A Story From a Korean-American Childhood – Stovetop Surprise

I came home from school one day, absolutely starving. As soon as I walked through the front door, the delicious smell of some sort of vegetable stew greeted my nose.

I followed the scent to a large pot my mother had left on the stove top. I thought to myself, “Yay, Mom left something good to eat!”

Then something started emerging from the murky broth. I couldn’t make it out at first…Was it a green onion? Was it a potato?
So naturally, I poked at it to find out.

It turned over to reveal…

A FISH EYE!

Yes! A fish head had bubbled up from the depths of the pot! And now it’s dead glassy white eye was staring at me while I stared back at it in horror!

Appetite instantly ruined! Can you blame me??

Oh the horror! It was indeed a stovetop surprise. A terrible, creepy surprise!

Needless to say, I never made that mistake again. Not that there is anything necessarily wrong with fish head stew. It’s just not a favorite of mine. And I certainly didn’t expect the tenant of the pot to come say hello!

Most kids are hoping to raid the pantry for some chips or the fridge for some Capri Sun. I was just hoping for some vegetable stew.

But don’t you find that that’s a part of the immigrant experience? First generation kids come home to full meals (i.e. rice and something else, but always with the rice). As opposed to “junk food.” (Note: I don’t actually have anything against junk food. It’s just that chips, soda, etc. are just generally referred to as “junk.” But darn, I LOVE it!)

I know I can’t be the only one this, or something like this, has happened to.

Please share your experience. And I hope my story made you chuckle. 😉