Happy 2011!

Happy New Year! Another year is upon us, another 365 days to fill with delicious eats. For me, New Year’s Day began — as it does every year — with a big bowl of my mom’s ddukguk (떡국, rice cake soup). I’ve written about it before; it’s the Korean tradition to have ddukguk on New Year’s Day, and if you don’t eat it, they say you won’t become a year older. (Many bad jokes about ddukguk and aging are abound New Year’s Day.) Now as to why we eat it, there are a few theories. The most credible, in my mind, is that dduk being white (the color of purity), it symbolizes the new year and new beginnings. In any case, I ate a sh*t-load of ddukguk along with tons of grilled Berkshire pork wrapped in perilla leaves and dipped in salted sesame oil. It was a great start to the year. 2011, holla!

As for any food-related new year’s resolutions, the only one would be to stop eating so much crap for the sake of health. There was a dark period in my life, late 2009 to early 2010, where I only ate brown rice and whole wheat pasta at home to be healthy. Then a study came out saying brown rice wasn’t necessarily better than white rice. WTF! Think of all the pleasure I denied myself for no reason. Really, life is too short to eat crap. Here’s to happy eating in 2011. Happy New Year!