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 think if you are visiting family or friends abroad, you fit in with their own traditions. When we spent Christmas in our DDIL's home country we were a bit surprised to be served turkey cooked with pineapple at midnight on Christmas Eve. Similarly DDIL's mum will be staying with us for Christmas and we will do traditional English fare served at a normal, for us, time.

@NaturalBlondeYeahRight

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

I love that @NaturalBlondeYeahRight. The one and only time I went to a Thanksgiving dinner they really did go round the table saying what they were thankful for - same idea, it's the wee details that are truly fascinating.

I would absolutely go with a traditional British Christmas dinner. Just because it isn't spicy doesn't mean it's bland if you cook it properly. It should be packed with flavours.
You could put out kimchi to serve with your starter. We get it from Sainsbury's.

One thing to consider is perhaps dessert. Here in Singapore, many of our friends do not really enjoy heavy or super-sweet / heavily spiced / chocolate desserts after a hearty meal, but prefer lighter and fruity or floral flavours.

Apologies, I'm not too familiar with Korean desserts / tastes but one thing you might want to consider is offering a lighter dessert option too, alongside any traditional Christmas pudding eg pavlova, vegan lemon posset?

I think the only thing I would do is put dishes out for people to serve themselves rather than 'plate up' so people can choose what they want.

I had a French student stay with me who was impressed by scotch eggs and steak and kidney pudding.

For me one of the joys of travel is trying out the local food.

If you are doing Xmas pudding maybe do that but serve an alternative, I know someone said no cheese but a board of cheese, crackers and a few chutneys, piccalilli, if you make your own pickled onions then double spice and add some raspberry vinegar (uses spiced pickling vinegar and then add your own pickling spice).

Maybe have a rew bits in the fridge that are more korean and don't forget to ask your DD (or DS) for ideas.

Get some soju!

Korean alcohol - great for shots

bread sauce
cranberry sauce
parsnips
pigs in blankets
goose fat potatoes

Just get some sriracha chilli sauce - you can find it in Tesco and waitrose. My husband squirts it on anything bland and says it transforms it into total deliciousness.

Would you consider an additional "Koreanised" main?

London-based Korean Youtuber/ Chef Gabie Kook did a nice ssamjang pork roast for a dinner party.
Link to her video here:
It looks easy enough, and ssamjang is readily available at most East Asian supermarkets.

Apart from that, I do agree with PP that you should stick to a traditional British Christmas meal with all the trimmings.
It's what they will expect, and it would be lovely to give them the full experience, so to speak.

Feel free to kick the flavours up a notch, by all means - the most consumed vegetable in South Korea by far, is chillies, after all!
Make sure veggies are well-seasoned, (bacon is big in South Korea, so consider sauteing your sprouts with that?), and offer loads of punchy chutneys/ preserves/ sauces.

Lastly, fruit is seen as a luxury item in South Korea.
It's a popular gift, and can be very pricey, hence the "prestige".
Perhaps consider adding a fruit-based dessert (meringue in shape of Christmas wreath with berry coulis?), in addition to your usual pud.

And also yes to PP who suggested offering them winter slippers.
Wearing "outside shoes" into someone's home just isn't done in South Korea.
It's seen as rank.
It would be a nice gesture on your part, and I'm sure SIL would appreciate you making his family as welcome as possible.

Oh, and another thing to note is that South Koreans aren't averse to mingling sweet and savoury flavour profiles.
Eg: Adding strawberry jam to a bacon sandwich is perfectly acceptable.

You can lean into that, and give your sides a subtle twist, without making it overtly "Koreanised" IYSWIM
This bacon-balsamic-and-maple syrup sprouts recipe looks promising: reciperunner.com/balsamic-maple-roasted-brussels-sprouts-bacon/

This is a great idea
Yes, OP, do consider soju, in addition to whatever other tipple you normally have for Xmas.

@redtshirt50 My comment at 7:44 was in response to yours.
Not sure why it didn't post correctly!

Serious eats had a section on Korean-american thanksgiving dinner last year. www.seriouseats.com/korean-american-thanksgiving-menu

Oh please please don’t try to serve kimchi or spice up your carrots 😂 you will just ruin dinner. Imagine going to Goa expecting a curry and they serve you an unseasoned piece of chicken and boiled veg because you are British. Not the authentic cultural tradition you’d want, no? Don’t make it bland either, serve mulled wine, roast chestnuts, red cabbage with Christmas spices. Lay off the cauliflower cheese though, or at least don’t serve it all directly on the plate so they can take what they want as a lot are lactose intolerant.

There are lots of people here ridiculing the idea of serving condiments or sides more preferred to a different palate. As a person with a non-British heritage, I can confirm the food in a roast IS generally bland - to those of us with different palates. It's not about being rude or saying one food is better than another, it's just about tastebuds being accustomed to different (spicier, stronger) flavours.

Gochuang is yum, and you can easily cook with that OP, or just have it on the side as a relish. Yes to chilli sauce and kimchi on the side to add some pizzazz.

Some nice ideas here. You sound like a lovely host. Have a lovely feast. You can't move in London for Korean food so shouldnt be too difficult sourcing ingredients as it seems to be the newest hipster trend!

You can do a spicy stuffing that goes between the turkey breast and skin. It's called Bethlehem Stuffing but I can't even find a recipe on the net.... I'm sure it was based on mascarpone/ cream cheese mixed with loads of delicious spices. The mascarpone melts and you're left with a delicious spicy layer.

Slightly off topic but back in January I was trying to find kimchi and couldn't find it in any supermarkets, and had to try 3 different Chinese shops before I found it. Now it's stocked everywhere!
Tom Kerridge has a nice recipe for cooking carrots that involves star anise, doesn't make them too rich or add loads of extra fat. I'd look at that, and try to find a really spicy stuffing to go alongside the traditional ones.

The last thing they'll want is badly cooked traditional Korean Food.

Just stick to what you're going to make which is what they want to experience

Put some Korean Condiments on the side maybe

@redtshirt50

Get some soju!

Korean alcohol - great for shots

They tend to love single malts

Thank you so much everyone.

Cauliflower cheese with strong cheddar and plenty of mustard
If you buy the sausages at a butchers who makes them in the shop, you can ask for extra seasoning mix to be put in. May have to buy them a bit before Christmas and freeze them.

Another vote for Christmas crackers aplenty. I do Christmas with Russians every year and the novelty of crackers never seems to die down. But their faces the first year on encountering one terrible joke after another remains a highlight .

A flaming Christmas Pudding always went down very excellently in any country I've lived/been in for Christmas.

I still remember my Italian friends shouting about how it was burned black. Then they tasted it! With rum custard and brandy butter.

And no one should eat plain, boiled sprouts. They taste like sadness.

Agree with others. Do a good traditional roast that's tasty. Ask in advance if there are any foods they hate and provide some alternative in that case.

Perhaps add a fresh green salad in case they hate the traditional Xmas veggies or just want something to lighten up what can be quite a rich meal.