Korean Food Culture and Etiquette

Korean food is a significant component of the Korean culture. And in this post I’m going to cover the Korean food culture and etiquette and how they came to be the way we see and enjoy today. it's one of the main reasons –along with K pop- that contributed in the Korean culture explosion in our world today. And this is because it's really unique in everything; colors, ingredients, health value and preparation method. Food for Korean people is not just something that they do just to fuel them to keep going through their day. No, it’s something that they enjoy every little part of it; starting from picking the right ingredients for their food, going through preparing the meals and eventually enjoying the original taste of their food. So let’s get started to learn about Korean food culture and Korean people etiquette when they eat.
P.S: The post contains affiliate links to the food ingredients on amazon to show you how the best ingredients look in the market.

Korean Food Culture (what Korean people eat, and how they eat it!)

The Korean food culture really stands out when you look at what their table consists of, For Koreans every meal consists of rice, main dish; such as bulgogi, kimchi jjigae and a lot others (you can check our blog posts for the recipes from here) along with side dishes (fun fact: a table that has a lot of side dishes indicates how well the Korean family doing financially). The Korean table has a lot of various side dishes on it! Soups and pot stews are really common and then come pickles and fermented food such as kimchi and dried fish. And of course we can’t miss the biggest secret to the unique taste of Korean food which is definitely the Korean sauces and seasoning such as kuchojang (hot pepper paste), sesame oil and soysauce…

Korean Rice

The Koreans always make their rice in the rice cooker with no salt or oil or anything else. Just the rice and some water and let cook, unlike other people such as Egyptians who like to add salt and oil to their rice cooking it in a pot on a gas stove. 

Korean Main Dishes

There are endless amount and variations of Korean main dishes. We find dishes with meat in it whether it’s beef, chicken or pork, and there are also dishes with no meat just noodles with vegetables and sauce or maybe egg rolls. Like I said it’s an endless list of delicious variations of dishes. To name a few; Beef Bulgogi, Korean Fried Chicken, Bibimbap (Korean Rice With Mixed Vegetables), Korean Spicy Chicken and Potato, Kimbap (Korean Sushi) and Grilled Korean-Style Beef Short Ribs.

Korean side dishes

Korean people usually have 2 to 5 side dishes on their table, and It’s a fun fact that the more a family has side dishes on their table the richer they are, because side dishes takes various ingredients to prepare and a lot of time to get well pickled or fermented. And it’s a little expensive if you buy them ready from the market. But, at the end, when they end up on your table somehow they’re really tasty and worth the work or money you put in them! To name a few Korean side dishes there are; kimchi (fermented), dried fish (dried and pickled), Steamed Perilla Leaves and Spicy Dried Squid Strips.

Korean Seasonal Food (The Korean Food Preferred On A Certain Season Or Occasion)

There are a lot of Korean food that’s preferred to be eaten on a certain time of the year or in a certain occasion such as; sam ge tang which is a chicken soup that’s preferred to be eaten in summer. And of course hot spicy stews are preferred in winter as the weather gets really cold in Korea. in the video below you can watch my favorite collection of Korean food in general that i find really tasty!

check out all my recipes on YouTube from Here

Korean sauces (The #1 Secret To The Original Korean Food Taste!)

Sauces are the first secret to the unique Korean food taste. If you get the sauce right then you’ve got the taste right! That’s why not everyone gets the same taste even if they use the same ingredients. And it’s worthy to mention that Korean people are really proud of their unique sauces and seasoning that they were the original creators of. There are a lot of Korean sauces such as; Korean BBQ Sauce, Sesame, Ginger Marinade, Kochujang Sauce (hot pepper paste), Korean Dipping Sauce, Korean Marinade with Sesame Seeds and Mustard Cabbage Relish.

Korean seasoning The #2 Secret To The Original Korean Food Taste!)

That’s the mystery that most of the world don’t know about, and it’s even more important than the Korean sauces, it’s the seasoning. Korean people use unique ingredients in their seasoning such as soy sauce, scallions, garlic, sesame seeds, sesame oil, pepper, and red pepper powder. You might think that everyone uses these ingredients in their seasoning and you’re probably right, but, the secret here is the combination that Korean people make out of these ingredients that goes uniquely and exclusively with every dish! It’s magical how various Korean seasoning could be.

Korean Food Etiquette (Korean Table Manners)

As any other culture, the Korean culture has its own etiquette and behaviors when it comes to food and dining. And it’s worthy to mention that Korean people are really strict in general so whoever doesn’t preserve this etiquette usually gets scolded by the elders. Korean people have preserved their table etiquette and traditions over the years and did a really great job on that. And we can break this into two main aspects:-

1) Korean People’s table manners (How Koreans Behave On The Food Table!)

·         -Korean people dress properly and sit straight when they eat.

·         -They have this phrase that they say before they start eating (잘 먹겠습니다 (chal mokkessimnida)       and it means “I will eat well”)

·         -No one starts eating before the elders do or say so.

·         -They eat food slowly and chew well while trying not to show the food in their mouths.

·         -They don’t lift the bowl of soup or rice up to their mouths.

·         -They don’t make noise with the spoon or chopsticks and certainly they don’t make eating noise, the    kind of noise you hear when you take a sip of soup.

·         -They don’t hold a spoon and a chopstick at the same time.

·         -And the elders must be the first to leave the table if they don’t leave first, no one else does.

Of course Koreans do most of these manners unconsciously without even realizing that they do it, it’s just the way they were raised.

2) Korean Restaurants (Special Characteristics About The Korean Restaurants) 

The best thing that I personally love about Korean restaurants is their atmosphere. It’s usually fairly quiet and with a proper big table that has space to all the dishes. The layout of a Korean restaurant always takes a lot of thinking before they do it because they think about the time when the restaurant gets crowded and they make sure nothing gets in the way of a waiter in a hurry. Korean restaurants give water and side dishes absolutely for free even if you ask for extra water or side dishes afterwards.

They also give desserts for free and it’s usually some type of fruit. Peeled, chopped and beautifully served.

conclusion

I hope I’ve covered all the questions in your mind and if I haven’t, please comment with any question or anything on your mind and I will be answering you right away. Also feel free to navigate through my other articles and recipes about Korean food I’m sure you’ll enjoy them. And help me spread the word and share this article!