Vegetarian or Non-Vegetarian?
By Prabhat K. Mukherjee
For most Indians who scorn eating meat, traveling on an international flight and ordering a vegetarian meal can be like playing Russian roulette. You simply don't know what will appear on your tray. Vegetarians who are planning to travel by plane may wonder what vegetarian food choices are available. Almost all airlines except a few operating in South Asia have no knowledge of vegetarian food, at least that's the impression we get from the stewardesses.
Most of the Indian expatriates here were brought up with the belief that eating meat is a sin that would invite the wrath of the gods. This belief exists in almost all ancient religions. Even in Christianity, meat is prohibited on some special occasions. In Korea, meat means hospitality, and at every office party, foreign guests are treated to large platters of barbecued beef or pork. In Korean office canteens, you see the same scene. Though most Americans and Europeans relish these foods, for an Asian like me, it is a nightmare. Many visitors from India often get the mistaken impression that Korea is a country of carnivores.
On weekends, whenever we visit the large Korean grocery stores, we notice a great variety of leaves, many grains and soybean cakes, nuts, various types of black beans, cabbage, spinach, carrots, radish and sweet potatoes. The colorful array of roots and vegetables defies the impression that this nation is carnivorous.
I have learned that for most of their history, Koreans were vegetarian by necessity, not by choice. Korean farmers traditionally relied on simple meals of rice and vegetables. To survive between harvests, Koreans preserved vegetables by pickling _ hence, their quintessential food, kimchi.
Then why is there so much meat in restaurants in Korea? Is it because newly affluent Koreans wish to spend money on meat to forget the deprivations of past generations?
The Indians here by and large are vegetarians or semi-vegetarians and have trouble adapting to Korean food habits. There are many fish eaters like me who call themselves ``semi-vegetarians,'' as fish is neither meat nor chicken. At any office party, whenever I say my preference is for ``konggi-bap with saengson'' (rice with fried fish), my Korean friends are confused. They thought vegetarians were confined to vegetable pizza! There are some exceptions. Some of my Indian colleagues have strange food habits in Korea. They are Dr. Jekyll when their wives are on short visits to Ulsan. Then they survive on vegetables. But when their wives return to India on long vacations, they become Mr. Hyde, enjoying cafeteria-served pork and chicken.
I am familiar with a popular rice dish called ``pibim-bap.'' It contains spinach, red chili paste, dried seaweed and egg. I tell the restaurant lady to serve it without meat, seaweed or seafood. It is quite palatable. There is another Korean meal vegetarians can eat _ a stew (chigae) made from fermented soybean paste (toenjang) with tofu cubes, cabbage and carrots. ``Toenjang chijae'' is best tasted when it is piping hot. Later it is smelly to an Indian nose. On visits to Buddhist temples I am drawn to the cafeterias, where I can eat a vegetarian meal, in the company of monks sometimes. The taste is a bit bland, but the ambience is great.
I heard that vegetarianism is rare in Korea today because many vegetable dishes rely on small amounts of meat and seafood for flavoring. I was once shocked to learn that the ubiquitous ``chajangmyon,'' which I eat in many Korean restaurants, contains cubes of pork or beef. They are hidden under heaps of noodles.
To me, the idea of vegetarianism is simple. Any food in which animal products are not visible is vegetarian. I never bother to check whether my vegetable dish had a meat stock base. Thus I blissfully consume French fries at McDonalds, Lotteria and Kentucky Fried Chicken. Why shouldn't I? After all, my orthodox father never bothered to find out whether his sugar was bleached with animal bones.
Some Koreans are nowadays attracted to vegetarianism. It is an increasingly popular movement in Korea because pro-vegetarian groups campaign for vegetarianism on ecological, ethical and moral grounds. The ``well-being'' movement may make a dent in the meat consumption of Koreans.
My heart goes out to such a movement as long as it does not go to the extremes of orthodoxy.
The writer resides in the southeastern city of Ulsan.
* * *
:tea:
By Prabhat K. Mukherjee
For most Indians who scorn eating meat, traveling on an international flight and ordering a vegetarian meal can be like playing Russian roulette. You simply don't know what will appear on your tray. Vegetarians who are planning to travel by plane may wonder what vegetarian food choices are available. Almost all airlines except a few operating in South Asia have no knowledge of vegetarian food, at least that's the impression we get from the stewardesses.
Most of the Indian expatriates here were brought up with the belief that eating meat is a sin that would invite the wrath of the gods. This belief exists in almost all ancient religions. Even in Christianity, meat is prohibited on some special occasions. In Korea, meat means hospitality, and at every office party, foreign guests are treated to large platters of barbecued beef or pork. In Korean office canteens, you see the same scene. Though most Americans and Europeans relish these foods, for an Asian like me, it is a nightmare. Many visitors from India often get the mistaken impression that Korea is a country of carnivores.
On weekends, whenever we visit the large Korean grocery stores, we notice a great variety of leaves, many grains and soybean cakes, nuts, various types of black beans, cabbage, spinach, carrots, radish and sweet potatoes. The colorful array of roots and vegetables defies the impression that this nation is carnivorous.
I have learned that for most of their history, Koreans were vegetarian by necessity, not by choice. Korean farmers traditionally relied on simple meals of rice and vegetables. To survive between harvests, Koreans preserved vegetables by pickling _ hence, their quintessential food, kimchi.
Then why is there so much meat in restaurants in Korea? Is it because newly affluent Koreans wish to spend money on meat to forget the deprivations of past generations?
The Indians here by and large are vegetarians or semi-vegetarians and have trouble adapting to Korean food habits. There are many fish eaters like me who call themselves ``semi-vegetarians,'' as fish is neither meat nor chicken. At any office party, whenever I say my preference is for ``konggi-bap with saengson'' (rice with fried fish), my Korean friends are confused. They thought vegetarians were confined to vegetable pizza! There are some exceptions. Some of my Indian colleagues have strange food habits in Korea. They are Dr. Jekyll when their wives are on short visits to Ulsan. Then they survive on vegetables. But when their wives return to India on long vacations, they become Mr. Hyde, enjoying cafeteria-served pork and chicken.
I am familiar with a popular rice dish called ``pibim-bap.'' It contains spinach, red chili paste, dried seaweed and egg. I tell the restaurant lady to serve it without meat, seaweed or seafood. It is quite palatable. There is another Korean meal vegetarians can eat _ a stew (chigae) made from fermented soybean paste (toenjang) with tofu cubes, cabbage and carrots. ``Toenjang chijae'' is best tasted when it is piping hot. Later it is smelly to an Indian nose. On visits to Buddhist temples I am drawn to the cafeterias, where I can eat a vegetarian meal, in the company of monks sometimes. The taste is a bit bland, but the ambience is great.
I heard that vegetarianism is rare in Korea today because many vegetable dishes rely on small amounts of meat and seafood for flavoring. I was once shocked to learn that the ubiquitous ``chajangmyon,'' which I eat in many Korean restaurants, contains cubes of pork or beef. They are hidden under heaps of noodles.
To me, the idea of vegetarianism is simple. Any food in which animal products are not visible is vegetarian. I never bother to check whether my vegetable dish had a meat stock base. Thus I blissfully consume French fries at McDonalds, Lotteria and Kentucky Fried Chicken. Why shouldn't I? After all, my orthodox father never bothered to find out whether his sugar was bleached with animal bones.
Some Koreans are nowadays attracted to vegetarianism. It is an increasingly popular movement in Korea because pro-vegetarian groups campaign for vegetarianism on ecological, ethical and moral grounds. The ``well-being'' movement may make a dent in the meat consumption of Koreans.
My heart goes out to such a movement as long as it does not go to the extremes of orthodoxy.
The writer resides in the southeastern city of Ulsan.
* * *
:tea: