The Even Greater Tokyo Region

PSA - Ingredient Alert

If you're anything like I was, you will sometimes find yourself walking down the asiles of an Asian supermarket thinking:

• 'What the hell is this?'
• 'I bet that's delicious.'
• and, 'I wouldn't know how to use it.'

This used to be me, however, I had an advantage in that I could understand some Japanese. The problem is, I am poor and Japanese food is way too expensive for how tasty it is. So slowly, through cautious trial and error, I began replacing Japanese ingredients with Korean ones. This usually worked out well, although on the odd occasion I came home with something that looked like soy sauce but tasted like fermented urine. So I sometimes ended up hiding that bottle at the back of the pantry for someone else to find.

Over the years, my Japanese cooking has slowly started becoming Korean-like which is great because it turns out that Korean food is about the most delicious thing in the world. The best way I can describe Korean food is that it's the unwanted child that resulted from Japanese food getting angrily raped by Mexican food. It's awesome.

Part of this obsession with Korean food came from living in Japan for two years getting school lunches every single day. Don't get me wrong - Japanese food is great. But every so often I just needed something more. That 'more' was often a bibimba-don' from Mastuya. And I managed to recreate that glory at home with the help of one magical ingredient:

I'm telling you man, this stuff is incredible. I go through a kilo of this in about three months. It's spicy as hell, but it's a delicious spicyness that goes with nearly everything. Soups, marinades, chilli's, rice, sandwiches, yoghurt, cheesecake, hell I even brush my teeth with it [some of these things may not be true]. It's not like tabasco which is pure spicyness that gets too spicy and can ruin the food, it's not like sweet chilli which is 60% sugar, and it's not like sambal which makes everything taste like sambal.

So do yourself a favour and go and buy a truckload of this stuff. It's pretty unmistakeable in these rectangular red buckets (although it also comes in low-top jars), and you will never lack for flavour again. Obviously, you won't necessarily be making Korean food, but hopefully now you won't have to learn to read Korean, or read recipes or ask the clerk for assistance when wandering those Asian supermarket asiles, while still reaping the benefits of tongue-on-food orgies without having to spend much money.

You're welcome.