i want to talk about cultural appropriation of our food

always add that grated asian pear into your bulgogi and galbi marinade.

i’m a first generation korean american, and the closest connection i have to my culture is through our food. growing up, i really wanted to take gimbap, fermented stews, and other side dishes to elementary school. my mom was hesitant to let me, and when she finally let me, it backfired. i was told i was gross and that my food smelled bad, then someone asked if that’s why my clothes smell weird. i never asked to take another korean dish to school again. it was either the hot food served at school or the sandwich, chips, and juice box combo my mom would pack. this is how i grew to always look forward to dinner at home - to eat korean food in the privacy of my own home. 

after every time my mom would cook, regardless of how hot or how cold it was outside, she’d make us help her open all the windows and turn on all the fans for at least an hour to make sure the smell of our food wouldn’t embed into the carpet, our hair, the walls of our home, and our clothes. it’s why i grew up always smelling my clothes before going outside to meet up with friends, and it’s also why our family did laundry after having made all our food for the week and aired out our home. 

i remember i heard david chang talk about something similar and he touched on the frustrations of being bullied over our food, how embarrassing it was as a kid, and then to see our food trend as adults from kimchi, barbeque, japchae, and marinated roasted seaweed. i was so happy when i heard someone with a platform talk about the frustrations i’ve held over several years. i always knew i was different (not white, growing up in iowa), but nothing made me feel more different than our food, and it ultimately made me embarrassed about being korean - it sucked and it also made me not want to make korean friends. 

don’t get me wrong here. i love that so many people have fallen in love with korean food along with our music, our skin care routine, and our people. but, that doesn’t take away from the fact that it is so triggering to see the lack of understanding of our food, especially the ingredients, the process, and how it should be eaten - i see very little respect towards that and it really hurts. it’s honestly a complicated feeling. 

i once commented on tieghan gerard’s (half baked harvest) ig post and in less than an hour after doing so, i deeply regretted it. i deleted my comment because of the thread of hateful comments. other asian-americans came to my defense saying my comment came with positive intent as a fan, respect for her recipes, and that i was merely requesting respect when i said something along the lines of how using a korean ingredient such as gochugaru flakes or gochujang doesn’t make her dish korean. little did i know at the time, but gerard had been accused of cultural appropriation of various cuisines and something she continues to deny. 

i don’t know how many americans would say, “yeah, that hamburger / green bean casserole / corn dog / bread pudding / etc.  is part of my identity.” something you have to understand is that when our civilization and culture is over 700 thousand years old, there is so much complexity behind our identity. when i see korean food misrepresented and/or profited off of by non-koreans when it’s suddenly decided it’s exotic or exciting and trending, it bothers me because that’s cultural appropriation of our food and in many ways my identity (probably others as well). 

i don’t expect everyone to understand what i’m saying and how i feel. i hope it says something to you that i felt the need to sit with this and write about this after feeling so uncomfortable with this trending korean spicy cucumber “salad” and seaweed “snack.” cringe. these are what we call, “banchan” or a side dish. wikipedia does a pretty nice job of summarizing them as well as providing the historical context, why our food is relatively so healthy, and our traditional “bansang” or table setting. please understand that when koreans eat, we have our rice, our soup or stew, and sides. the things you see trending are never ate alone. let’s just give it a bit more respect. 

ultimately, i just want to say that if you’re reading this and do like the spicy cucumber side dish or the roasted seaweed or the japchae, i’m glad you’re enjoying our food. i really mean that. food is my love language, so seeing love for our food does make me very happy. and if i’ve ever fed you korean food, it means i like you and that i care about your health. our mom never said “i love you,” but rather, “did you eat?” or “are you hungry?”