Tag: makkoli

  • Banchan: 'Drunken Rice' is No More

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    Buried in this JoongAng Daily piece, it looks like the government has backed off on promoting makgeolli’s new punk rock name, “Drunken Rice.” Turned out there was an instant public outcry from both Koreans and non-Koreans. Basically, it went along the lines of, “Why do you think foreigners are so stupid they can’t pronounce ‘makgeolli?’”

    No word yet on if they’re going to back off on topokki. And even though Drunken Rice is getting buried, the government still wants to have some standardized spelling by the end of June.

    I don’t think anyone understands why the government feels this need to dumb down Korean products for the overseas markets. As the guys on Korean Taco Party commented on Twitter, let the food speak for itself.

    I guess the Ministry for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries has been inspired by the success of other ethnic dishes introduced to westerners using the same method, along with this odd obsession with translating Korean foods into their literal English forms when the original Korean words would work just fine.

    What? You don’t know? What about these popular items?

    Raw fish slapped on vinegared rice with green horseradish

    Fermented wheat powder with yeast mixed until glutinous and baked

    Flat noodle substance layered with tomatoes and cheese

    Drunken cock

    Rotten milk curd

    Sturgeon eggs

    Little Spanish dishes

    Thai-style noodles with coconut milk

    Seafood marinated in an acidic liquid

    Pita stuffed with rotating meat

    Soybean curd (oh yeah, they already use that description in Korea in English)

    Ground beef sandwich

    Flatbread with toppings

    Fizzy chemicals

    Liquefied chicken in nugget form

    Fried potatoes with extracted meat juice and curdled dairy

    American mass-produced alcoholic carbonated water

    Lips and asses in tube form

    Feel free to list the real names of these or add your own in the comments.

    Okay, and now the news and detritus from the web.

    • Royal court cuisine is starting to be served in blue collar cafeterias and universities
    • Not Korean but close and cool: Sushi push pops
    • Patty Patty — yet another trendy burger joint in Seoul
    • Fatman found some groovy cheap Hanjeongsik
    • Reading one of the reviews of this Korean restaurant in Santa Clara, CA, I’d like to mention that this move to make Korean food sound better to English ears can backfire devastatingly when trying to pretty it up. I’ve seen this in restaurants in Korea, too. Don’t call Budae Jjigae “Sausage Stew!!!” It’s a classic bait-and-switch. Yes, technically hot dogs are sausage. But when an American sees “sausage” on a menu, the diner’s expecting something other than a hot dog. Call it for what it is and be proud, dammit!
    • I was told by a high end galbi restaurant manager that Koreans don’t like what we call “flavor” in their beef. They only like grain-fed beef and can tell if any of the green stuff has ever touched their dead cow’s lips–and will complain. But if this New Zealand article is true, Koreans may well be discovering the joys of grass-fed beef.
    • This review of yet another Korean restaurant in Georgia shows, again, that Americans ain’t afraid of spicy food. They like it that way. Korean food promoters take note.
    • The Korean embassy in Oman is hosting a Korean food festival.
    • Kiss My Kimchi is being a brave man, attempting to make a list I can’t even start yet–The Top Ten Restaurants in Seoul.
    • Roboseyo tackles the food issue in the second part of his series on Who Owns a Culture.

  • Banchan: Hey Waiter, My Rice is Drunk!

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    Here is a little news from the world of Korean food.

  • The Makgeolli/Makkoli Debate by Andrew Salmon

    The Makgeolli/Makkoli Debate by Andrew Salmon

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    ZenKimchi note:     This is in response to the article and corresponding video written and produced by Daniel Gray of Seoul Eats regarding the promotion of 막걸리 overseas.  I appeared at the beginning of the video, which was taken at Dan’s 30th birthday party and during the taping of SeoulPodcast #82.

    Written by Andrew Salmon

    I’ll state my colours at the outset.

    I am not involved, in any paid capacity, in official communications for any Korean government body, so I have no financial vested interest in this issue other than an affection for the bevvie under discussion. I am a journalist contributing an article on something of national interest. If the article has started a debate, so much the better. Perhaps I should mention that I do, however, have a background in international PR (three years with Burson-Marsteller) so can speak on marketing with at least a modicum of authority.

    I take issue with the video clip. Here’s why.

    The interviewer asks the right question  – i.e., “How do you pronounce the various romanizations?” – but does so to the wrong subjects – i.e., those who already know, and understand, Seoul’s official system of Korean romanization.

    The problem with the methodology is glaring. He is posing the question to whose who already understand the government’s romanization system. However, the overwhelming percentage of the world’s non-Korean population is NOT familiar with this system, which, naturally, has certain quirks.

    Take the word in question. Therein, the “-kg” and the “-eo” are problematic. I continue to maintain that English speakers unfamiliar with the official Korean romanization (i.e., the vast majority of the global population of English speakers) will pronounce the word “Mak-Ge-Olly” (hard g) or possibly “Mak-Jee-Olly” (soft g).

    I am not suggesting that the entire system of romanization of Korea be changed yet again.

    I am suggesting that interested stakeholders (e.g., producers and promoters) come up with a better romanization for the word in question, one that accurately reflects the Korean pronunciation.

    (Of course there is the wider issue of whether it should be marketed globally using the word makgeolli at all; it might be wiser to use an English descriptor, e.g., Korean Rice Ale. For e.g., Taekwondo has been well marketing under the Korean name – albeit, it is usually mispronounced by non-Koreans. On the other hand, the marketing of the palaces as tourist attractions, I would guess, has not been helped by the lack of an English brand. Compare the way Chinese sites such as The Great Wall of China or The Forbidden City have attained international brand visibility due to their common English, not Chinese names, as opposed to Gyeongbokgung or Suwon Hwaseong. But this is a different issue that requires research and thinking.)

    To return to the clip. Frankly, this is a prime example of how much market research on Korea is flawed. When testing perceptions of the international community, it needs to be done – as a general rule – on subjects outside Korea, rather than those who already here, who have in-built knowledge that the wider world will not. The latter approach results in misleading findings, and sets marketing strategies off on the wrong foot from day one.

    International market research should be exactly that: international. Doing it the cheap and easy way (i.e., roping in resident foreigners) misses the point, yet I see this approach used again and again and again. More worryingly, it is often used as a tactic to justify bureaucrats’ or staffers’ own ideas to their superiors. (e.g., “We asked such and such Ambassador/Businessman/English Teacher; he agreed with us; he is a foreigner; ergo we are correct. Let’s execute!”)

    FWIW, I agree with most comments about the best descriptor being rice beer, rice ale or rice brew, not rice wine (for reasons stated in the piece) but that is by-the-by.

    The broader point is that if Korea needs to communicate an unfamiliar product to global audience, it needs to:

    (a) Make the English reflective of the Korean original and/or

    (b) Provide a realistic /accurate – and differentiated – descriptor of what the product actually is.

    Andrew Salmon is a Seoul-based reporter and author. His works include the restaurant guide Seoul Food Finder (Seoul, 2001) and the military history To The Last Round: The Epic British Stand on the Imjin River, Korea, 1951 (London, 2009).

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