Blondes SE Asia Thread

[thekremlin]

Not sure if I've ever posted this before, but it is one of my all-time favorite NYT articles. It combines space and an asian cuisine, nothing wrong with that.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/22/wo...l?pagewanted=1

[Mr. Blonde]

That article covers a very good portion of everything I hate about the general Korean mentality.

[thekremlin]

It covers a lot of what I love about the Asian approach to eating. I should specify that my experiences are limited to Vietnam, Thailand, and Korea. Cambodia as well, but they didnt seem to have as much of a cuisinal (made-up word) identity, mostly a combination of the surrounding countries with heavier french influences.

The food in these places still tends to be much closer to the peasant origins. There is a much more evident connection to the origins of the food than there is in the states... origin meaning two things: one, a connection to where the ingredients come from which is 100% absent in the West, and two, a connection to why the food is prepared the way it is. My favorite example is pho in Vietnam... you have very fresh ingredients compared to what we're used to, but it is also the best way to prepare the scraps left over from other meals. The good meat doesn't get thrown into the pot, it's the tough beef, the tripe, probably the dog sometimes. And it's mixed heavily with chilies and lime juice to, let's face it, hide any tastes that aren't as good.

I wouldn't say there are no American parallels, in terms of patriotic food. BBQ is one, Cajun another, and I would call those the only two purely american cuisines. But you compare them to Asian cuisines and it is a great example of how unhealthy our food is compared to theirs. If you eat BBQ on a daily basis, you're pretty much going to die. So it kind of loses that "food as fuel" thing that is also missing from french and english food as well.

I've always wanted to go to Japan because it seems like it is the best combination of both approaches. It doesn't get more peasant than "we live on an island, so let's eat raw fish." But sushi at its highest levels has this french-style haute cuisine thing going on, not uncommon to hear some sushi fiend masturbating over a piece of bluefin tuna. So yeah it gets silly. But it's so easy to see where it comes from. I have no concept of where the jimmy john's sandwich that's delivered to my door wrapped in deli paper comes from.


Of course I'm probably wasting my breath here, Blonde is probably just upset that koreans say "kimchi" instead of "cheese" when they take pictures. Or that they spent a lot of money on getting something relatively silly into space which is missing the point on several levels.

[Mr. Blonde]

Originally Posted by thekremlin

Of course I'm probably wasting my breath here, Blonde is probably just upset that koreans say "kimchi" instead of "cheese" when they take pictures. Or that they spent a lot of money on getting something relatively silly into space which is missing the point on several levels.

Could you list the levels please? You shouldn't make baseless assumptions. It makes you look like a dick. A wrong dick.

If you had complaints about London I wouldn't defend it, as I've never been there and even if I had, I wouldn't have spent enough time there to get sick of it. Also London is nothing like long-term living in East-Asia.

Koreans are highly nationalistic and simultaneously have a major inferiority complex. If you can't pick that up from the article I can only recommend a refresher course in critical reading.

If they would spend less time touting how great they are and how their culture is superior to all others while simultaneously sucking on the USA's teet and embracing/comically bastardizing Western culture as their own, and more time getting shit done for themselves, maybe they would have gotten into space before the fucking Vietnamese and Afghani's -- they're leaps and bounds ahead of both of those countries in science and technology.

EDIT:

Koreans say they must eat kimchi wherever they are.

Retarded.

"Without kimchi, Koreans feel flabby.

RETARDED.

When you're working in space-like conditions and aren't feeling too well, you miss Korean food

It's ten fucking days.

the low-calorie and vitamin-rich kimchi, and its mouth-scorching punch, would prove excellent in space by "perking up the appetite" of astronauts "tired of their bland menu." So far, 150 dishes are available for astronauts, all developed by American and Russian scientists.

Dickheads.

Many South Koreans say their high-tempo lifestyle - which helped build their country's economy into one of the biggest in the world in a few decades - owes much to the invigorating qualities of kimchi.

Idiots. It's food.

After the Americans agreed to finance the delivery of canned kimchi, Assistant Secretary of State William Bundy reportedly quipped - somewhat wishfully - that the Vietcong "would never be able to hold the Koreans once it arrived."

lol.

[thekremlin]

Level 1: The money they spent on packaging kimchi and putting it into space seems like a lot of money until you consider the size of space programs.

Level 2: It's not a meaningless thing. Space programs are largely symbolic; how big of a deal was it to get the American flag on the moon before the hammer and siccle (sp?) To koreans, I'm sure having a korean in space is a huge deal, and for him to be eating kimchi there, I'm sure is almost as big.

Level 3: It's not like this is unnecessary, frivolous research. How to package different types of food for space travel is relatively important research.

[angry pancake]

Originally Posted by thekremlin

I wouldn't say there are no American parallels, in terms of patriotic food. BBQ is one, Cajun another, and I would call those the only two purely american cuisines. But you compare them to Asian cuisines and it is a great example of how unhealthy our food is compared to theirs. If you eat BBQ on a daily basis, you're pretty much going to die. So it kind of loses that "food as fuel" thing that is also missing from french and english food as well.

Most ignorant thing I've ever heard Kremlin say. You seem to have forgotten what the typical American is going to eat tonight. Pretty much the majority of people are going to fry chicken, make meatloaf, or some mundane American shit. Or they're going to buy it pre made. Anything that's not specifically something else, is American food. Most stuff that is labeld as "Mexican" was invented north of the border. There was the whole California cuisine and southwestern that has come and gone and come and gone and again. If you're thinking of high end stuff there's a French Laundry, Charlie Palmer, etc. for every English one you can mention. Many would call their stuff "New American" or some shit.

English food? Nigger please.

Here's Zagats's listing for Chicago New American Restaurants: http://www.zagat.com/search?text=Ame...e%5Bradius%5D=

[thekremlin]

Uhm I think we're agreeing. Americans eat as far from the source as you can get. We eat chinese food that isn't chinese. Burritos that aren't Mexican. The food we eat has no relation to the source, natural or cultural. Outside of, like I said, BBQ and Cajun, what Americans eat is falsified versions of other natonalities' cuisines.

[angry pancake]

If you really think that utter bullshit you just wrote is true, then there really would be no such thing a French cuisine as de Medici brought cooks from the Italian region with her. But do you really think that goat cheese and avocado stuff Wolfgang Puck puts on crust is anything resembling Italian pizza other than name, you need to quit sucking that glass dick. Just cause something shares a name doesn't mean it's the same thing. See the Mexican tortilla vs. Spanish.

I just linked a fuckload of places in chicago that have nothing to with any foreign foods. I'm having a goddamned cheese steak right now. Sometimes you take what you have and make do.

Edit: and New York City has better pizza than Italy. It's not even fucking close.

[Mr. Blonde]

Foodie hipster IMO

[Mr. Blonde]

Doesn't Cajun have French roots and Barbecue Caribbean roots?

Are we also forgetting that Native Americans aside, the USA is a nation of fucking immigrants?


Kremlin I think you romanticize Asian food a bit too much.

[thekremlin]

I'm not saying the two are completely original American creations, I was trying to point out that they were cuisines that were born out of their particular regions.

Cajun food is absolutely french-influenced, but it almost couldn't have come from anyplace because of its use of local ingredients.

BBQ is prefectly suited to the southern US because of 1) the lotsa meat and more importantly 2) the heat.

AP I'm not really sure what you're saying or what part of what I'm saying you're disagreeing with. I'm not trying to say that the italian food I grew up on has anything, really, to do with food from Italy. What I'm saying is that very little has a connection to do with ANY geographic or cultural location.

There are exceptions of course. It's a big country. NYC pizza is a great one. So is NYC Jewish deli. Midwest steak houses. My main point is that the food that we eat in the US has no immediate tie to its origins, physical or cultural.

I am absolutely romanticizing asian food. I've wanted to live in Asia since the first time I visited, and one of my favorite things about visiting is the food.

[Mr. Blonde]

Well, Hong Kong sounds like the place for you IMO.

[angry pancake]

Originally Posted by thekremlin

There is a much more evident connection to the origins of the food than there is in the states... origin meaning two things: one, a connection to where the ingredients come from which is 100% absent in the West, and two, a connection to why the food is prepared the way it is. My favorite example is pho in Vietnam...

Here's where we disagree. It's probably on the definition. First Asian noodle soup has been around forever. I'm guessing the the Vietnamese borrowed it from the Chinese who did it first. Being a French colony gets you French influences.

At this point it seems pretty clear that you're just completely unfamiliar with what is "American cuisine" or you're just trolling. I'm putting out there the majority of stuff Americans eat is not classified any other ethnic style and therefore, by default American. There is a whole genre of cooking with local fresh ingredients in the U.S. It frequently get tagged as New American or someshit. You just don't seem to know that it exists. Do you have any idea how much of the local ingredients the U.S. exports?

However, if you're saying it's not the ingredients but rather the style, technique, or method, that's just as silly. Something doesn't have to be so remarkably out there for it to earn a national distinction. The bulk of the entire "Southern Down Home Cooking" probably isn't seen outside of the U.S. The example I used was Italian food. The stuff here isn't anything like the stuff in Italy. The Italian immigrants had to use what was locally available. Much like the Chinks had to do on the west coast. Next time you're in Rome having a nice bowl of polenta with braised beef and juices on top (AP did that in 2007), just know that Italy borrowed that one back from the States. Anything with tomato sauce was American first as well.

EDIT: Blonde is correct. Hong Kong is your place.

[Ugly Bastard]

Over/under 4 years until Kremlin has a nitty Asian wife.

[thekremlin]

Dude I'll probably end up with a jewess from long island.

[Ugly Bastard]

Jewish girls are pretty bangin. It's just a shame that they're so fucking annoying.

[thekremlin]

I've gone on record to say that I will never end up with one, which is probably why I will.

[angry pancake]

Jewesses are too hairy. Nobody like a hairy back or chest on a chick.

[thekremlin]

Now that this is coming to an end, can we get a write-up? I am quite curious on your full thoughts here.

[Mr. Blonde]

Oh my, you certainly may. I will write up as a whole about my 2 year, 5 month stay in Asia after I get back from China when I get some free time. That might not be for another month or so, but i'll be fairly bored in Indiana/Arizona when I first get out there.

I will be in China in about 36 hours. Between that time I have a lot of BS to deal with, because Koreans are terrible.


This is my rough itinerary until I get out to Arizona at the end of August:

July 23-Aug. 4th - Beijing, Shanghai

Aug. 4th-Aug. 7th - Seoul

Aug. 7th - Aug. 8? (don't have plane ticket from employer yet) - Trans-Pacific Flight + 2-3 layovers.

Aug. 8th-11th - Elkhart, Indiana

Aug. 11th - 18th - Chicago,Toronto, Montreal, Chicago

Aug. 18-19 - Elkhart, Indiana

Aug. 19-21 - Indianapolis/Fishers

Aug. 22 - 30 - Elkhart/Fort Wayne

Aug. 31 - Arizona

Sept. 10-11 - LA, California

Needless to say I won't be around much the next month

[DJ FC]

Dear Lord that's a lot of travel.

[Mr. Blonde]

Yes it is, I am kind of dreading it. I really need to relax as my current job is complete bullshit - definitely giving a long writeup on that in the future, it's just the kind of job that takes all the fight out of you --, but hopefully China will be somewhat relaxing compared to my job and Canada should be pretty okay.


Fun sidenote: One of the main reasons i'm going to Canada (girlfriend being the other) is to visit the town of Magog in Quebec. My French Canadian ancestors migrated from there in the 1890's and when I spoke to my late grandfather last year before he passed away he described where some headstones were of my ancestors.

I'm also going to check out the local library/town records/phonebook and see if I can get my hands on any decent genealogy stuff. Would like to do this in Europe sometime too, for my Mom's side, but that might not be until 5-10 years down the line.

There is a street named after my ancestors/my surname in Magog, so I'm hoping the visit is promising -- even pictures of headstones would make the trip worth it. Might even meet some relatives.

[thekremlin]

Montreal has some of my favorite strip clubs in the world. (My favorite is Daisy Dook's, in the quad cities, iowa.)

If you get the chance to be near Buffalo, go to the anchor bar, it is where buffalo wings were born.

[thekremlin]

Blonde, you vondruke, what the fuck should I do with my week in philippines?

[Ugly Bastard]

Blonde, did this happen to you while you were in Vietnam?

Mysterious tourist deaths in Asia prompt poison probe - CNN.com