January 28, 2013
Hey Seven, Where's The Beef?!
Didn't cook over the weekend so I had to resort to 7-11 bentos for lunch. That's not quite as terrible as it sounds since Taiwanese 7-11s is a combination of Japanese combini technology and Taiwan's largest food conglomerate. So there's always lots of product churning with new flavors and combinations going on. And like a sucker I'm always grabbing the latest thing, if only because it's New And Different.
So today the latest-and-greatest is the Korean Kimchi And Beef bento. Sounds pretty good, right? I do love me some bibimbap, even if the microwaved plastic tray won't make the same crunchy layer of charred rice that a heated stone bowl would. At least until I tore open the shrink wrap and popped off the lid. Sure, there was plenty of kimchi, with some bean sprouts and wood-ear mushrooms to provide additional crunch. But there were only two small, pathetic pieces of bulgogi beef all scrunched up in the corner, hardly worthy of the second-billing on the label. They really should've just called it the Kimchi And Bean Sprouts Bowl (with beef).
At least the whole thing was spicy enough, thanks to the kimchi and lots of gochujang red sauce. Which was the whole intent of it, from their point of view. Save on the pricey beef by throwing in plenty of spicy flavors to make the bland rice more editable. I guess it makes for a decent enough change-of-pace from the home-made lunch, which has plenty of good stuff, but can't be as spicy to accommodate the kids' palates.