a bad first impression.
something terrible has happened.
it's been 32 hours since i ate some cheong gukjang (청국장) and it's felt like my entire abdomen has been fermenting ever since. if only i was so lucky to be having diarrhea. no, instead everything just painfully churns without resolution.
i've tried pacifying it with milk, laxitivizing (a new word) with coffee and fruit purées, but nothing helps, just more churning... just more of me on my couch or bed alone in the doggystyle position because that's what feels least horrible.
this is what i get for experimenting with a new restaurant and ordering good ole doenjang jjigae's (된장찌개) much stinkier fermented soybean soup cousin. sure, many foreigners think it smells like old socks, but i thought that was unfair... look where my open-mindedness got me now?! any suggestions?
according to wikipedia:
cheonggukjang is believed to aid in digestion.you don't say?
churn churn churn!!
update 5/21/2008: three days after my ill-fated meal, finally, all seems calm on the innards front. thank you for your patience and support.
8 comments:
Two things:
1) perhaps a long slow walk, however uncomfortable, might get things moving
2) should you canvass the natives, you'll find that at least 40% of Koreans as well find the sme...er... fragrance of cheonggukjang to be less than palatable (though I don't know if they would be like foreigners in linking the smell to "dirty socks") That said, even many who can't stand the smell will hold their noses just to savor the taste.
As for this foreigner, I ate it once a week when living in Seoul and still buy it regularly at the Korean store to cook at home now that I'm back in the States. Of course, the whole first floor has to be aired out for a day or so afterwards, or else the aroma lingers for at least a week, a less than endearing quality when the neighbors drop in for tea.
Best of luck "working things out."
hi o,
a long walk, eh?
i had a conversation with my ajussi group the other night, and the cheonggukjang discussion quickly led to 홍어, the fermented fish that apparently smells like ammonia and is most popular in jeollado. the lone gyeonsang ajussi was adamant that the fish was "rotten" not fermented, and basically inedible. of course, the jeolla ajussis are all too familiar with this kind of gyeongsang superiority complex and held their ground.
the four of us are planning to find a restaurant and eat it together next tuesday. im scurrred...
So sorry to hear about your worse-than-the-day-after-a-Chang-bang incident. :( It seemed beyond HB - i didn't know that could happen! I'm glad to hear that you are doing better! My stomach hurt for you.....
"beyond HB" sounds like a book of meditations. want to co-author it?
you should have taken a picture of the super-HB and juxtaposed that with the entrees it used to be.
you didn't mention exactly how you recovered! suppose it's up to the audience's imagination...! =X
dear jonith,
what a nice way of describing what you think cheonggukjang looks like.
and to my friend anonymous, re: resolution strategies, after 3+ days, the stomach spasms just stopped. perhaps it was just coincidence, but on the fourth day i had some panic on the bus when my bowels demanded an early disembarkation. typically, my intestines are lovely, so i hope this bout with tummy chaos remains an anomaly.
i hope this information has helped your visualizations. xo
food in the photo looks yummy!
Post a Comment