just hit up the streets of Seoul (or any other city in Korea) and bite away! Have you already tried Korean Street Food? If so, how did you like it? Which one of your favorite?