{"id":17240,"date":"2022-04-07T07:47:34","date_gmt":"2022-04-07T11:47:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ethnojunkie.com\/?p=17240"},"modified":"2022-04-07T07:47:34","modified_gmt":"2022-04-07T11:47:34","slug":"sparzha","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ethnojunkie.com\/?p=17240","title":{"rendered":"Sparzha"},"content":{"rendered":"

(Click on any image to view it in high resolution.)<\/em>
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I\u2019ve been doing food tours in Brooklyn\u2019s Brighton Beach neighborhood for so many years that by now, notwithstanding the vicissitudes of hurricanes called Sandy and pandemics called COVID, I know Little Odessa like a second home. Consequently, there\u2019s not a lot about the vast array of Eastern European, Central Asian, and Russian cuisines that leaves me stumped. But happily, every exploration brings some kind of surprise and a recent visit brought this one:<\/p>\n

Each of the numerous markets offering prepared food presents a different roster of dishes. One of them (come on my Little Odessa ethnojunket<\/a> and I\u2019ll take you there \ud83d\ude09) had an unfamiliar item in the cold salad section. The sign read \u201c\u0441\u043f\u0430\u0440\u0436\u0430,\u201d the word for asparagus.<\/p>\n

I caught the eye of the woman behind the counter. \u201cThe sign says \u2018sparzha,\u2019 but that looks like bean curd skin; is it bean curd skin?\u201d I asked expectantly.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can read this?\u201d she replied, avoiding my question. \u201cI give you a taste.\u201d<\/p>\n

On this ethnojunket, we sample a broad range of culinary specialties. One of them is that of the Koryo-saram, people who in the 1920s and 30s fled from Korea to Russia when Japan occupied their homeland and who were subsequently moved to Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan by Stalin; they adapted their cuisine to whatever was available there. Turns out this is another one of the dishes they created. (More about that \u2013 and why it\u2019s called asparagus \u2013 on the tour.)<\/p>\n

It is indeed bean curd skin, known as \u0441\u043e\u0435\u0432\u0430\u044f \u0441\u043f\u0430\u0440\u0436\u0430, soy asparagus. In Central Asian cuisine just as in that of East Asia, it doesn\u2019t impart a lot of flavor but it does provide a little chew \u2013 texture is its prime directive here. Fresh dill and a light dressing inform the dish but do not overwhelm it; the carrot is for color.<\/p>\n

I\u2019d consider it a side, certainly not a main. As a matter of fact, IMHO it would be a perfect foil for khe <\/em>\u2013 think spicy Korean ceviche \u2013 which we sample on the tour as well.<\/p>\n

Hope to see you soon!
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The sign read \u201c\u0441\u043f\u0430\u0440\u0436\u0430,\u201d the word for asparagus, but it looked like bean curd skin. Read on…. Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3336,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28,23],"tags":[50,73],"class_list":["post-17240","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ethnojunkets","category-good-eats","tag-korean","tag-uzbek"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ethnojunkie.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17240","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ethnojunkie.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ethnojunkie.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ethnojunkie.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3336"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ethnojunkie.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=17240"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/ethnojunkie.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17240\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17253,"href":"https:\/\/ethnojunkie.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17240\/revisions\/17253"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ethnojunkie.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=17240"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ethnojunkie.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=17240"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ethnojunkie.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=17240"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}