Sept. 8 - East Asia’s Adaptation of Western Foods

[Rebecca Blankenship]

Angela,

I never thought of the food as a tangible symbolm of colonization.This opens up such an interesting set of connections to make with my student.  

[Rebecca Blankenship]

Our reading about SPAM and the in class discussion reminded me of the way in which our governments can support businesses or create markets for products by making them a staple of GI rations.  This reminded me of the BTS run episode I saw in which chef Baek joins BTS to cook and promote Baek Ham. https://youtu.be/d5CBcWQFGbE His discussion of the product is around the 15:00 minute marker.  Apparently Baek Ham is promoted to help the Korean pork farmers.  As Koreans do not eat alot of the hind quarters of the ham, chef Baek created Baek ham to help get those cuts of meat used and stimulate the market for these farmers.  This reminded me a lot of SPAM and I am wondering how the taste profile differs.  Here is a link to the article.  https://koreatrending.com/trivia/baek-jong-wons-k-ham-project-feat-bts/

[Bin He]

Canned foods were very popular in China between 1980s to 1990s. At that time, Chinese people often sent canned fruits when they visited patients. But after 2000, canned fruits have almost completely withdrawn from the market.

I personally feel that because transportation was far from developed at that time, and the efficiency of information transmission is far less than it is now. Many fruits have a short shelf life, unless they are in large cities, many small counties cannot eat fresh fruits, and more Not to mention the remote villages that occupy the absolute majority of the Chinese population. But people have the need to eat fruit, so canned fruit came into being. The fruit is sealed in the can, so that people all over the country can eat the fruit, although it is not very fresh. Since 2000, transportation has become more and more convenient, and the efficiency of information transmission has become faster and faster. In every county throughout the country, you can eat all kinds of fresh fruits, including those tropical fruits that you rarely eat before.

Nowadays, there are not only more types of fruits than in the past, but also cheaper prices than in the past, and they are also fresh. In addition, as the income of Chinese people has increased, they are more willing to spend money on high-quality products rather than inferior ones.

 

 

[Jennifer Jung-Kim]

I am drawing a blank on the reading about The Philippines, so here's one on Okinawa to get you started. 

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[Angela Lee]

Yes, I didn't think about it in that way until the part about China rejecting MSG/Ajinomoto because they saw it as symbolic of Japanese imperialism. 

[Angela Lee]

I came across this link of a podcast that I listen to, "Eat My Globe," and they focus on the history of SPAM, spanning across history to discuss the focus on canning to preserve food in the first half, and the invention of SPAM and its ubiquity after WWII.   There is a short reference to the Philippines, but I had forgotten about the importance of Spam in Guam.

https://www.eatmyglobe.com/spam 

I am really having a hankering for spam musubi...

 

[Jennifer Jung-Kim]

According to this article, the 1968 editorial letter in the New England Journal of Medicine started as a joke/bet between two doctors, but somehow sparked an anti-Asian campaign that is still going today: 

The Strange Case of Dr. Ho Man Kwok

[Jennifer Smith]

Amy,

This website is really interesting. I think my students would enjoy looking at the different types of packaging as well as reviewing the different types of flavors. They could even make a list of flavors they would be interested in trying. I also liked that prices were included, so my students could compare the website price to local prices.

Jennifer

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