Food in Korea

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Food in Korea

Bibimbap The one thing we hear most from our alumni after they leave Korea is how much they miss Korean food and the one thing we hear most of our new teachers say is how much they think Korean food stinks.

Korean food is cheap, healthy and for most teachers, delicious. There is a great variety as well for those willing to try different things.

A typical meal in a Korean restaurant will cost about $5.00 USD, throw in an beer and you're looking at about $10 USD. Not too shabby.

Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner in Korea

Korea Information - Food in Korea

Breaky is at home though I always get a vending machine instant coffee for the wee bits of change in my pocket. For those more in tune with breakfast, there are loads of breakfast cereals and toast and spread and fruit selections available. Traditional Korean breakfast is seaweed soup with turnip and often fish, served with rice and kimchi.

Lunch for me is something from a "pojangmacha" (side street cart selling food stuffs) or a quick "ajima" (Korean mother) cafe or "shik dang" (hole in the wall restaurant) where I have a soup or noodles or kimbab (kimpop) or virtually any plate of food for anywhere from 2000 Won to 5000 Won ($2-5USD).

Vegetarians in Korea

Korea Information - Food in Korea

Although Korea is officially a Buddhist country and although practitioning Buddhists are meant to be vegetarians, it is difficult to get a dish that doesn't include meat in some form.

Koreans rarely understand what "vegetarian" means and although there is a word (Chae Shik Joo We Ja) they usually don't believe you or don't think it's possible.

Cooking Korean Style

Korea Information - Food in Korea

What better way to immerse yourself in Korean culture than learning how to cook Korean food? Korea has a culinary tradition distinct from Japanese and Chinese cuisine- traditional Korean cuisine is heavily influenced by Mongol culture. Koreans are the only Asian culture that eats rice with a spoon. Interestingly, the pepper, a mainstay of all Asian cuisine, was introduced to Asia by the Dutch in the 17th century- the pepper plant comes from the Americas. It is hard to imagine any Asian cuisine without this mainstay.

For the serious cook, you may want some first hand instruction. This web site lists the contact information for Korean Cooks Association: http://www.food-expo.or.kr/

Water - to Drink or Not to Drink

Korea Information - Food in Korea

Tap water in Korea’s cities, although not necessarily overly tasty, but in general will not make you sick. It may not be the best stuff in the world, but it probably won’t kill you. Many Koreans, particularly in the summer time get water from local mountain springs. You can get bottled water delivered to your home quite cheaply- with a delivery service a five liter bottle of water will cost you around USD $6.

Drinking in Korea

Korea Information - Food in Korea

Drinking is virtually a national sport in Korea, and there seems to be virtually no stigma attached to getting stinking drunk in public, particularly for men.

There are no shortage of drinking establishments, from sidewalk tents to trendy nightclubs, and this seems to be the recreational activity of choice for many English teachers in Korea.

Street Food in Korea

Korea Information - Food in Korea

There are big and small street vendors in Korea, I believe the actual name for them is pojangmacha but there could be several different words for them depending on what they serve, how big they are, where they are at and a host of other sub-culture taxonomy conventions. The long and the short of it is there are loads of people on the street who sell anything from deep friend chicken feet, to steamed fish sticks, to sashimi (sushi), to flash fried rice or silk work larvae. That short little list doesn't even graze the surface of the choices available to you and some of these choices are seasonal, all of which makes eating on the street loads of fun.

Foreign Food in Korea

Korea Information - Food in Korea

Chinese and Japanese are the foreign cuisines most common in Korea. Most Chinese restaurants in Korea are modest affairs that serve jajangmyung (noodles with black sauce) and tang su yuk (sweet and sour pork). Japanese restaurants are generally more expensive and dishes usually include twigim (tempura) and sashimi (raw fish).

Western food is becoming more and more prevalent in Korea. Fast food joints such as KFC, McDonalds, Subway, Popeye’s and Baskin Robbins are becoming more and more common in Korea, and not surprising, waistlines are expanding as well. Fast food isn’t cheap in Korea compared to local fare. In larger cities such as Seoul and Pusan more ‘upscale’ Western dining establishments such as Bennigan’s and TGI Friday’s are available, but will burn a hole in your wallet. In Seoul, particularly in the Itaewon district, there are a number of western style restaurants and other ‘Ethnic’ restaurants as well, including Italian, Indian and Hong Kong style Chinese food.

Restaurants in Korea

Korea Information - Food in Korea

Korea has all kinds of eating establishments, ranging from street vendors (pojangmachas) and hole-in-the-wall shikdangs (small restaurants) to high-priced, formal restaurants will full-course meals. In between you can find many types of medium-sized places offering a wide range of food types, including traditional Korean food, fast food, Western and other non-Korean dishes. Happily, tipping is not customary in Korea.