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Meet & Eat: Emily Koh

Posted by Robyn Lee, March 7, 2008 at 3:30 PM

Our intern Emily Koh comes into our office regularly to help round up food-related news and cool stuff on the Internet (which is tough; have you seen how big the Internet is?) along with anything else we force nicely ask her to do, such as translate anything written in Japanese or Korean. Get to know Emily's food loves, desires, and hatreds in this week's Meet & Eat!

Name: Emily Koh
Location: New York City
Occupation: Student
URL: flickr.com/photos/meltingnoise

Favorite comfort food?
Carb-y breakfast foods. Milk and cereal with sliced bananas, toast with peanut butter and honey, oatmeal with blueberries and almonds...I could go on and on and on. As you can tell, breakfast is my favorite meal of the day, whether it's at 8 a.m. or 8 p.m.

Guilty pleasures?
Asian bakeries' baked goods. The combination of red bean paste with pastries and cheap prices...I am completely and utterly powerless.

Also, anything heavy on dairy. My body decided to betray me four years ago by becoming super lactose-intolerant. I'm pretty good about not over-indulging in creamy or cheesy food...but if it looks amazing and worth the discomfort, I'm always down.

Describe your perfect meal.
Eating with good friends who enjoy eating/good food. I'm not a huge fan of eating by myself, since I consider eating a communal experience—everything's better when there's someone else help you stuff your face!

Also, full-out Korean feasts such as these are awesome. This particular restaurant in Seoul brings the entire table to you already loaded with all the food...the sudden onslaught of all the food at once in your line of sight is pretty much laughing at any sense of face-stuffing self-control you have at that point...

What food won't you eat?
Oranges...or anything citrus-y for that matter. I can't describe what it is, but that tangy smell and taste just turn me off. It was so bad when I was younger that I'd get nauseous if someone was peeling oranges even ten feet near me; I'd have to hold my breath the whole time and breathe through my mouth.

What's an unexplored food you'd like to try?
Horse meat. Specifically horse sashimi. And ALL of those wacky Asian pizzas.

Favorite food person?
Anthony Bourdain holds a special place in my heart, since it was around the time I was reading "Kitchen Confidential" that I was slowly becoming a "food person."

When did you first realize you were a serious eater?
Probably when I first moved to NYC for college. I've always loved eating, but NYC was unique to me in that it was such overstimulating food environment. If anything, the NY food scene has definitely made me a much more adventurous eater.

What do your family and friends think of your food obsessions?
My family is by and large responsible for my love of food—I love eating with them the most. I tend to surround myself with people who appreciate food as much as I do, and so most of my friends understand—or at least tolerate—my food fixations of the week, whether it's paninis or pho.

Favorite food sites or blogs?
Best time distraction: all the beautiful, drool-inducing photos up at Tastespotting. I'm only convinced to try certain recipes if they're accompanied by photos, and Open Source Food is a great recipe-sharing social networking sort of site. As for blogs, I check up on Food In Mouth, FoodMayhem.com, This Is Gonna Be Good and Umami Mart pretty regularly.

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Tags: Emily Koh, interviews, Meet and Eat, Q and A