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Characteristics of Korean Food |
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 Korean
Food is casually represented by bulgogi and kimchi. In fact,
however, Koreans are proud of their diet, quite varied and full
of nutrition. It is richly endowed with fermented foods,
vegetables and grains, soups, teas, liquors, confectionery and
soft drinks. Kimchi and doenjang paste made of soybeans are the
best-known examples of Korean fermented foods, and these have
recently become highly valued for their disease-prevention
effects. Korea boasts hundreds of vegetable and wild green
dishes. The Korean meal is almost always accompanied by a big
bowl of hot soup or stew, and the classic meal contains a
variety of vegetables. Korean foods are seldom deep-fried like
Chinese food; they are usually boiled or blanched, broiled,
stir-fried, steamed, or pan-fried with vegetable oil.
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| Korean Seasonings |
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The Korean word for
seasonings, yangnyom, comes from the Chinese word for "remedy".
Many plants and herbs used to prepare daily meals are also used
in Chinese herbal medicine.
Koreans use spices not only for their taste but also for
health reasons. Many seasonings can contribute to balanced
nutrition. The Korean diet has lately come to be regarded as
almost ideal from a health point of view, for which much of the
credit must be given to its seasonings.
In the past,
every Korean household would make their own soy sauce (ganjang),
soybean paste (doenjang) and red pepper paste (gochujang).
These three are the most important seasonings in the Korean
diet, so preparing them well is an important annual task along
with making kimchi.
Each Korean household would keep a
series of large and small crocks or
 earthenware
jars in their backyards to contain soy sauce, soybean paste, red
pepper paste, salt and various types of kimchi.
Today,
ready-made traditional seasonings are available in markets, yet
many households particularly in the countryside still keep the
old practice. |
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