Cucumber Bibimbap and Squid Keeper

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안녕, it’s Ari, your talkative Korean friend and weekend reminder. 🎉 My creativity battery was running low this week, so I only managed to write about food and a lesson, meaning no news and podcast. 😇

Today’s newsletter covers a fresh lunch recommendation and a cheating scandal that rocked my country. Before diving in, please take a survey below.👇 It’ll help me a lot! If you’re not interested in participating, you can skip the survey. If you have other suggestions, leave a comment or reply this email.

Cucumber Tuna Bibimbap

Cucumber tuna bibimbap (@_mine028)

Are you looking for a fresh lunch to enjoy during your lazy weekend? I’ve got you covered. Today’s food recommendation is cucumber tuna bibimbap. Preparing this healthy dish is seriously easy. Check out the viral recipe that I found below.

For 1 serving:

1. Put cooked rice and drained canned tuna in a bowl.

2. Add 1/2 chopped cucumber, 1 chopped green chili pepper, and any green veggies you have in your fridge.

3. Drizzle sauce made with 1 tablespoon of soy sauce, 1 tablespoon of vinegar, and 1/2 teaspoon of sesame seed oil. Sprinkle sesame seeds if you have them.

4. Mix all and bon appétit!

If you’re vegetarian, you can replace the tuna with bite-sized grilled tofu. Pair the dish with gim (dried seaweed) or kimchi to make it more flavorful and thank me later 😋

Medium Korean Lesson: Squid Keeper 🦑

Giphy @ratchili

When Han So-hee, a Korean actress known for “My Name” and “Gyeongseong Creature,” tried to defend her new boyfriend, who was rumored to have cheated on her and another actress with whom he had been openly dating for 8 years, many comments mentioned this one word,

“오징어지킴이 /oh-jing-eo-ji-kim-ee/”

“오징어“ means “squid,” and “지킴이” means “guardian, keeper.” Then, what does “squid keeper” mean? In Korean, “squid” doesn’t just mean a marine life; in slang, it refers to an unattractive, undesirable man. This is why when “Squid Game” first came out, some Koreans thought it’s about a survival game between unattractive men. 🫠

So “오징어지킴이” or “squid keeper” means a girl who is dating an unattractive or just ordinary boyfriend or married to an undesirable or plain-looking man, yet wrongly believes her boyfriend or husband is desired by many girls. “Squid keepers” often try to protect their boyfriend or husband from imaginary girls who have a crush on him and even from his wrongdoings like cheating.

This word is used to ridicule women who protect their inside-and/or-out “squid” boyfriend or husband. Because Han So-hee’s new boyfriend is known for being a rare plain-looking actor in Korea and she tried to defend him from his cheating rumor, she was taken as a perfect example of “squid keeper.” The cheating rumor was originated from the actress with whom he had been dating for 8 years. In an Instagram post, the actress revealed that she learned her boyfriend is dating Han So-hee from the news.

Another word that was often mentioned in comments was “남미새 /nam-mi-sae/” which is an acronym for “남자에 미친 새끼.” It means pretty much the same as “pick me girl” in English, which means “a woman who obsessively desires male approval and validation, often at the expense of other women.” There’s a male version of this word: “여미새.”

“오징어지킴이” and “남미새” are commonly used slang terms that you can easily find, but they can't be accurately translated by ChatGPT or Google. ChatGPT translated “남미새” as “South American bird.” Now that you know what they mean, you won’t get confused 😊

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