뚝배기보다 장 맛이 좋다
clay-pot-THAN sauce taste-SUBJ good
The sauce tastes better than the clay pot [that it’s in].
Everywhere I looked, on the internet, the equivalent proverb given for this one is “Don’t judge a book by its cover.” But I’m not sure I see how this works. If I had to guess the meaning, rather than trust the internet, I’d be more inclined to read it as something like, “there are rewards to looking more deeply into something.” That’s obviously related to the “Don’t judge a book by its cover” aphorism, but it’s not exactly the same. “Don’t judge a book by its cover” really seems to be about not jumping to conclusions, while this is more about knowing there is something better inside. Perhaps the distinction I’m trying for is too subtle? Maybe I don’t really understand the English aphorism, either?
