How to "Koreanise" Christmas Dinner.

[RAFHercules]

We have Korean guests (son in laws family) for Christmas and whilst they will be unfailingly polite about whatever I serve up, I just know that they will find a traditional English roast dinner very bland.
How can I spice it up a little to make it a bit more palatable for them.
They live seafood, so I'm doing a seafood starter that I will spice up but what to do with the roast?

I would ask them.

I feel like fried chicken is a big thing in Korea. But @idontlikealdi isn’t the KFC craze Japanese? I might be wrong though.

@CuriousUnderTheStairs the vast majority don’t. If you google it’s something like 80-90% haven’t and never will. It’s illegal now and only happens under the black market trade.

I make kimchi and I bet you could do it with sprouts
You could also put a bowl of gochuchang on the table for them (from larger Sainsbos or online)
I absolutely love Korean food and would rather eat it than a Roast dinner but they might fancy a traditional English Christmas Dinner

@onlychildhamster I’ve noticed the lack of cheeses! When cheese is part of a dish like kimbap or ramen then it seems to always be that square plastic American style cheese.

I would ask your son in law what he thinks they might like to add to what you are serving.

@EineReiseDurchDieZeit

Yes. Your Korean guests will want to experience A Traditional British Christmas

This. Go as traditional as possible. Explain you’ve done it for them

[quote BrilliantBulb]@CuriousUnderTheStairs the vast majority don’t. If you google it’s something like 80-90% haven’t and never will. It’s illegal now and only happens under the black market trade.[/quote]
Oh come on, it's pretty much all most people know about Korea, that and K-pop. Also it's still perfectly legal to eat dog in Korea:
www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-58705602.amp

You might want to sit down before I tell you in France they eat horses and in some South American countries they eat guinea pigs.

I was going to say KFC too, though I think that might be Japan. If certainly was a Christmas treat in Hong Kong.

I think as long as you have plenty of condiments - salt, cranberry sauce, you'll be fine.

Just to clarify the whole KFC thing, it’s a (KFC driven/marketing) thing in Japan mainly on Xmas eve. You might get it on the way home, along with (strangely) strawberry shortcake for pudding. Xmas day isn’t a thing at all in Japan, except fairly recently for children (think one gift, and everyone goes to work if it’s a weekday).

KFC is also short for Korean Fried Chicken, which is much nicer than anything from the colonel, and is nothing to do with Xmas.

Carry on.

Thanks all, I'm going to do the sweet chilli sprouts tomorrow.

Why would you try to spice up a traditional Christmas dinner?!

If I was going to a foreign country for their biggest festival I'd be excited to try what is traditional. Not a bastardised version to account for my British taste.

I’d just do a standard Christmas lunch, it’s what they will want to try and wil be looking forward too, its just as you liked trying their food, you’d be annoyed if they had a Korean banquet and served you boiled veg and overcooked roast beef!

You could add a cajun spice to the roast potatoes and jazz the veg up with butters and seasoning.

I’m Korean and I think they’d be delighted with a traditional British Christmas dinner. There’s usually a lot of side dishes so they’ll be able to pick and choose. If you’d like to add some kimchi and rice, they’d probably appreciate that. I noticed that even Waitrose had it in the refrigerated section near the olives, dips, etc. The desserts would go over really well too.

Eating dogs is rare in real life. I have yet to meet anyone who has. At least that they will admit to. Most of the Koreans I know are offended by the practice and being asked if they’ve eaten it.

Make sure to get crackers, everyone I’ve had for Christmas from abroad have been mesmerised by those more than the food!

@idontlikealdi

Isn't KFC traditional for Korea on Christmas Day? I'd go with a totally standard roast dinner for the experience for them.

Yes came on to say KFC is a traditional Christmas dinner in Korea!!

If you went to Korea would you want Korean food with a side of gravy? Just serve them a normal roast dinner. Make it tasty but I wouldn't go making it abnormally spicy or anything. Roast sprouts with chestnuts and pancetta, proper homemade stuffing etc. Maybe make sure you've got lots of sauces like horseradish, cranberry so they can add to it. But if you come to Britain for Christmas you would want to try Christmas Dinner.

Even if they don't like it, personally I'd rather go to a country and eat their food. Its not like on Christmas you can go hungry!

I'd feel a bit weird if someone added a Yorkshire pudding to a traditional Korean dinner for me, so I'm not sure why you'd do the same. Do we not feel a bit uncomfortable going "we've got some Koreans coming for dinner better add some kimchi"

@Stringsnthings

If you went to Korea would you want Korean food with a side of gravy? Just serve them a normal roast dinner. Make it tasty but I wouldn't go making it abnormally spicy or anything. Roast sprouts with chestnuts and pancetta, proper homemade stuffing etc. Maybe make sure you've got lots of sauces like horseradish, cranberry so they can add to it. But if you come to Britain for Christmas you would want to try Christmas Dinner.

Even if they don't like it, personally I'd rather go to a country and eat their food. Its not like on Christmas you can go hungry!

I'd feel a bit weird if someone added a Yorkshire pudding to a traditional Korean dinner for me, so I'm not sure why you'd do the same. Do we not feel a bit uncomfortable going "we've got some Koreans coming for dinner better add some kimchi"

Sorry, Koreans always like kimchi.

@NoYOUbekind

I love hosting and always want people to feel at home, but honestly - I think anyone coming to a person's home for their biggest culturally loaded meal of the year will probably want to just eat what their hosts eat. If I went to the equivalent of Christmas in Korea I would want everything to be totally typical and would prolly bore the pants off my hosts asking questions about every single dish on the table.

Exactly this - if I was in Korea, I'd love to sample their dishes

Another vote for keeping it traditional! One year my good friend didn’t make it back to her country for Xmas so she came to my parents for dinner. Although she didn’t like some things (sprouts of course) she said she enjoyed her day even 13 years later! Whilst she Obs had a roast before, the day was different to what she normally did on Xmas day.

I used to host Korean teenagers, they lived with me whilst studying at college. I’m a good cook, they’d eat my food as long as they had some very spicy chilli sauce to go with it bought from a Korean/ Chinese grocery store

A Christmas dinner won’t be bland to them if it’s done well. Lots of salt, rosemary on the potatoes. Well seasoned meat. Pancetta with the sprouts. Honey and balsamic vinegar on the carrots. Good condiments.

Please don’t serve them a bastardised version of Korean food. I echo a PP’s comment about being served terrible weak cups of tea and rock scones because ‘english’.

Ask your son in law their tastes and if there is anything to avoid

Well you don't need to do plain boiled sprouts, I too would be disappointed in those for Christmas dinner. I always do mine stir fried with bacon. How about stir frying with some garlic and chilli or something, there will be recipes online I'm sure.