Wednesday night’s “Unwrap this:Rollin Rollin Rollin“ at the Memorial Unionwas the perfect place to learn how tocorrectly roll sushi,kimbap and spring rolls.Otherfoods demonstratedwere Spam musubi and a dessertcalled halo halo.
This event was one of many for this week’s Asian Pacific Culture Week.Thehistory of certain Asian Pacific countries and their foodswas presented by Jonathan Chee,a sophomoremicrobiology majorandco-organizer of the event along withseniorJulienne Cruz,Campus Unions student programmer.
“How many [people] like to eat Ramen? Well inKorea they believe that if you eat it late at night or before an important event,your face will swell up,“ said Chee in his presentation.
Chee discussed other myths from other countries such asChina,Japan,Korea,Vietnam,thePhilippines,as well as the food of the Hmongpeople of southeastAsia.
Chee also explained the history behind Spam masubi,which though popular inHawaii today,originatedinJapan.
“I like Asian food and I wanted to learn how to prepare sushim,” said Mary Gray,a sophomoreinternational relationsand Spanish double major.
Gray,along with others after the history presentation,picked different food stations to watch presentations on how to prepare certain foods.David Galuan,a2007UC Davisgraduate who teaches Korean cooking classes at theExperimentalCollege,led his group in learning how to make kimbap,a Korean sushi-like dishthat usescooked meats.
“You want to use Japanese or Korean rice because the rice is morefluffy,” Galuansaid.
Galuan also showed his group his technique behind cuttingthe roll:dipping a sharp knife into warm water and slicing straight down to make a nice cut and a flat shape in order to see the ingredients inside.
“I really liked it,it needed more salt,but it’s delicious,” said George Marcotte,a sophomoreexercise biology major.
Many tasted thekimbap after Galuan finished making some rollsand asked questionsonhow they could make their ownrollsat home.
“I do hope that I can go home and make this food later in the week,I do cook alot,“ Marcottesaid.
Cruz workedat the station for halo halo station,a red bean iced dessert with coconut milk and ice cream.Originally from thePhilippines,halo halo means “mix mix” in Tagalog.
Many participantshopped stations,tasted the food,and paid attention to the demonstrations in hopes of learninghow to prepare them themselves.
“The goal behind this event was to get a lot of different people to come out…and to set the record straight behind the history of [different] foods,“ said Angelina Yu,directorof the APCW and senior human and community development major.
Asian Pacific CultureWeekwill end today after a week of many activities and presentations.Tonight’s grand finale will be a celebration of Asian Pacific culture with performances in dances and music,including Koba,a progressive hip-hop artist.
ANGELA RUGGIERO can be reached atcampus@californiaaggie.com.XXX
