Food in Korea

Date: 28th June 2013

Time: 8:00 p.m.

Place: Home 

In this post, we will explore the food in Korea; from side dishes to main dishes and lastly to snacks available at the Korean food streets and stalls.

Firstly, we will look into the side dishes served before the main dishes. Have you realized that the side dishes served in every Korean restaurant in Malaysia is quite similar? The only difference is on the amount of side dishes they want to serve. If it is only for one person, the side dishes will be about 3 to 4. If it is family meal or more, at least 10 side dishes will be served before the main dish. The reason of having them in a small plate (similarly to a petri dish) is to open one’s appetite before having the main dish. 

Since the side dishes can be refilled repeatedly, some of the people will choose to have only a bowl of rice along with the side dishes served. In Malaysia, certain restaurants have the refillable service, while others don’t provide that service, but that is only if the person called for a set meal. The following are some of the famous or popular side dishes served in the Korean restaurants in Malaysia.

Kimchi

Kong namul

One of them is Kimchi. Kimchi (fermented cabbage with the mixture of chili peppers, radish, salt, sugar, spring onion, garlic and ginger) is well-known as the national Korean dish that is also the top 5 healthiest food around the world. It is claimed that Kimchi is rich in vitamins, and it can prevent one from cancer as well as it aids digestion. Although it is categorized under side dish, but Kimchi can also be the main-dish to serve with rice. Next is seasoned bean sprouts, called as ‘kong namul’. It is another common side dishes served as it is simple to make and its refreshing and tasty. The following side dish is ‘japchae’, also known as vermicelli noodle. It is stir-fried dish with vermicelli noodles along with carrots, green onion, spinach, mushrooms and green peppers. The next common side dish is Korean pancake, called ‘pa-jeon’ or ‘jeon’. There are variety of pancakes served in different restaurants, such as the seafood pancake and vegetable pancake. It depends on the chefs for each restaurant to determine on which type of pancakes as the side-dish. The similarity is that the pancakes served as the side dish is in a smaller size than the one is ala-carte which is in a plate-size. 

Japchae

Pa-jeon

Miyeok muchim

Myulchi bokum

Besides, most Korean restaurants also served ‘myulchi bokum’, which means stir-fried dry anchovy and another vegetable side-dish, called ‘miyeok muchim’, which is seasoned laver. Some serve stir-fried mushrooms too, known as ‘buhsut-bokum’. Apart from that, I’ve also seen before some restaurants serving sweet soy lotus roots, also known as ‘yeongun jeorim’ as the side dish as well as potato salad called, ‘gamja salad’. Certain restaurants serve a special kind of soup as the side dish too, which is known as laver soup, ‘miyeok guk’ and also a different kind of vegetable, which is seasoned garlic stems, known as ‘manulchongjim’. So that is all I can remember on the side dishes served at Korean Restaurants in Malaysia.

Buhsut bokum

Gamja salad

Yeongun jeorim

Miyeok guk

Manulchongjim

Bulgogi

Bibimbap

Gochujang

Samgyupsal

Galbi

We will now move into the main dishes. I’ll not explore all kinds of main dishes for sure, I will only introduce some of the popular and famous ones. And the first is bibimbap, which is mixed rice. ‘Bap’ means rice and ‘bibim’ means mixed. There are also variety of bibimbap we have, but the most popular ones are the vegetable bibimbap and chicken bibimbap. Have you realized on the red sauce served along with the bibimbap? That red sauce is called as ‘go chu jang’, which is a hot pepper paste. You can add them as much as you want, the more you put, the more will be your bibimbap! Another popular main dish to serve along with rice is ‘bulgogi’, which is marinated beef and ‘grilled ‘galbi’, which is seasoned ribs (beef).Bulgogi are the one that is served on a plate to you, while ‘galbi’ is cooked in front of you on an open flame or open grill built in the middle of the table. You can also choose to cook them by yourself.  Another popular one is called as ‘samgyupsal’, which is the same as galbi, but the meats are either pork cuts or chicken cuts. With the same way of cooking like ‘galbi’, samgyupsal is also cooked in an open table grill, either serviced by the waiters or self-service. Also, samgyupsal and galbi is usually seved together with vegetable (used to wrap the slices of meats), and soybean paste (dwenjang).

Ddeokbokki

Ramyun

Kimchi stew

Besides, another main dish or ala-carte that we cannot miss is ‘ddeokbokki’, which is rice cakes mixed with spicy sauce. The level of its spiciness depends on the colour of the rice cakes. Kimchi stew is also one that we cannot missed out when we are having Korean meal. Kimchi stew, also known as ‘kimchi jiggae’ is a traditional soup-based dish which primarily uses kimchi as its main ingredients and also seasoned with gochujang (the red sauce) or dwenjang (soybean paste), which contributes to the red colour for its soup. Some other ingredients served besides kimchi are japchae (vermicelli noodle) and tofu, sometimes dumplings (mandu) too. Lastly, the common main dish that has its popularity  around the world is ‘ra-myun’, which is Korean instant noodle. The ingredients used in ‘ra-myun’ are kimchi, red peppers, spring onions and mushrooms. ‘Ra-myun’ is basically much better than the normal instant noodles that we have in Malaysia. Other than ‘ra-myun’,’ jajangmyun’ is very much popular as the delivery meal. It is usually known as the black bean-sauce noodle,  that will definitely dirty one’s mouth no matter how polite they eat. Koreans usually asked for radish to serve along with ‘jajangmyun’. Besides, ‘samgyetang’ is popular too, especially among the Koreans, as it is a ginseng chicken soup that is good for health. Other than that, Koreans have their own ‘sushi’ too, but they are called as ‘kimbap’.

Jajangmyun

Kimbap

Samgyetang

After knowing what the popular Korea’s main dishes, let’s explore the food or snacks in Korean food streets or stalls. Koreans love to have snacks in day and night. In Malaysia, ‘pasar malam’, or the night markets only happened once a week in a particular area. However, in Korea, night markets are available everyday.  Korea markets or streets are very much popular with ‘Pojangmacha’, which are small tented stalls on wheels, small vendors which sells variety of Korean snacks in just a small van. 

Ddeokbokki

Odeng

Kimbap

The common snack that can be found everywhere in any Korean stalls is ‘ddeokbokki’ (spicy rice cakes). Most of the stalls sold them in cups, with only 1000-1500 won per cup (RM 2.50-4). Like I have mentioned before, ‘kimbap’ is also known to be one of the popular snacks, and it is uniquely sold in a roll, and are not cut into pieces or slices, while ‘pa-jeon’(pancakes) are also known to be the snacks as well.  Apart from that, ‘odeng’ or ‘eomuk’ is also a famous  Korean snack. It is actually fish cakes sold in sticks. And you can get full easily by just having a few sticks of them. 

Hotteok

Corn dogs

Dakkochi, Sausage sticks

Mandu

Next, is ‘hotteok’, a very simple fried-snack prepared with only flour shells, cinnamon and sugar. Yet, it is popular among all other Korean snacks. ‘Mandu’, which is dumpling, is also famous as the Korean snack. Talking about fried-snacks, one must never miss out during the visit at Korean food stalls is corn dogs, preferably known as hot dog for the Koreans. It is actually sausage wrapped with either bread, or with French fries. The price is much more expensive compared to the others,ranging from 2500 won to 3500 won, which is around RM 7-9. If you prefer to have only sausage with no wrapping, it is also available. Not only sausages, there is chickens as well, called as ‘dakkochi’. All of them are served by sticks.

Sundae

Twigim

Choco pie

In addition to that, Koreans love to eat pig’s and cow’s intestines, so ‘sundae’ is also another popular snack in Korea. It is usually known as Korean sausages, but in fact it is actually pig’s intestines salted and stuffed with a mixture of pig’s blood, rice, green onions, garlic, minced pork, and vermicelli before it is steamed. Sundae is also served along with some other parts, such as its livers and lungs. Lastly, some other snacks that are popular in Korean stalls are ‘twigim’ (similar as Japan’s tempura, but is prepared with different kinds of ingredients), roasted corns, cups of French fries, and fish bread which is a pancake-like mix filled with red-bean paste. On the other hand, choco pie is another snack loved by the Koreans, it is actually a cake, consists of marshmallow filling between two round layers of cakes and with chocolate covering. It is not sold in Korean stalls, but Korea’s convenient stalls and supermarkets.

And that is all for this week’s topic. Feeling hungry already? Hehe~

Next week, we will check out on Korea’s Entertainment Industry, as well as the popularity of Korean Music and Dramas around the world.

P/S - Once again, I'm so sorry for the messy positions of my images due to the technical problems from this (Blogspot.com) application.. =(

Source:-

Trifood

Gone 2 Korea 

Life in Korea

Korea.Blog