COMFORT FOODS can be a reminder of home or happy times. A warm meal can feel like a nice hug when we are sick, tired, or just hungry. Certain dishes can calm upset stomachs in times of turmoil or remind us of our happiest childhood moments. Perhaps the comfort of these foods depends on the person who cooks the meal, or maybe it is the overall taste that is satisfying. The Yonsei Annals interviewed several Yonsei students to learn more about the meals that warm their hearts and stomachs.

Kim Da-young (Jr., Dept. of Psychology)

   “My favorite comfort food is the Korean traditional food, tteok-bok-ki. It is my favorite snack because I love the simple combination of the chewy texture of rice cakes with the sweet-and-spicy chili sauce. After big tests, my friends and I would go to a place that serves tteok-bok-ki to simply talk and hang out. I find that the spiciness of the dish usually helps relieve the stress I gained from having to sit through such long exams. Now that I am in college, it has transitioned into a food my friends and I eat whenever we go out for drinks, so I suppose tteok-bok-ki has always been my food of choice for when I spend time with my friends or family. I like that tteok-bok-ki stands are very common in Korea, since I can find my favorite food whenever I have a craving for both its delicious flavor and the memories it carries.”

Ecem Dilara Dogan (Soph., UIC, Science, Technology and Policy)

   “The first thing that comes to my mind when I think of my favorite comfort meal is the tomato soup we eat in Turkey, called arabasi corbasi. It can be translated as ‘chicken soup with batter,’ or directly as ‘Arab dish soup.’ It is mixed with flour, so it has a thick, hearty consistency, and a strong chicken flavor that is perfect for when you feel sick. We often eat it with a starchy, gelatin side dish that acts as a sort of bread. I have never seen this soup at a restaurant, so it is often only a home cooked meal. My mom got her recipe from my father’s mom, so it has a bit of familial history. My mom would make arabasi corbasi for me whenever I was feeling under the weather, so naturally, it has become a dish I associate with the comfort of my home. In fact, the last time I went home to Turkey, the first meal I asked my mom to cook was arabasi corbasi because I missed its warm and cozy taste.”

Kim Hyun-jae (3rd sem., Graduate School of Intl. Studies)

   “I lived in the United States for over seven years during my undergraduate studies. Being in western Pennsylvania, I could not really find Korean restaurants as it was not a culturally diverse area. When I moved off my college campus to live by myself, I started to cook the Korean meals that I had been craving. I would often cook LA gal-bi, a sweet and savory short rib dish I consider to be my favorite comfort meal. My grandma lent me her special recipe, which involves using Coca-Cola in the marinade to soften the ribs and help caramelize the edges of the meat to make it extra flavorful. I suppose another reason why LA gal-bi is significant to me is because it is a representative food of Korean-Americans. Korean immigrants adapted a traditional gal-bi recipe with the ingredients they could find in the United States to create LA gal-bi. I have spent a lot of my life in both South Korea and the United States, so LA gal-bi feels inclusive of my two distinct cultural identities.”

Yuliya Golovkina (Jr., UIC, Life Science and Biotechnology)

   “It has been a long time since I have been home, so I miss my mom’s cooking a lot. In particular, I really like a French dish my mom cooks called veau orloff. Although the translation to English is 'veal orloff,' we simply refer to it as 'French meat' at home. It is mainly composed of meat, potatoes, and cheese all baked together until the meat becomes tender and the cheese turns gooey on the inside and crispy on the outside. My mom came across the recipe when I was young and has cooked it often ever since then, so I have many childhood memories associated with this food. My family and I loved veau orloff from the first time we tried the dish, which is why it is the first thing I request to eat every time I go home. While it is not traditional to my family’s Kazakh culture, veau orloff has become the celebratory dish in our household for special occasions like holidays and homecomings.”

Helena Nikolajew (Fresh., UIC, Underwood Division)

   “I ate kim chi jji gae for the first time when I came to Korea last year. It was actually a coincidence that I ordered the dish: I had not learned how to read Korean yet and pointed at the first thing I saw on the menu. The flavor was a bit shocking at first as it was spicy, sour, and sweet all at once. Despite kim chi jji gae being very different from German food, I loved it. Now I eat it whenever I am sick or want a hearty stew because its addictive, peppery broth and boiling-hot temperature warms me from the inside out. There was a Korean restaurant that I would go to very often, and eventually became a regular. The owner was very kind and would give me generous portions of pork in the kim chi jji gae, so I have many fond memories of eating it at that restaurant in particular.”

Park Dong-joon (Jr., Dept. of Chemistry)

   “Juk, or Korean rice porridge, is the best comfort food in my opinion. Not only is it a healthy meal, but it is also a very easy dish to cook up in a short amount of time. It feels very meaningful when someone brings you a warm meal when you are sick, and juk is especially comforting to receive from loved ones. I like to make it for myself before long and stressful exams because its warmth helps calm my nervous stomach. It is also an endlessly adaptable food; for example, juk can be purposefully made to be bland to make it easier to digest when sick, or packed with nutritious ingredients like abalone and ginseng to increase the health benefits.”