Sometimes, especially if you choose to pursue the path of the starving artist (or, ahem, self-fulfilled professional artist) for the majority of your twenties, you may find yourself craving for something filling and cheesy, yet still reasonably priced (or, to be frank, cheap). Grocery stores and cooking at home are generally going to be more generous to your wallet than dining out, though it's hard to really say which is better when it comes to Korea... if you're worried about your health, dining at home may actually be the better option as restaurants are typically quite resistant to making changes to any of their menu selections and cook for flavor, not health, typically. If you're used to the American attitude of "have it your way", where you can customize your burger or coffee to the point of absurdity, you're going to have a hard time. Fact. Korean chefs don't give two shits if you think you can't digest gluten and have a sensitivity- they're going to look at you like the fool you are for having gone to a pizza joint in the first place. Now, look- I know sometimes these things find a way of happening, where the one person in the entire group who happens to be a vegan gets dragged along to the steakhouse for dinner and gets stuck eating a sad baked potato or green salad with oil and vinegar because it's the only thing they could find lacking in animal parts... these things just tend to happen from time to time, especially in the case of "unusual" or "extreme" dietary decisions. But if you find yourself in this sort of position while in South Korea, or even Japan (where people are known to be overly accommodating at times), trust that the chef in the kitchen making your food will give absolutely zero craps about your dietary choices and needs. He's been making the same dish the same way for the last who-knows-how-long, and he's not changing it for anyone, definitely not you (or me). Also, I would really recommend against trying to adhere to a stringent vegan or vegetarian diet in South Korea, anyway, simply due to how prevalent the use of fish broth and other animal-based seasonings is and how rare veganism (or even good old ovo-Lacto vegetarianism) is outside of temples.
And let's be fair, here. I didn't have to resort to pizza to fill that gaping hole in my insides. I could have gone to the local kongnamul gukbap restaurant and eaten a boiling hot bowl of soybean sprout and rice soup fresh from the kitchen, replete with side dishes and a fresh egg, for less than $5 US. But sometimes, ya girl needs some good old fashioned greasy American-Korean fusion food, and this frozen bulgogi pizza totally fit that bill. It definitely wasn't the best thing I've ever eaten, nor the cheapest, but it served its purpose.
Until next time~
🍕
XOXO,
NAU
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