Facts of Korean Food

The easiest and most enjoyable way to enter a new culture is through its food. So you can't name the cabinet members of a given country, but you can instantly name its most famous dish. And though we recognize some associations as steerotypes, they allow us to identify with the people of that Korean Food community more than any other aspect of culture. Perhaps this is because everyone has certain strongly held associations about food, which are memarkably similar throughout the world. Typically, Major dish of Korea is KimChi and you would not be wrong if you assumed that most Koreans eat Kimchi in one form or another everday. Kimchi is general term for a pickled vegetable side dish, made of Chinese cabbage, radish, cucumbers or seafood, and red peppers. Kimchi is but one of many side dishes that accompany rice. Since all the dishes are presented together on a table, Korean etiquette does not require a specific order in eating. Traditionally, the number of dished indicated the position of both the household and the guest.
A typical Korean meal includes a bowl of rice, soup, vegetables, and either fish, tubu or a little meat and Kimchi.

Bulgogi
Korean Vase

Dishes like Bulgogi and Kalbi (marinated short ribs) were served only on special occasions. Today, a trip to Kalbi house is equivalent of going out for a nice steak dinner. Korean restaurants use a dome-shaped grill that lets the juices drip off to the sides when frying.
The seasonings used in almost all Korean dishes are simple and easy to fine: Garlic, salt sugar, green onions, red pepper, vinegar, soy souce, and sesame oil. You can Koreanize any dish with a bowl of dipping sauce on the side. Just combine one tablespoon of soy sauce with a combination of finely chopped green onions and garlic, vinegar, sesame seeds and oil, and red pepper flakes, mixed to your taste.

Bibimbab
NamdaemunBibimbap is a veritable meal in a bowl which is how you eat the artully, arragned layers of julienned vegetables, egg, meat and souce over rice. It almost seems a shame to break up the lovely pinwheel effect, but the taste is definitely worth it.

"Bibim" means to mix


Jabchae
Korean mixed vegetable and noodle stir fry

Jap chae (chop chae, japchae, jabchae), is Korean for "mixed vegetables" and is a common Korean side dish. The sweet potato starch noodles are traditional, but cellophane noodles are easier to find and have much the same texture.

Sweet potato noodles, or cellophane noodles (see variations) -- 1/2 pound
Sesame oil -- 2 tablespoonsJabchae
Beef sirloin, thinly sliced -- 1/4 pound
Onion, thinly sliced -- 1
Carrot, peeled and grated or julienne -- 1
Shiitakes, stems removed and thinly sliced -- 3-4
Garlic, minced -- 2-3 cloves
Spinach -- 8 ounces, or about 1/2 bunch
Scallions, cut into 1-inch pieces or thinly sliced -- 2-3
Soy sauce -- 1-2 tablespoons
Sugar -- 2 teaspoons
Salt and pepper -- to taste
Sesame seeds, toasted -- 1 tablespoon
Method
Bring a large saucepan of water to a boil over medium-high heat. Stir in the noodles and cook for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and let set for another 5 minutes until soft. Drain, rinse with cold water and set aside.
Heat the sesame oil in a wok or large sauté pan over medium flame. Add the beef and sauté until just cooked through, about 3-4 minutes. Remove to a plate and set aside.
Add a little more oil to the wok or pan if necessary and toss in the onions and carrots. Sauté until the onion is just translucent. Add the mushrooms and garlic and sauté 1-2 minutes more. Finally add the spinach and scallions and sauté until the spinach is just wilted.
Add the drained noodles, soy sauce, sugar salt and pepper to the sauté pan and cook, stirring, to heat though. Adjust seasoning.
Transfer to a serving dish and garnish with the toasted sesame seeds. Serve hot, cold or at room temperature.


Kimchi (김치)

King SejongTangy and hot. It's the accent and counterpoint to a tradtional meal of rice and soup in Korea. But nowdays, kimchi is turning up in pizzas and burgers, making it a most versatile ingredient, not to mention the test of a good cook. even bachlors who can hardly cook to survive know how to trasform leftover kimchi and rice into sizzling fried rice or bubbling kimchi stew. The process of making kimchi is an excellent example of how korean women approach cooking. (To clarify, most men never enter the kitchen, and most women only learn hot to cook after marrying, under the tutelage of their mother-in-low.) Measurements? A hanful of this a pich of that. Food processors? bare hands rigorously pound, mash or rub. Fingers are dipped into the sauce for a taste. Seasonings are adjusted drop by drop. the best makers of kimchi are old hands literally, because Korean cooking is very much a manual-intesive labor, and the best cooks are said to have a magic touch.

No recipe book can substitue for years of trial and error necessary to develop the tastebuds to detect subtle variations of lavor and the intution to season accordingly. Try your self.

Korean BBQ
Korean barbecue, or gogi gui, refers to the Korean method of grilling beef, pork, chicKoreanFoodken, or other types of meat. Such dishes are often prepared at the diner's table on gas or charcoal grills that are built into the center of the table itself. Most diners enjoy doing their own grilling at the table. Some Korean restaurants that do not have built-in grills provide portable stoves for diners to use at their tables.

The most typical form of Korean barbecue is galbi made from marinated beef short ribs.[1] However, Korean barbecue also includes many other kinds of marinated and non-marinated meat dishes, and can be divided into several categories.

Korean barbecue is not only popular among Korean consumers but enjoys international popularity.



Places to Visit to taste Korean food in...

Seoul Restaurant in L.A.
International Korean BBQ in San Francisco
The Korea House In New York.
Please add your favorite Korean restauant in your neighbor to our blog
Above are just few representative of Korean Food. Gokorean.com will update more Korean Food descriptions & links. Let us know more... Loving a country starting with loving the country's food.