Yesterday (or today, rather) I was having a midnight snack with my friend Jisoo at a mediocre Mexican restaurant in Chicago when he mentioned that he loves cilantro but hated it when he ate it as a child in Korea.
"Wait," I said, "You had CILANTRO in KOREA? Where did you get it?" You see, cilantro was one of the things I missed most while living in Korea. Surprised, he answered that it is relatively common, that his sister loved it, and that while it isn't usually carried by the large supermarkets I frequented in Cheonan such as Home Plus and Lotte Mart, it can often be found at the traditional outdoor fresh produce markets, like the one near Cheonan Station, perhaps. Of course it's not called "cilantro" in Korean, or even "coriander". It is called
고수 (go soo).
Now I am pretty annoyed that I didn't have this knowledge while I lived in Korea, but I thought I would go ahead and share it with my friends and acquaintances who are still in Korea to appreciate it (and a few who aren't in Korea who would've appreciated it when they were there) in hopes that if you love it like I do, you can find some to perk up your summer cooking. :)
While we're on the subject of cilantro, here are some interesting facts about cilantro I learned while Googling "cilantro in Korea":
1) The existence of "go soo" in Korea is common knowledge, even among foreigners, and it is a key ingredient in a couple of Korean dishes. Apparently it is also eaten by Buddhist monks in Korea.
2) Some people actually HATE cilantro! *gasp!* In fact, there is so much hate for cilantro that there are even cilantro hate-blogs and hate-websites, such as this one: http://ihatecilantro.com/
However, this New York Times article suggests that the haters may have some pretty good reasons for their hate, such as genetics and the likening of its smell to a certain type of insect:
http://www.nytimes.com/201
3) Furthermore, according to a person from New Zealand who commented on an article I read, "fresh cilantro tastes and smells EXACTLY like green shield beetles", and because of this, that commenter had a bit of a time overcoming the mental aversion before learning to like it. In fact, according to the above New York Times article, the word "coriander" comes from the Greek word for "bedbug". Who would've imagined that?
4) Julia Child hated cilantro! :(
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