My Korean is coming along very slowly.
The other day I spent almost an hour deciphering the entries on a menu I took a picture of. This consists of painstakingly entering the Korean characters into a free online translator, which is mostly trial and error as I don't fully remember the keyboard layout yet (it's roughly vowels on the right, and consonants on the left).
After finally assembling the name of an item and hitting the "translate" button, I am given phrases like: macro kim bap (kim bap are rice and seaweed rolls, not unlike sushi. Maybe macro means big?), nude kim bap (maybe nude means plain?), and sixth chapter (huh?).
Only sometimes do I get a result that I can trust is accurate (Unglazed earthenware bowl thin sliced barbecued beef).
Maybe I'll put together a Korean food dictionary. (Oh, found one).
posted: Thursday, October 09, 2008 | tags: alienation, practical
Anonymous | Monday, December 08, 2008
Couldn't pass up. Your "Sixth Chapter" must be yuk-gae jang. (육개장)
It is red spicy beef stew served with rice and radish Kimchi. Somewhat akin to Hungarian Gulash accoring to some Europeans. It is great in winter, because the red-chili pepper sauce increases circulation and makes you feel very warm.)
'Yuk' which can mean number 'six' also stands phonetically for any 'meat.' (In this case beef.) Your translation device ignored etymologically obscure 'gye.' While 'jang' can mean 'chapter' as in a book, but it can sometimes (albeit rarely) mean 'soup.' So it is beef soup/stew instead of 'sixth chapter.'
But it is hard to find good Yuk gye jang these days because it is not especially easy to cook. (Chances are you will get MSG-enhanced spicy thingy if you order it in small restaurants.) If you are really interested in trying, check The Sam-Sam Gukbap franchise. There seems to be one in Inchon.
http://www.goodbab.co.kr/
Korean food enthusiast.