Menu -- US State Dinner for South Korea's President looks lovely

[blue room]

First Course

Butternut Squash Bisque, Honey Poached Cranberries,

Virginia Cured Ham, Pumpkin Seed Praline, Crème Fraiche

Second Course

Early Fall Harvest Salad on Daikon Sheets,

Masago Rice Pearl Crispies, Rice Wine Vinaigrette

Main Course

Texas Wagyu Beef, Orange-Ginger Fondue,

Sauteed Kale, Roasted Kabocha Squash

Dessert

Chocolate Malt Devils Food Layers

With Pear and Almond Brittle

An American wine will be paired with each course

What is a rice pearl crispie??

[SaltyRaisins]

Historical ties between Korea and Japan are very intertwined, and I imagine even where food and ingredients are concerned. In fact, Korean kingdoms frequently drew on Japanese naval resources to help settle their disputes. There is some speculation that current Japanese restrictions of imperial tomb archaeology is very restricted because it would reveal obvious historical intermingling of Korean bloodlines with the Japanese royalty in many periods of Japanese history. If there was hanky-panky at that level, I'm sure eating daikon and kabocha was sorta a given for both cultures.

Kanpai!

[Monica]

I am korean and yes we eat daikon and kabocha squash, if they want to be extra special, they could have had the menu with Korean names or English names but I am not bothered by these japanese names at all.

Funny, my friend works for the white house and she had the luncheon with the president and the group on the day they arrived to US and she thought the food was horrible...hopefully this was better.

[Leper]

This meal was a total embarrassment to the White House. Wagyu beef, Kabocha squash and Daikon are all Japanese cuisine--not Korean. What's more, there is no love lost between Korea and the Japan because of war atrocities. It appears no one at the White House has a clue whether it's giving the Queen an I-Pod or serving a menu meant to insult the Korean guest.

[blue room]

Probably both daikon radish and kabocha squash are normal Korean foods too -- we just know them by their Japanese names. I think (Japanese ancestry?) Texas Wagyu beef, like everything served that night, was *American* food that was enjoyed by the guests.

Korean Japanese relations have thawed since WWII ! If you start eliminating foods from your diet because of its origin or wars from 60 years ago you'll miss out.

[Leper]

Following your strained logic, the next time a Muslim leader visits the White House, they should serve glazed pork belly with a big smile and a hearty hand shake.

[Ruth Lafler]

I had no idea Koreans had religious prohibitions on eating foods with Japanese names.

Seriously, my take on this menu it that it sounds too sweet, especially the first course but also the third course, with orange-ginger sauce and roasted kabocha squash. Also, butternut squash AND kabocha? I would have junked that butternut squash bisque with honey poached cranberries (sweet!!!) and done something more savory. Sunchokes make a nice bisque....

[small h]

Huh. So according to you, no food that is available in Japan can be served to a Korean dignitary? I can buy kabocha squash and daikon at my local greenmarket in Manhattan - those products are hardly exclusive to Japan. And to take this to its logical (or, um, not) conclusion, rice would also be off limits. As would mayonnaise, a heckuva lot of species of fish, and Scotch.

[blue room]

Ah, maybe all that sugar is what drew me in! The theme was supposed to be "early harvest" or something (too early for 'chokes maybe) so I guess the more "pumpkin", the better. The colors must have been gorgeous --

but back to my OP post -- any idea what a rice pearl crispie is?

[ellabee]

I'm guessing that it's a rice crispie made with Masago rice pearls, using a similar puffing/steaming/??? process to the one Kellogg uses to turn rice into rice crispies. But then, I _am_ just guessing, and I have not heard before this of rice pearls.

[ellabee]

Well, googling around the web has turned up several sushi and Asian fusion menus in which crispy rice pearls are used to top or coat food, and a Ming Tsai recipe in which rice pearls (grains of glutinous rice) are steamed and formed into balls. Those with better access to Asian groceries may be able to say whether rice pearls are sold in the crispy form, or whether some toasting/popping process is required of the chef.

Also learned that masago is the name for herring roe, lovely coral-red color.

[C. Hamster]

Sunchokes can give people horrible gas and the runs ...

[ChefJune]

<Sunchokes can give people horrible gas and the runs ...> old wives tale!

lots of foods regualrly eaten by Americans give people gas, but they don't stop eating them. Most likely cause of gas, however, is eating too fast and swallowing excessive air in the process.

[C. Hamster]

Its certainly not an "old wives tale."

Sunchokes can give people debilitating gas and diarrhea.

Sadly they give me horrible gas, and I assure you that I am NOT eating too fast. Its the only food I avoid for this reason, which is too bad because they are delicious.

[Ruth Lafler]

Ok, celery root, then. Or parsnips. Or chestnuts. Just not two kinds of orange squash in the same menu and soup with sweet garnish and ham with sweet garnish.

[Muchlove]

Jerusalem artichokes, or sunchokes as they are sometimes called, contain quite a bit of inulin. This cannot be digested by the body, so it results in gas and...er...a rumbly belly for the eater! I think some people suffer more than others with this.

Not to say don't eat them, they are rather tasty in some applications, but just to point out that it's most certainly not an old wives tale!

[blue room]

This will give you a better idea of the dinner
http://obamafoodorama.blogspot.com/20...
It was certainly not insulting (or Japanese!)

[rozz01]

I thought dikon kimchi was a pretty normal thing in Korea.. Am I wrong?

[rockycat]

Oddly enough, nearly all the Korean restaurants in my area (run by Koreans) serve a few distincly Japanese dishes. I guess that neither the owners nor their Korean customers feel too terribly insulted by Japanese food.

[Muchlove]

Huh? Certainly daikon is eaten outside of Japan, in South Asia (India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, etc.) it is very common. I suspect it is most probably eaten in Korea too.

[Miss Needle]

Yes, most definitely eaten in Korea -- in soups, stews, pickles.