Yesterday my brother-in-law, Brad, presented me with an assortment of Korean foods that he purchased during his travels. Feeling somewhat adventurous, I brought one of the soup-bowl-looking things to work for lunch today. The packaging is reminiscent of something we’d buy here, with a pretty picture on the front, bold colors to attract your eye, a bar code, and what looks like an ingredient list, cooking directions, and even an evaluation of its nutrition. None of that is useful to me, though, as all of the text is in Korean. I do get the idea that I’m not supposed to microwave the packaging (its a Styrofoam bowl), and that I shouldn’t spill it on myself due to hot liquid contents, based on some icons that seem to transcend cultural boundaries.

The packaging did provide me with one useful clue, though – a web address for the company that makes the product. Luckily, they even provide an English version of the site (Russian, too, apparently, though that’d help me about as much as Korean). Doing some hunting, I think my lunch is the Spicy Soya Ramen, as I do have two packets included with my ramen noodles.

And now the taste test: I’m afraid of their description of “spicy”. In past foreign food adventures, I’ve discovered that one culture’s idea of spicy may be magnitudes greater than my threshold for spicy, even though I generally like spicy foods. This stuff is pretty good, though. It’s got a bite to it, but nothing that leaves me fearing that I’m searing my tastebuds.

Neat change of pace for my day, between the food itself, and the wondering what exactly it was I was going to end up with. Can’t wait to try some of the other goodies Brad brought back… I remember seeing seasoning paste for kimchee (salted spicy cabbage), as well as some other spicy sauces. I’m going to have me some fun in the kitchen!