South Korea People & Culture

South Korea has so much delicious food that it is sometimes difficult to decide what to eat first. At times, the foreigners refer to it as the “ red food ” , as sometimes it seems as if all of it has been drowned in the spicy red pepper sauce – Koreans love their food extra spicy.

One of the dishes that is always served at every dinner table is Kimchi. It is the main side dish served at every restaurant. It is comprised of fermented vegetables that are drowned in a red pepper sauce, making it quite spicy. A couple of restaurants even serve white Kimchi – it ’ s the same as the regular Kimchi, but without the red pepper sauce. I actually prefer the white one, since a lot of times the flavour of the red Kimchi is overpowered by its spiciness. There are over 200 different Kimchi recipes in Korea and the ingredients vary from region to region. The Korean families really pride themselves on their Kimchi, therefore making their Kimchi recipe a top secret.

Galbi is the most famous Korean food. Simply put, Galbi is Korean BBQ. It is made of pork or beef, marinated in a special mixture of herbs and spices, which varies by each restaurant. It is accompanied by a side of leafy vegetables, such as lettuce, spinach or mint leaves, sliced onions, red pepper paste, Kimchi and a few soups and stews. You eat this by taking a   piece of meat from the BBQ, some onions, red pepper paste and put it on a lettuce or mint leaf, wrap it like a little package and eat it. Some of the restaurants even give you a sweet potato as dessert, which they put on the BBQ in the beginning of the meal, so it ’ s nice and baked by the time you are done with your meal.

Bibimbap is another very popular dish. It is rice, topped with a fried egg, raw and cooked veggies, meat and sauce, served in a special bowl. You take your chopsticks and mix it all together. A slight variation of this dish is Albap . It is the same as Bibimbap, with the addition of caviar. This is one of my favourites.

Kimbap is one of the cheapest foods in Korea. It closely resembles Western style California rolls. I recommend trying tuna or cheese Kimbap. They are so tasty!

Kalguksu is one of my all-time favourite meals. It is a soup made of thick handmade noodles, sliced vegetables and clams. It is very satisfying and filling, but is very easy on the stomach and is one of those comforting foods that soothe your soul when you are having a really crappy day.  

Takbokki is a favourite children ’ s snack. They are pressed rice noodles (the length and width of a finger) and vegetables mixed in an extremely spicy sauce. This is one of the cheapest foods in Korea. You can purchase one cup of it for a mere 50 cents. Buyers beware – unless you really like extremely spicy food, skip this one.

Bulgogi is thinly sliced barbecued beef, served with lettuce and marinated in a special mixture of herbs and spices.

Juk is thick rice porridge, mixed with ginseng, green onions, and many other variations.

One of other really delectable dishes that Korea has to offer is Naengmyeon. It is made of thicker noodles (usually green or black) in an icy cold broth. It is garnished with beef slices, sliced cucumbers and half a hard boiled egg. Sometimes red pepper sauce is added. I have been told that the black noodles are the healthiest ones because they are made from a special plant that is really good for your health. (The green ones are made from green tea). This is the perfect dish on a hot summer day. It really cools you down.

Hotteok and Boongubbang have to be my favourite Korean desserts/snacks. (Korean cuisine is not really big on desserts, but if they had them, these two would be it). Hotteok is a pita bread (resembling a North American flapjack), with a sweet filling inside. The filling is a mixture of brown sugar, sesame seeds and cinnamon. It is soooo good! But be very careful when eating it – it ’ s very hot! I have burned my lips twice trying to eat it. The second dessert snack is a children’ s favourite. It is a pastry in a shape of a fish and it is filled with red bean paste or vanilla custard. You can buy three for a dollar. So yummy!
 
South Korea has so many delectable dishes, that it is very hard to name them all. I have written down the ones that I liked the most. I suggest trying all of them. And if you are a tad more adventurous, you can even try Bosintang (spicy dog-meat soup), Beondegi (boiled silkworm larvae – I have tried this and the smell was appalling; it tasted like rubber) or Sashimi (raw sliced fish or other raw sea food – tastes very nice).

The Korean kitchen is a culinary adventure full of surprises. So eat up!