Camberville Cuisine

“Koreans don’t get sick,” Karen said, in a matter-of-fact manner.

I sneezed. It was a chilly winter day in Monterey, grey and foggy with light freezing rain falling. We’d just spent the last two hours outside at a field hockey game; my nose was running and my fingers were numb. “Yeah, right.”

“No, really, I’ve never missed a day of school because of sickness. Even when I had a cold, my parents would take me to school anyway, because it’s just a cold and all you can do is treat the symptoms and not sneeze on people.”

Unlike me; when I was young, I generally spent at least two weeks per winter confined to bed with some variant of bronchitis or walking pneumonia, or if it was a light winter, I might have gotten away with “only” strep throat. “Heh, wow, not me, as you’ve noticed.” I sneezed again, and reached for tissue.

“Get the spicy ramyun at Sunrise [our local Asian grocery]; it really helps. And some kimchee. The kimchee is very important!”

Though I still get sick frequently, eating spicy food is now an integral part of my cold-fighting routine, thanks to this advice. Yet, somehow, even after dating Hyoun for over a year and a half, I still didn’t have kimchee in my refrigerator.

*

“I’m not sick.”

“You’ve been saying that all week.”

“Koreans don’t get sick,” Hyoun stated, and then started coughing again.

“Uh-huh, I’ve heard that one before. My high school friend Karen said the same thing.”

“And did she ever get sick?”

“… Now that I think about it, no, I think she was sick maybe one day out of four years of high school.”

“See? I told you.”

“I’m checking with Grace; she’s Korean,” I announced, assuming I would get a neutral-if-amused-third-party answer from her.

[18:55:44] Lynne: hi hon, if you’re around, i have a question to settle an “argument” between me and hyoun ;)
[18:55:54] Lynne: do korean people ever get sick?
[18:56:03] Grace: no, they eat kimchee :)

Thanks, Grace. :P

I can never remember the name of the J&K Han a Rum Oriental Market; it’s a quiet family-run Korean grocery store on Mass Ave, near Frank’s Steak House in North Cambridge. But they carry several kinds of kimchee, and have a decent assortment of other premade food, like scallion pancakes, kong ja dang (glutinous black beans), anchovies, sardines, and seaweed salad. The store is on the small side; only two aisles, but lots of tea and noodles and rice and cookies. And, of course, kim, which I prefer to the Japanese nori; the former is saltier. :)

I originally found J+K several years ago on my way back from the Trader Joe’s in Arlington Heights; staring out the bus window, I caught sight of the familiar hangul flashing by, and happily went in to pick up kochuchang. The owner was rather amused by my stumbling over “Kamsa hamnida, anyeongi kaseo” [Thank you, goodbye!]. Tonight, of course, for the “not-sick” Hyoun, we got radish kimchee, the largest Asian pear I’ve ever seen (seriously, it’s about the size of a grapefruit), Sacsac (a light but pulpy orange juice drink), and bahng (puffy rice-cereal “cookies” about the size of a dinner plate), as well as shrimp chips for me!

Unfortunately, I lost touch with Karen after high school, but today’s her birthday. So, happy birthday, Karen!

J&K Han a Rum Oriental Market, 2376 Massachusetts Ave, North Cambridge. 617.547.8723. Hours seem to be 10-8, M-Sat, closed Sun.