I’m careful with what I eat.
Not in a restrictive way… just enough to know what my body can handle and what it quietly refuses.
But curiosity still finds its way in.
Especially when it involves food we already love at home.
We cook a lot of Japanese and Korean dishes here.
It’s familiar, comforting… the kind of food that feels like it knows you back.
So when I saw these—corned beef, but labeled gyudon and bulgogi—
I paused.
It felt like something playful. Unexpected.
A little shortcut version of flavors we already keep close.
And of course… we had to try them.
When I opened the gyudon first, it looked promising.
Dark, glossy, slightly oily…
the kind of texture that hints at something rich and deeply savory.
The bulgogi followed—similar, but with that reddish tone you’d expect from something Korean-inspired.
We plated it simply. Rice. Eggs. Nothing fancy.
Just enough to let the flavor speak.
The first bite was… a surprise.
Not bad.
Just not what we were expecting.
⸻
They were sweet.
⸻
Not the gentle sweetness you sometimes get from caramelized onions in gyudon, or the balanced, almost smoky sweetness of real bulgogi.
They did remind me of gyudon and bulgogi but this was different.
More direct. More forward.
The kind of sweetness that feels like it was designed for a different palate.
And it made me pause.
Because it reminded me how flavors travel…
and how they change when they do.
How something inspired by one cuisine can slowly reshape itself to fit another.
We still finished our plates.
There’s something comforting about warm rice, eggs with crispy edges (the only kind of egg whites I can eat), and a dish you’re still trying to understand.
But somewhere in the middle of eating, I realized—
I still prefer my savory dishes to stay savory. Purefoods original corned beef still wins. (By the way, if you have a Filipino grocery near you, try it. We eat it with garlic fried rice and eggs for breakfast, but you can eat it any time of the day. Just saute some onions and then add the corned beef and fry until your desired doneness. You can also add some water while it cooks if it’s too salty for your taste. You can also make it into a hash and add cubed potatoes for a very filling meal.)
That said…
I don’t regret trying them.
(My son said it was okay, but my husband didn’t like them. He said he doesn’t like sweet corned beef. )
Because for me, food isn’t just about liking or disliking something.
It’s about curiosity.
About those small moments at the table where something surprises you—
even if it doesn’t stay.
And sometimes…
that’s enough.
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Lady E
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