review: the banchan

    although my korean husband is very korean in most of his way, he doesn't usually have 반찬 투정 (banchan too-jung), which means he doesn't complain about what kind of food i prepare (or don't prepare in my case).
    growing up, i've seen my dad complain about the lack or the kind of banchan (side dishes) my mom would prepare and i've seen other korean people and children be very picky about what they eat. i'm sure this is normal in most family situations, but in a proper korean meal, usually you get a bowl of rice, a gross assortment or side dishes, and soup. maybe something that looks like this:

    ok, just joking. but imagine having to do that every day three times a day! ... koreans don't do simple cereal and milk breakfasts. maybe something a little more like this:

(thank you 슈슈 for your picture)

    as we change with the times, the customs of eating are being altered to fit into our busy life schedules but there are still some families that eat an elaborate breakfast, lunch, and dinner (aka my in-laws).
    before getting married my FiL would keep telling me that i would have to learn to cook korean food because my husband grew up eating rice, not bread. thankfully my husband is in the fitness industry and eats "diet food" for half of the year, but even more thankfully, he just eats what he's given or simply just say he doesn't want it. he doesn't complain or have the dreaded "banchan too-jung" that i'm sure many housewives still experience.
    but from time to time, i feel bad for him. after all, he grew up in a very traditional home with three elaborate meals every day and even though he doesn't say it, i'm sure he would like to come home to a good meal once in awhile. so for a week i searched the internet for recipes that i could actually follow in order to make side dishes and stews and soups. i can read korean, but it obviously takes a little longer than english. so after four days of putting myself through this, i decided that i needed to buy my banchan.
    i live in one of the most convenient cities in the world... why was i putting myself through this? maybe if i stayed at home i could put to the time and effort into properly learning this "stuff" but with work and the pups and doing the house chores that absolutely need to be done, it was hard to keep up with thinking of different meals for every meal for every day. seriously a clap to those moms and wives who do it.
    i tried ordering a few things from "the banchan" (www.thebanchan.co.kr) and am so satisfied with their service. they have set meals for the week or you can chose the side dishes and stews you want to by individually. they even sell salads, fresh juices, and i think there was a dessert or two on there.
    anyway, this is what my order looked like when i received it:

jimmy and kevin thinking it's something for them.

kevin never gives up

the box was packaged really well so nothing could move around or spill.

the containers are really sturdy so it doesn't seem like anything would accidently open.

inside the box, you will receive a list of your order, ice packs to keep everything from going bad in case you're unable to answer the door when the delivery man comes (i added a message to ask them to leave it in front of my door in case no one was home), and the goodies you ordered!

 

 these are pictures of some of the banchan i ordered. my husband's studio doesn't have a separate eating space :( so it was important to chose side dishes that don't have a strong smell to them.

i tried the side dishes out last night and they taste really good. not too salty. the cucumber/chive kimchi was a little spicier than i expected but still pretty good.



     overall, i'm really happy with my order and the next time i order i'm going to try ordering a couple meat-centered dishes to see how they taste/to see how my hubby like them.
    since it's just my husband and i, sometimes going grocery shopping isn't always worth it. we buy produce but because it's only the two of us, sometimes we can't finish everything before it goes bad. buying banchan might be a little more expensive than making it yourself, but i don't think i'll be throwing out as much doing it this way.
    i still plan on learning (ever so slowly) to cook korean food but at least i have this to save me until then.

xo jma