60 Fun Facts About Korean Food

Kimchi is most often made from which salted and fermented vegetable?

Korean radish is the other classic base; hundreds of varieties exist.

Traditionally, where was winter kimchi stored to keep it from freezing?

Modern households often use dedicated kimchi refrigerators instead.

What is the name for the communal autumn tradition of making large quantities of kimchi for winter?

UNESCO added it to its Intangible Cultural Heritage list in December 2013.

In 2008 scientists created a special low-calorie 'space kimchi' for whom?

She took it aboard the International Space Station.

Which Chinese pickled dish did China controversially define kimchi as a derivative of in 2020?

Kimchi has far more lactic acid bacteria because of its different fermentation.

Several US states have proclaimed which date as Kimchi Day?

California, Virginia, Maryland, New York and Washington DC have all issued proclamations.

What does the word bibimbap literally mean?

Warm rice is topped with seasoned vegetables and gochujang and stirred before eating.

Which city is most famous for its version of bibimbap?

Jinju and Tongyeong are also known for their versions; Pyongyang for a vegetable one in the North.

What is dolsot bibimbap served in?

A raw egg cooks against the sides of the bowl.

What does the word bulgogi literally mean?

It is a Pyongan-dialect word from what is now North Korea.

Bulgogi is believed to descend from maekjeok, skewered grilled beef from which ancient kingdom?

In the Joseon period it was called neobiani, meaning thinly spread meat.

Korean barbecue spread to Japan during the colonial period and survives there under what name?

It was adapted to Japanese tastes.

Galbi, a favourite of Korean barbecue, is made from which cut?

The suffix gui, meaning grilled, is usually dropped from its name.

What is samgyeopsal, whose name refers to three layers?

It is a staple of Korean barbecue restaurants.

Tteokbokki is made from cylinder-shaped cakes of what?

Fish cakes, boiled eggs and scallions are common additions.

Ma Bok-rim began selling spicy gochujang tteokbokki in 1953 in which Seoul district?

The district is still famous for the dish.

What is the non-spicy, soy-sauce-based version of tteokbokki called?

The 19th-century royal version used sirloin, pine nuts and sesame.

Besides chili powder, glutinous rice and salt, gochujang contains meju. What is meju?

Barley malt powder helps convert the rice starch to sugar during fermentation.

Which region's gochujang became part of palace cuisine under King Taejo, founder of Joseon?

The regional speciality dates back to the 14th century.

Who introduced chili peppers, native to the Americas, to East Asia in the early 16th century?

A Korean encyclopedia of 1614 mentions a type of chili pepper brought to the country.

What is the collective name for the small side dishes served with rice at a Korean meal?

They are set in the middle of the table to share and replenished during the meal.

How many cheop (side dishes) marked the royal table setting in Korean court cuisine?

Kimchi is not included in the cheop count.

Which Korean province is particularly famous for serving many different side dishes in a single meal?

The custom of vegetable side dishes is traced to Buddhist bans on meat in the Three Kingdoms period.

Japchae is made with dangmyeon, glass noodles produced from what?

It is a favourite at weddings and other celebrations.

Yi Chung first made japchae for a 17th-century banquet of which king, who promoted him for it?

The original dish contained neither noodles nor meat.

Samgyetang is a soup of a whole young chicken stuffed with rice, garlic, jujube and what?

It is considered a health food, especially in summer.

When is samgyetang traditionally eaten?

Chobok, jungbok and malbok fall among the most sultry days of the year.

Budae-jjigae, or army stew, is famous for containing which American canned meat?

It was born of post-Korean War poverty from a dish nicknamed piggy porridge.

Which city claims to have invented budae-jjigae and has a street of specialist restaurants?

The word budae refers to military camps.

What does the name soju literally mean?

So refers to the heat of distillation and ju means alcoholic drink.

Who introduced the distilling technique behind soju to Korea in the 13th century?

They had learned to distil arak from the Persians.

Which city's soju is considered the direct root of modern Korean soju?

Traditional hand-crafted Andong soju is about 45 percent alcohol.

Which company holds almost half the South Korean soju market?

Four smaller firms share roughly another 40 percent.

What is makgeolli?

At six to nine percent alcohol it is considered a communal beverage rather than hard liquor.

What English nickname for makgeolli won a 2010 South Korean government competition?

Koju, Kori, Soolsool, McKorea and Makelixir were among the losing entries.

Makgeolli is also called nongju, meaning what?

Its cloudy look also earns it the name takju, opaque wine.

What is chimaek?

The word combines chicken with maekju, the Korean word for beer.

What was the first modern Korean fried chicken franchise, opened in 1977 in a Seoul department store basement?

Founder Yu Seok-ho set up in Shinsegae Department Store in Chungmu-ro.

What is usually served alongside Korean fried chicken?

The chicken is hand-painted with sauce using a brush after frying.

What do Koreans believe happens when you eat a bowl of tteokguk on the first day of the lunar calendar?

The oval slices are said to resemble old Korean coins and bring fortune.

Miyeok-guk, seaweed soup, is traditionally eaten on which occasion?

New mothers also eat it after giving birth.

Songpyeon, half-moon rice cakes steamed over pine needles, are eaten mainly during which holiday?

They express gratitude to ancestors at the harvest festival.

Naengmyeon is a dish of what?

The royal court ate it in summer with a cold radish-kimchi and beef brisket broth.

Why were long wheat noodles served at celebrations such as weddings?

Milguksu were speciality foods for auspicious occasions.

What is jeon?

Sweet flower versions are called hwajeon.

What is doenjang?

Doenjang jjigae is the most common Korean stew.

Which two philosophies, arriving from China in the fourth century CE, began changing Korean food culture?

Buddhist bans on meat pushed vegetable side dishes to the centre of the cuisine.

Which of these is a common Korean street food?

Tteokbokki, sundae, twigim and eomuk are other street-stall staples.

What was the top-quality noodle dish of the royal court, made with buckwheat noodles and pheasant broth?

Its name means white noodles.

What is the pojangmacha where much tteokbokki is eaten?

Bunsikjip snack bars are the other classic place to eat it.

What is anju?

Fried chicken and army stew are both popular as anju.

What kind of food is Korean sundae?

It is stuffed with dangmyeon glass noodles, the same starch noodles used in japchae.

The Buddhist ruling class of the Goryeo period forbade eating which meat?

Oxen were too valuable as farm animals, so pork and seafood were eaten far more often.

Which dumpling dish has its Korean roots in the 13th-century Mongol invasion of Goryeo?

Grilled meats, noodle dishes and black pepper seasoning arrived in the same period.

Along with soup and kimchi, what completes the basic Hansik meal pattern called three cheopbansang?

Doenjang in the soup and gochujang in the kimchi are credited with adding to the meal's health benefits.

Roughly how many varieties of tteok, Korean rice cakes, exist?

Rice flour is also cooked into congee (juk) or gruel (mieum) mixed with grains, meat or seafood.

The cold noodle dish kongguksu is served in a broth made from what?

A by-product of making soy milk, biji, is itself served as a stew and used to thicken porridges.

In 12th-century Korea, which meats were reserved for the upper class while commoners ate mostly seafood?

Ordinary people lived on shrimp, clams, oysters, abalone and loach.

The jelly-like Korean dish nokdumuk is made from the starch of which legume?

The bland muk is dressed with soy sauce, sesame oil and crumbled seaweed.

What is biji, the by-product of soy milk production, used for in Korean cooking?

Whole soybeans also go into kongbap, rice boiled with several kinds of beans and grains.