Hold the Lobster and give me Kimchi and more
I know many of you like me are waiting for the Lobster Dinner on this Friday night, our traditional “All Treats, No Tricks” Halloween special. We have ordered over 10,000 lobsters from Maine, that should arrive around on Friday morning, to be cooked on Friday afternoon.
But first things first; we are rolling out a Taste of Korea at the Berkshire International Station starting tomorrow for two weeks. It is a creation of Chef Tony Jung, our award-winning chef. Tony and his crew will prepare several dishes including his signature dish Bulgogi made with short ribs and Japchae (transparent noodles with beef and vegetables), Pajeon (Green Onion Pancake), Dwenjang Datji Golbi (Pork stew).
By coincidence, I got a call from a writer of Wall Street Journal and she asked me about Korean Cuisine on campus. I told her that our students enjoy a variety of food and UMass dining is proud to have 15 world cuisine served daily. She was quite impressed.
In case you are unfamiliar with Korean cuisine, it is largely based on rice, noodles, tofu, vegetables, and meats. Traditional Korean meals are noted for the number of side dishes (banchan) that accompany steam-cooked short-grain rice. Every meal is accompanied by numerous banchan. Kimchi, a fermented, spicy vegetable dish is usually served at every meal. Korean cuisine usually involves heavy seasoning with sesame oil, doenjang (fermented soybean paste), soy sauce, salt, garlic, ginger, and gochujang (red chili paste).
At UMass dining, we serve Kimchi daily at three of our dining commons, and we are blessed with a diversity of staff including 5% that are Korean. Some of them brought their favorite dishes with them to work on Friday and shared their food with each other as a group, and invited other staff to try some.
I think you will enjoy the Korean cuisine; it fits our philosophy of providing “small plates, big flavor”. Make sure you have some rice and don’t forget the Bori cha (Tea) as well.
Ken Toong
Director
Contact Ken at ktoong@mail.aux.umass.edu