Sep. 12th, 2008 02:53 pm
Embarrassment of riches
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muckefuckAt this rate, I'm never going to dig myself out!
It's not that Jay and Hera didn't appreciate the corn--indeed, they seemed almost embarrassed to accept it. It's that they immediately found a way to pay me back. "I have a special vegetable for you!" said Jay. Then, almost as an afterthought, he added, "Do you like 팥죽, the red bean porridge?" I should've known at that point what I was in for, but I was still taken back when a full tray of 반찬 arrived. And not ordinary stuff, either! Beside the 콩나물 (prepared soybean sprouts) were three other types of prepared vegetables: shitake mushrooms, 도라지 (Chinese bellflower root), and 고사리 (pickled bracken). There was another type of pickled vegetable on its own plate, but it was sour and I didn't care for it, along with a stack of nori (a.k.a. 조미김) and, of course, the red bean porridge with a side of brown sugar. "Because, you know, the Japanese, they like it sweet."
I was having the 팥죽 as an appetiser rather than a dessert, so I didn't sugar it before digging in--and discovering another surprise: This wasn't everyday porridge, but 대보름 (Lantern Festival) style, with balls of glutinous rice. Jay's mother had made it earlier and brought it by. She was also responsible for the various 나물, apparently scaling the spring hillsides herself in search of tender fiddleheads to pickle and growing the bellflowers in her own garden. Between stuffing myself, I expressed deep admiration for her industriousness!
So what next? Or should I get out now before this escalates any further?
It's not that Jay and Hera didn't appreciate the corn--indeed, they seemed almost embarrassed to accept it. It's that they immediately found a way to pay me back. "I have a special vegetable for you!" said Jay. Then, almost as an afterthought, he added, "Do you like 팥죽, the red bean porridge?" I should've known at that point what I was in for, but I was still taken back when a full tray of 반찬 arrived. And not ordinary stuff, either! Beside the 콩나물 (prepared soybean sprouts) were three other types of prepared vegetables: shitake mushrooms, 도라지 (Chinese bellflower root), and 고사리 (pickled bracken). There was another type of pickled vegetable on its own plate, but it was sour and I didn't care for it, along with a stack of nori (a.k.a. 조미김) and, of course, the red bean porridge with a side of brown sugar. "Because, you know, the Japanese, they like it sweet."
I was having the 팥죽 as an appetiser rather than a dessert, so I didn't sugar it before digging in--and discovering another surprise: This wasn't everyday porridge, but 대보름 (Lantern Festival) style, with balls of glutinous rice. Jay's mother had made it earlier and brought it by. She was also responsible for the various 나물, apparently scaling the spring hillsides herself in search of tender fiddleheads to pickle and growing the bellflowers in her own garden. Between stuffing myself, I expressed deep admiration for her industriousness!
So what next? Or should I get out now before this escalates any further?
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