Some months ago I stumbled upon the works of Dr. Bass, and the natural hygiene diet, and I found it quite interesting, especially the part about sequential eating: http://drbass.com/sequential.html
So I read it, it made sense. I tested it, It worked, and have been trying to practice it, basically it says that different food is digested differently, the order in the one we eat is important, and it’s better to eat the more watery food first, that is digested faster to conserve energy.
So when I go get bibimbap (which is one of the few vegetarian dishes at local restaurants) instead of mixing it, which is how you are supposed to eat it according to ancient Korean traditions, I’ll eat first the veggies and then the rice.
But this practice seems to upset the local old ladies (who, I suspect, haven’t had the chance to read the works of Dr. Bass) and they always mix it for me, when they see I eat it separately.
Explaining in Korean can be challenging, and even my English speaking friends would have problems understanding how the stomach or digestive system works. So I found some ways to trick them. Either sitting where they can’t see my plate or pretending I mix things up but actually only mixing the rice.
Sometimes I have to play with the lights and mirrors to make the illusion of mixing, which has made eating out a bit more challenging than it already was.
Anyway, I love the 2900 won bibimbap across the street from my place and the ajumas who just want to teach me and make it more tasty for me.
And it’s open 24 hours, so it gives me the chance to find out who goes for bibimbap on a Tuesday at 4 am.
If you’re ever around Sincheon I’ll show it to you!