We knew this day was coming. We had heard horror stories from other people about when it happened to them. Somehow, we had managed to escape for just over 4 months unscathed. Then, it happened. Elisha, Max, and I walked down to the market today (the one that is big and bustling on days that end in 4 and 9. I'm not even kidding.) for something to do. We walked around and looked at things, seeing what was what. We walked by a great bakery. Max decided that nothing would do but that we go back and check it out. I'm good with that- I like bakeries as much as the next guy. Maybe a bit more. So we go in, look around, Max touches a few things (disobeying me, obviously, and making it so I had to buy those touched things), and we make a few selections. This bakery, though small, had dozens of yummy looking things to offer- French bread, rolls, regular bread, sugary looking things, puff pastry looking things, some covered in honey, etc. One things that caught my eye and called to my tastebuds was what appeared to be a nice round bread, kind of like a pita (pronounced PEA-tah), but more doughy. It looked soooo yummy. I decided that that needed to be on our tray of things we were purchasing.
The nice lady bagged up our few things, we paid, bundled back up (did I mention it snowed last night?), and headed outside. Max started gnawing on a cookie, and I pulled out the nice, round, yummy looking bread. Took a biiiig bite (at least as big as is befitting a lady) and.... AGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHH they filled the middle with a semi-sweet RED BEAN PASTE. The HORROR. The LET-DOWN. The UNMITIGATED GALL!!! (That last one is from something but I don't remember what now...) Talk about sad. Talk about another lousy event in already lousy day.
Needless to say, I didn't eat anymore.
Now, Koreans love their red bean paste. Apparently. They put in places where an otherwise unsuspecting person wouldn't expect it. Like in the middle of doughnuts. Trickery. They even have ICE CREAM that is red bean flavored. We assume so, anyway, as the packet has red beans all over it. We have not purchased one. So, like I said, we were counting ourselves lucky to have escaped thus far. Well, I guess technically Ryan still has. He tasted it when he got home from school, but he knew it was coming.
They also have a thing for pressed fish paste. I haven't tasted that. I reeeeeaaaallllllyyyyy hope I never do.
HAHAHAHA I TOTALLY had that happen to me! Taiwan is ALL ABOUT their red beans! They have red bean popsicles (which arn't bad, except the red beans are kind of lumpy and I don't like lumps in my popsicles), red bean slushees, red bean cookies, red bean cakes,doughnuts, etc. etc. But actually, if it's the same kind we've got here, once you have it a few times it's not bad! Red beans are sweet enough that they kind of can pass as a desert! You just have to get over the "western" desert mindset. I personally like them on top of shaved ice, with condensed milk on top. :) Anyway, I assure you there are waaayy worse food surprises to be had in Asia.... like buying a yummy looking roasted chicken from Costco and discovering the head and neck stuffed inside..gag.. and..chicken butts on a stick, and pickled organs in your ramen noodles, etc. AND that pressed fish paste sounds downright awful.
ReplyDeleteThey HAVE that shaved ice stuff here! I haven't tried it. I prefer Baskin Robbins- call me an elitist. Some friends of mine had that ice stuff. Theirs came with fruit, too. And apparently it was all artfully arranged, so they were picked around the red beans, and just eating the fruit and ice, until their Korean friend was like, NO, NO! We have to mix it all UP. They were all NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO. Apparently it's a treat here.
ReplyDeleteYeah.... our Costco doesn't do that, thankfully. You can buy dog at the market though. =)