Going on a tour to Eastern countries, Europeans and natives of the former USSR have very primitive information about the cuisine of South Korea . They most often boil down to the fact that Koreans eat dogs unlimitedly, spicing it all with a Korean carrot. In fact, fiction is so far from the truth that, having finally learned the truth, you understand that it is better to see once than hear a hundred times.
Going on a tour to Eastern countries, Europeans and natives of the former USSR have very primitive information about the cuisine of South Korea . They most often boil down to the fact that Koreans eat dogs unlimitedly, spicing it all with a Korean carrot. In fact, fiction is so far from the truth that, having finally learned the truth, you understand that it is better to see once than hear a hundred times.
In South Korea, there is a real cult of food. It is quite appropriate to ask a person instead of the usual greeting: "Are not you hungry?". That is, people consider it very important that a person is full, after all, the well-fed is always happy and healthy. Dishes of local cuisine, despite nutrition, have a unique property to burn fats - that's why there are so few full people in Korea.
Myths about South Korean cuisine
It turns out that back in the 80s, before the Olympic Games in Seoul, mass closure of restaurants began, where dog-dog was offered. This was demanded by representatives of European countries, who found such barbarous culinary traditions foreign. The authorities went to meet them, and gradually the Koreans switched to conventional meat - pork and beef, and the dog-dog remained as a favorite treat for only a small percentage of the population. Moreover - already a whole generation of Koreans brought up on the love of our younger brothers.
As for carrots in Korean, so beloved in our country, it never existed in South Korea. This dish was invented by people from this eastern state as an alternative to pickled Peking cabbage - the national dish most in demand in the country.
National cuisine of South Korea
The first thing that surprises travelers is that they eat here not wooden but with aluminum sticks. This is done for hygiene reasons. The national dishes of South Korea are very diverse, but one should not confuse them with Japanese or Chinese - the difference is obvious. The main thing that distinguishes the dishes of Koreans is an incredible amount of spices, especially burning, so that even traditional peppered Indian food seems quite fresh. That's what the people of South Korea eat:
- Fig. This is the basis of the foundations of Korean cuisine. He is considered the main ingredient of any dish, while vegetables and meat (which are also enough in the diet) are secondary. Rice is made from popes, chkhalts, kimps, tots and many other dishes.
- Pork and beef. They are imported mainly from Europe. Due to lack of land, livestock farming in South Korea is not developed, and therefore the price of meat is quite high. The most expensive meat in the world can be tasted here. In restaurants, it is served in a very original way - they are not cooked in the kitchen, but directly in front of the client's table, before being cooked finely with scissors.
- Marinated vegetables are another kind of food on the Korean table. In the course are cabbage, eggplant, radish, pepper, onions - literally all the gifts of vegetable gardens.
- Kamzhajon. Potatoes are not alien to the Koreans either. Be sure to try a hot potato cake with sauce.
- Kimchi (kimchi). This is the main meal in South Korea, which is prepared from cabbage and a variety of seasonings. Officially, there are more than 100 varieties of this dish, so try at least one is absolutely certain. Different ways of making kimchi have even been included in the UNESCO World Heritage List. The dish is relevant to meat, to soup, as a snack on a festive and casual table.
- Shabushabu. This is finely chopped beef, which the restaurant customers prepare themselves, boiling in boiling water with spices.
- Ramen as a dish of South Korea is known far beyond its borders. It is wheat, less often rice noodles, from which the first and second dishes are prepared. As a supplement to it, vegetables, meat, eggs come.
- Hodukvazh. This Korean dessert is a biscuit shaped like a walnut. In general, pastries from Koreans are not as common as in our country. They prefer candied fruits or fruit salads, as well as cocktails.
- Seafood. South Korea's cuisine is nothing without traditional seafood. All sorts of fish, shellfish and algae - that's what is included in the diet of the average Korean.
- Kelby and kelbichim - a favorite delicacy in the form of pork ribs and shish kebab from pork.
In addition to these popular dishes in South Korea, you can try other food:
- cakes with onion and seafood;
- clams in orange sauce;
- fried redfish;
- seafood salad;
- chopped raw fish in sauce;
- soup with sprouted soya.
Korean drinks
Like most nations, Koreans are not alien to alcoholic beverages. They use them in a small amount. The basis of most drinks with a degree is all the same rice. The most popular are:
- rice liqueur;
- wine from rice nozhu and makkori;
- beer from rice.