Spicy but healthy traditional dishes add touch of reality

If you watch Korean dramas, you know that eating plays a big part in the action.

Viewers often ask me about the Korean food on the programs and want to know more about what the characters are eating.

The basic traditional Korean food categories are:

Bap (steamed rice) and juk (porridge): Rice is the staple of Korean cuisine. Most people eat sticky white rice, sometimes prepared with various beans, chestnuts or barley. Juk — rice porridge — is most commonly eaten when a person has a stomach-ache and can't eat anything too flavorful. Juk is also found in Chinese food.

My favorite is juk with abalone, a dish I like so much that I can confidently prepare it myself.

Guk (soup): This is an essential dish with rice. Ingredients vary, including vegetables, fish, meat, shellfish and seaweed. My favorite soup is moo-guk (radish soup).

Jjigae (stew): Loosely translated as casserole, this is similar to guk but thicker in consistency and spicy. The most common is kim chi jjigae and fermented soy bean paste, served in a piping-hot stone bowl.

Namul (vegetables): Also known as ban-chan, or side dishes, namul has fresh vegetables mixed with salt, soy sauce, sesame oil, garlic, onion and other spices.

Gui (broiled/barbecued dishes): Marinated meats are grilled over charcoal. The most popular are galbi and bulgogi. Fish are also commonly broiled.

Jeon (pan-fried dishes): Types of pancake made from mushrooms, pumpkin, fish, oysters, peppers and meat, jeon is dipped in flour, egg and fried in oil.

There isn't really an American name for the Korean dishes on the dramas, so we subtitle what the dish is really called in Korean or by trying to describe it. For example, you will often find characters eating what looks like fish cake and rice cake (mochi) in odd shapes in a red, obviously spicy sauce that looks like it will burn your tongue off. In Korean, it is called dduk-bokki. We subtitle it as "spicy rice cakes." You can find it in most restaurants locally but be warned, it is spicier than kim chi. It's a great snack, and the sweat is all worth it.

Korean food is healthy, especially with the vegetable side dishes that come with the entree. Garlic is used heavily, but I can't seem to get enough of it.

At the end of the Korean meal, you will often be served a cold, sweet dessert drink, shik-heh, which serves to offset all the spices you just ate. If that doesn't work, the restaurant also dispenses chewing gum.

One of the most common questions asked by non-Koreans is, "Where do you go for Korean food?" Most Korean restaurants here are great. It's good to try a diverse style of Korean food and not just the kalbi, bibim-bab, meat and fish jeon, or various meats grilled at your table.

Next time you visit a Korean restaurant, try ordering the oh-jing-uh bo-gum (spicy squid cooked with vegetables in a hot sauce), kalbi-jim (stewed kalbi that falls off the bone), or eun-dae-gu jim (spicy butterfish with radish).

Jeff Chung is general manager of KBFD, which televises the K-dramas. If you have a K-drama question or comment, call KBFD at 521-8066.

KIDS LEAVING HOME THEME OF 'AUTUMN DAYS'

'MR. HONG'S AUTUMN DAYS'

(EPISODES 1 AND 2)

This three-part series begins this week and ends next week. "Drama City," a single-episode drama with English subtitles, will air Sept. 4, followed by a new, long-running series with English subtitles, soon to be announced.

Tonight, 6:50 and 8 p.m.: Kim Soo-hyun, one of the most respected writers in Korea, writes "Mr. Hong's Autumn Days." She penned such hits as "Letters to the Parents," "Trap of Youth" and "Bathhouse Men." This story follows Mr. Hong, a retired police officer, and his family. He and his wife have sacrificed much for their kids but feel neglected when their children grow up and leave home.

'FASHION '70S'

(EPISODES 15 AND 16)

Tomorrow, 7:50 p.m.: Dong-young gets Bin out of jail by requesting him as his partner in the KCIA. When Dong-young comes to Ensemble, Joon-hee takes him outside so he won't see Duh-mi. Duh-mi uses Joon-hee as a model for her first design project and Joon-hee uses Duh-mi as her model.

Tuesday, 7:50 p.m.: A nun from an orphanage comes to visit Dong-young and tells him that a woman had come looking for her daughter but left with little Joon-hee instead. Dong-young and his father decide that the woman was Kang-hee's mother.

'MY LOVELY SAM-SOON'

(EPISODES 11 AND 12)

Wednesday, 7:50 p.m.: Sam-soon can't believe two men, Jin-hun and Hyun-woo, are fighting over her. She sends Jin-hun away. Angry, Jin-hun tries to get rid of the stuffed pig, but just can't get rid of it. Sam-soon goes on a diet, but finds it very difficult to stay on it.

Thursday, 7:50 p.m.: Jin-hun finally professes his love for Sam-soon, but Yi-young is against their relationship. Hee-jin notices changes in Jin-hun and suspects he's in love with Sam-soon. Jin-hun can't bring himself to break up with Hee-jin. Hee-jin pleads with Sam-soon to let Jin-hun go, but Sam-soon turns her down.

'LAWYERS'

(EPISODES 1 AND 2)

The makers of "Lawyers" said this series is about making choices and how those choices change your life. The story revolves around Kim Joo-hee, played by Kang Hye-young from Phoenix, a daughter of a happy and well-to-do family with a loving fiance, Yoon Suk-ki, played by Kim Sung-soo from "Full House," an aspiring lawyer. But a tragic accident takes away Joo-hee's parents and leaves her younger sister crippled. To make matters worse, Suk-ki leaves her abruptly, and she is alone to pick up the pieces after the tragedy. Years pass and we find Joo-hee at a big law firm where she works with Suh Jung-ho, played by Kim Sang-kyung from "Invitation." The story starts with Suk-ki joining the firm to assist with a big case that could make or break the firm.

Friday, 7:50 p.m.: Joo-hee and Suk-ki are a young couple in love. Suk-ki has just passed his bar exam. After a celebration dinner, Se-hee, Joo-hee's sister, drives her parents home while Joo-hee and Suk-ki go off on their own. Se-hee and the parents get into an accident.

Saturday, 7:50 p.m.: Suk-ki, aka Alex, returns to join the law firm where Joo-hee works. The law firm is working on a slush-fund case and defending the man whom Suh Jung-ho used to go after as a D.A. This sets up a confrontation between Suk-ki and Jung-ho, and Joo-hee is caught in the middle as she works primarily for Jung-ho.