Facebook Interest Groups
There are many Facebook interest groups in relation to the Korean wave or culture, particularly for Korean food. Most of them were either inactive or are geared towards a specific group of people. Eventually, we decided to join the Korean, Asian and World Wide Food Facebook group, due to its active status and its inclusivity.
The Korean, Asian and Word Wide Food Facebook group has over 5 thousand members. In this page, members share the food they cooked, they share recipes, they share articles about food and they ask one another for advice or suggestions in relation to cooking. It is basically a community for food lovers and people who want to try their hands at cooking. As seen by the title of the group, it is a diverse group. It does not only focus on Korean food, but there are indeed more members sharing about Korean food.
I used the page to get ideas and inspiration from the other members. As mentioned, some members would share their own recipe and some would share articles. I read and followed through these posts. Natasha and I threw ideas back and forth on what we should cook as we scrolled through the group page. I also used the page to seek help and ask for suggestions from the community.
I also used the page as a platform to share what Natasha and I cooked. For example, I shared about cooking Kimbap and adding chilli crab sauce to the dish. I also shared about cooking Hotteok.
Maangchi Online Forum
Other than Facebook, I also decided to check out forums. There was one forum created by Maangchi that focused heavily on Korean food. Maangchi is originally a Youtube channel, by Julia Child, that posted cooking videos which taught viewers how to cook Korean food. It shared recipes of many Korean dishes. Usually, the youtube videos will link viewers to her blog where she gives a more detailed description of the recipe, as well as close up photos of the dish throughout the cooking process. Her Youtube channel and blog have been very useful throughout our journey in this Korean food immersion. Thus, when I realised that she also has a cooking forum, I joined it without hesitation.
As seen from the description, the purpose of Maangchi's forum is for readers, particularly Korean food lovers, to reach out to one another and help one another out as they try to cook Korean food. Readers are also encouraged to share their experience and photos of the Korean food they made. Julia encouraged users to introduce themselves, share about their interest and where they are from. There is a category just for self-introduction. It was interesting to scroll through and realise how big and driverse the community is.
Different categories available in the forum |
The "self-introduction" category |
Another point to note is that Maangchi or Julia Child herself actively participates in this forum. There have been many instances where she will reply to a question or comment on someone's food creation.
Julia answering questions about whether it is safe to use 5-month-old kimchi |
Julia giving suggestions in regards to kimchi juice |
I too decided to use the forum. Just like in the Facebook group, I created a topic in the forum to ask for suggestions and ideas on how I can fuse Korean and Malay food together.
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