The taste of Korea.

There is a saying: „Eat to live, not live to eat”. I certainly agree that we can’t be too greedy and food shouldn’t be the only reason of our very existence. Gluttony is considered a sin for a reason. However, I strongly believe that food is one of the factors that makes a human life a little brighter and colorful. A tasty, rich meal or even a small square of chocolate can make you happier in an instant. Food is also a significant part of a culture. Different country, different flavours and preferences. Today I would like to share with you some secrets of Korean cuisine and in the next post I’ll recommend you couple of recipes. Let’s start!

Korean cuisine in one word : spicy. The base of most of the recipes is 고추장(gochujang), in English called red pepper paste or hot pepper paste. It’s a fermented condiment made of chili powder, soybean, barley malt powder and salt. And by saying “the base”, I’m not kidding. Probably around 80% of Korean dishes contain gochujang. Sometimes instead of paste Koreans use just hot pepper flakes (고추가루 / kochugaru) or chili powder (고추장유/ gochujangyu). I’m not a big fan of spicy things BUT I love Korean food. So as a representative of European weak taste buds, I limit the amount of chili to minimum. The flavour is still there but my mouth cavity isn’t burnt. A wonderful compromise.

Hot pepper paste

As you can probably guess, hot pepper paste is not the only ingredient in Korean cuisine. We can’t have a original, traditional Korean dish without a garlic, ginger, soy sauce and chives or onion. I watched probably around hundred of videos about cooking a Korean meal and I can say for sure that those five ingredients are essential. The amount of every ingredient may vary in each dish but those flavours are always present.  

Hot pepper flakes

Another condiments used at a lower frequency are fish or oyster sauce, black bean paste (춘장/ chunjang) and radish. Korean cuisine is full of seafood and its flavours. I’ve seen many recipes that consisted of octopus, squid or crab meat. And last but not least: rice. Cooked rice, rice noodles, rice cakes, rice flour in cookies and bakery products… It’s all about rice, baby. A typical Korean meal can’t go without rice and its products.

Black bean paste

When Europeans hear “a dinner” or “a meal” they usually think of one particular dish, served on one plate. Koreans eat their meals in a slightly different way. Their meals consist of plenty of side dishes. So when you eat a dinner, that of course always has a main dish, you are also served a lot of small plates and bowls with side dishes. The most common are : kimchi (and here I have to add that Koreans have at least hundred types of kimchi. Made with cucumber, radish, chives…), seasoned soybean sprouts, seasoned spinach, steamed or stir fried eggplants, lotus sprouts… There are really hundreds of side dishes to choose when you go to a Korean restaurant. It looks impressive when the whole table in front of you is full with colorful food.

Korean side dishes

Unfortunately, there are no Korean restaurants here in Poznań. The only way you can taste a real flavour of Korea is to go to the Asian market, buy all necessary ingredients and make a dish yourself. You should try it!