Race Day Foods

My favorite specialty of dietetics is sports nutrition. Hydration and nutrients are key components of a successful long distance event. Marathon and long distance triathlon events always have food and fluids available on the course. At the end of the event, athletes are usually showered with free samples, snacks, beverages, even a hot meal. Gels, gatorade, bananas, oranges, bagels, pretzels, flat Coke, water, Power Bars, and hard candies are typically seen on the course. Athletes basically need water, sugar, and, in some cases, salt. They need concentrated calories because appetite tends to decrease, and sometimes the GI tract motility decreases. Gels and gatorade are perfect - quick, portable, easy. After a race, again, the athlete needs quick calories. High carbohydrate, low fiber items (bagel, banana, gatorade, bars, recovery drinks) are the best choices. A bit of protein is also helpful. Cold beverages can cool the body. Fluids with a 7% sugar solution allow for the fastest absorption.
Like American races, Korean ones provide sustinence. However, many of the items seem to be based on culture and taste rather than on sports nutrition research. Also, it seems like Korean men like to "tough it out" and endure discomfort rather than rely on nutritional supplementation. Strange, but true. Perhaps the suffering is more honorable to Koreans? From what we've observed (after three years of the Korean triathlon scene, and, to some extent, the marathon scene) many Korean athletes know very little about sports nutrition.
Unfortunately for them, gels are very expensive. I probably wouldn't spent $2.50 for one gel either! Also, variety is extremely limited.
And now I digress for a moment to show you a food-related picture of a different sort. At the Gapyeong triathlon, the course was near a river. My friend's kids were throwing stones in the river and staring at a family on a picnic. The family was grilling squid and invited the kids to join them! The kids readily accepted, despite the language barrier. Koreans seem to love foreign kids.

So...back to culture and tastes.One race day staple is the choco pie. For some reason, these high-fat, sugary cakes are standard issue items. I read somewhere that the Korean military gives choco pies to new soldiers after they've completed a portion of training. For that reason, choco pies are considered a comfort food. Perhaps they are psychologically (but not physically) nourishing. I've also seen cookies, crackers, and herbal drinks along courses. After races, watermelon soup is typically served via metal ladle by an ajumma. The soup contains watermelon chunks, juice, 7-up, and ice. Again, based on what I discussed earlier, this so-called soup is a poor recovery food. Hot green tea and coffee are also available, no matter the time of year. Athletes usually receive a free, boxed Korean meal too. Korean food can be tasty at the right times. Post race is not one of those times. Who can stomach spicy food on a hot day after a four hour race? Not to mention the fact that rice, oil, kimchi'i, and green leafy vegetables provide too much fiber, bulk, and fat. I guess that rice on its own would be okay, though.

Bananas and skinned, whole cucumbers are also available:

I guess Koreans think that watery vegetables (fruits?) are the best recovery foods. Athletes do need water, after all. However, the 50 calories from a cucumber would probably not cover the energy needed to pick up and eat the thing! Not to mention the fact that it would be filling enough to reduce food consumption.

In the next few years I imagine that Korea's sports nutrition companies will explode like Gatorade and Power Bar in the United States. The market is ripe for reasonably-priced (and nutritionally advantageous) products!

Buddhist Vegetarian Restaurant

Despite the extremely cold weather, a few friends and I ventured to Insadong for lunch. Our destination was Sanchon, a Buddhist vegetarian restaurant. I loved the narrow alleyways leading to the restaurant: We never would have found this restaurant on our own. Fortunately, we happened to find the Sanchon food store on the main road. From there, we saw a sign for the restaurant.

(Above photo courtesy of Studio Sans)

We removed our shoes at the entrance and placed them in cubbies. Then the hostess led us through this spacious area to our table:

Sanchon serves a standard 20-dish meal for a reasonable 22,000W (about $15.20) at lunch. The menu varies according to season and revolves around Korean vegetables from the mountains or woods. We received a paper menu that listed the courses. The reverse side contained a New York Times article from 1986 about the place. According to the article, the owner was a Buddhist monk from age 14 to 32, where he learned the ins-and-outs of temple cooking.

Anyway, back to our lunch:

Before I could remove my coat, a server placed several dishes on our table. The bowls were made of a reddish-brown wood from the zelkova tree. (Traditionally a Buddhist monk carries a set of wooden bowls.)

(Photo courtesy of A.Z.)

The appetizer, lower left, was a porridge of barley and vegetables. It tasted mild and refreshing. The bowl on the right contained winter kimchi. The watery broth was deceiving; the contents were quite spicy. (For my tastes, anyway!) The little vermicelli wraps contained radish, mushrooms, peppers and other vegetables. A dipping sauce added flavor. We had unlimited tea for beverage.

Next came seven wild vegetables, each with their own seasonings. The center dish contained a mix of greens and tofu.

Then the servers brought a slew of dishes. At left, lettuce with a tasty dressing and, at right, kimchi. In the back, another kimchi that my friends loved (and I spit out!)

At top, a green vegetable that might have been cilantro. At left, a mildly sweetened mix of giant mushroom caps and a root vegetable. At right, a root that has been pounded and seasoned until edible.

At left, fried kelp. What a great source of iodine, among other nutrients. At right, seasoned mushrooms.

My friend served a stew of mushrooms, radish, and tofu. Noodles at left and fried seasonal vegetable pancakes at right.

More fried food: seasonal vegetable fritters (lotus root, mushroom caps, and potato)

Side view of a fritter. Fortunately the wooden chopsticks were much easier to use than the typical metal ones!

The seasoned root and a mangled pancake.

And, finally, a dessert of sticky rice pastry. The puffs were very light and chewy in the center.

What an enjoyable and interesting meal. The variety of foods was pretty exhausting. I think I've had my fill of Buddhist vegetarian food for the time being!

Persimmon, the Korean Mango

I had never seen a persimmon until this year, even though California is the #1 persimmon producer in the United States. The two main types are Hachiya and Fuyu.
Hachiya is heart- or acorn-shaped. Because of the high tannin levels, Hachiya persimmons must be fully ripe before consumption. Koreans call this persimmon hongsi. Ripe hongsi are so soft that Emart sells them in plastic containers. The ripe fruit is really so soft that you can scoop the flesh out with a spoon. Make sure you don't eat the white part near the seeds, unless you want constipation.As you can tell from the orange color, persimmon is an excellent source of beta-carotene, the pre-cursor to vitamin A. It's also an excellent source of fiber, vitamin C and manganese. That amorphous mass has about 118 calories, most of it from sugar.

The other main type, Fuyu, is short, squat and non-astringent. It resembles a flattened tomato. Koreans call it dan gam.

Unlike the Hachiya, the Fuyu can be eaten when firm or when soft. (I dare you to try a firm Hachiya!)

I travelled to Emart to find persimmon products. The produce department carried dried persimmons or gotgam:

Supposedly the persimmon vinegar (gamsikcho) has holistic properties:

Another persimmon beverage, sujeonggwa, is a traditional Korean drink. It contains spices and dried persimmons. Here is the canned version:

Enjoy persimmon season!

Eating out in Tokyo

We ate out twice during our stay in Tokyo. First we ate at a fusion restaurant. I had the seasoned fish:Literally, I had the fish. No bread basket, no side of vegetables, no potato option. A mound of scraggly vegetables and potato shavings blanketed the palm-sized portion.

Eric ordered the chicken curry:

He was surprised to find the meat still on the bone! I found the plump bright-yellow yolk to be remarkable. Japanese hens must eat a rich diet!

The last night we ate at a typical mom-and-pop establishment near our hosts' home.

Mushroom caps and fresh chicken were on display:

Speaking of uncooked meats, the restaurant served raw liver. Considering the toxins processed in the liver, I had no appetite for that specialty.

We ordered a series of random dishes.

Fried chicken:

Onions:

Green peppers (yes, I know, really simple stuff!) &
Stew of chives, potatoes, turnips, chicken skins, and grizzled meat:

Needless to say, I ate my real dinner when we returned home.

The next day we were in a rush so we purchased bento boxes, sushi, and rice wraps from the local supermarket:

The ingredients - salmon, chicken, rice, vegetables, tofu, egg - were quite healthy. However, like most Japanese food, it was a bit salty, and the portions were small. I really think I would lose weight if I had to eat Japanese style. Fortunately, I ate both before and after our Japanese meals! I think I have a diet book in the making here.

We concluded our Japanese food experience with in flight bento boxes:

Because of our Japanese weekend, I was more open-minded about the food. I actually opened the bento box and tried the sweet rice cake. On our flight to Japan, I didn't even break the box seal!

Ice Bar TOKYO

Nothing like Absolut vodka drinks in a below-freezing bar: Our drinks were served in cylinders of ice made in Sweden. I had vodka-banana liquor-mango juice and a vanilla vodka-blue curacao-pineapple juice drinks. Since we were only allowed to stay inside 45 minutes (and because I was freezing cold), we guzzled our drinks.The Tokyo night was balmy after we left this place!

The Market - JAPAN

Food portions in Japan were very small. Even the mini muffins were half the size of American mini muffins:Each muffin was the size of a quarter!

The supermarket sold a variety of sushi (right) and wrapped rice (left). In the United States, the wrapped rice cost $6 for three. However, they were a mere $1.80 for six in Tokyo. Everything else, though, was expensive.

Tempura for sale by the piece:

Beverages (again note the sizes):

Neatly wrapped and displayed produce:

Though other products were small, the fruit was huge, even by American standards. The produce is harvested in Japan and available based on the season.

Note the fruit's sugar content. All fruit was labeled this way.In Japan, people bag their own groceries. Americans simply purchase too many groceries at one time for this method to work.

Genmai Flakes - JAPAN

One morning this breakfast cereal greeted me at breakfast: Apparently Kellogg's creates cereals to appeal to Asian countries. Not surprisingly, this cereal, called genmai glakes, contains brown rice.

Here is a tasty recipe using the cereal as a salad base. With recipes like this one, it's no surprise that Japanese are so slim!