the little stone

You chase alcohol to help it go down more easily and to sometimes get rid of its aftertaste. And also, maybe, to get rid of the nausea that occasionally comes after a few shots taken in succession.

Have you ever done this with food? Probably not so much because of the aftertaste, but maybe because the food you ate at the restaurant was a little too oily? Perhaps it wasn’t satisfying? Or maybe you tried a new dish that wasn’t sitting too well inside of your system?

For example, one time I made tabouleh. It was good and I ate an entire bowl. But right after I finished, I just didn’t feel right. I had to cleanse the taste of something unfamiliar from my mouth and do something to make sure it settled into my stomach without any problems. I needed something to wash it down, so I  ate some 입가심 (eep – gah – sheem).

This has been a long-recurring joke in my family, as my mom will always need 입가심 after we go out to any restaurant that doesn’t serve Korean food. Even if we go to a fancy steakhouse, she needs to come home and eat a small bowl of rice with kimchi. We call her 쫀시러워 (chon – she – duh- wuh), which translates to unsophisticated, because of this. But I can’t get on her too much because I sometimes do the same.

Here’s a list of my go-to 입가심:

1. Rice, ice water, Korean pickles, kimchi, and fried eggs (or some variation of that)

   

   

2. Rice rolled in roasted seaweed
   

   

3. Roasted seaweed with something sweet, usually either a fruit or drink (orange juice, Capri Sun, Propel, Gatorade). I know, I’m weird.
   

   

My 입가심 has always been simple Korean dishes that I started eating when I was very young. I’m curious to see if people from other cultures have their own version of 입가심. If you do, please share in the comments below! I’d love to hear about it.

As always, this post will conclude with a song. This time, it’s a Korean song called, “입가심” by 타피(Tapi). I don’t know how to read Korean, so I asked my mom to look over the lyrics and translate them for me. Apparently, this song is about how the relationship between the narrator and a girl he’s fallen for is like 입가심, meaning whenever she’s lonely or upset, she just goes to him to wash down those unpleasant feelings.

As always, I hope you enjoyed reading and I look forward to reading your comments!