Childhood Food Memories

When it comes to your childhood, you probably think of your favorite stuffed animal, your blanket, or your pillow fort. For me, I think of snack time. Now, I know that most kids eat a chocolate chip cookie or an Oreo with a glass of milk for a snack. But, not me. I had a different sort of snack time.

Before you go on reading, please take a look at the picture above first.

Yep. That was my snack. I know, you’re probably thinking, “That’s not a snack! That’s a meal!” Yes. Snack time was very different for me. It was kind of my in between lunch and dinner meal. So, I guess lunner? (Get it? Lunch + dinner = lunner? Okay… I’ll stop now.)

What you see in the picture is the common Korean snack/meal-like-snack foods. I’ll start with the rectangular plate on the left and work my way clockwise to the cup and end with the small bowl at the bottom.

The rectangular dish holds 7 small pieces of shrimp dumplings. They are similar to dim sum or shumai, but these are the Korean version. To be honest though, I don’t really see a difference. They look and taste pretty similar. My grandma loves these and she used to make me some whenever I visited her when I was a child. And they were always the ones with the shrimp. So, to eat these just brought back so many memories of my grandma and me. These have a funky filling. The texture is a bit mushy, but it works with the chewy texture of the shrimp. And the outer shell of the dumpling adds to the variety of textures. And I really like the fact that the dumplings smelled like shrimp as well. They’re small, but they’re a good amount to be a snack.

The next one is the fish cake in oden broth. The fish cake is something that is usually eaten on a cold day. It’s probably the best snack to have during winter, especially if you’re on the go. The fish cake has a wooden skewer in it, kind of like a kebob. The broth has to be my favorite because it also serves as a drink. It fills and warms you up. I always get a warm, fuzzy feeling when I drink the broth. I’m not quite sure what this broth is made from, but it has a deep, rich taste that isn’t too salty or bland. But, most of the time, it’s made out from kelp. I really like the fish cakes because my dad likes. So, I get my love for them from him. These remind me a lot of him.

And lastly is a familiar one. If you have followed my blog, you probably remember my first post, Jjol-bok-kki. There were spicy rice cakes with jjol-myun. Now, these are just the normal spicy rice cakes. It is called dduk-bok-ki. Now, these are THE original snacks. Everybody loves them. Children and the elderly all eat this dish. It can be a meal, but it’s usually a snack/meal-like-snack. It is spicy and sweet and the texture of the rice cakes is chewy. It also has some fish cakes as well. This snack was my favorite because my mom always made them for me. Dduk-bok-ki is probably my go-to snack.

And there you have it! These are my childhood snacks. And they can be found in the Plaza Market foodcourt at the Awoolim venue. These three dishes only cost me $7.54 including tax. So, have fun trying out these small potions and decide if you consider them snacks or meals! Enjoy!