Authentic Korean Food

This post has been lurking since the end of July this year when I visited kimchi-land...finally I'm done with it!

Korean diet's very healthy...no oil at all, or so I've been told. Even for grilled food, they don't use butter like we do, they cook it using the oil from the meats. Sounds unhealthy too? Like lard?

The cuisine is largely based on rice, noodles, tofu, vegetables and meat.Traditional Korean meals are noted for the number of side dishes (banchan) that accompany steam-cooked short-grain rice. Every meal is accompanied by numerous banchan. Kimchi, a fermented, spicy vegetable dish is usually served at every meal. Korean cuisine usually involves heavy seasoning with sesame oil, doenjang (fermented soybean paste), soy sauce, salt, garlic, ginger gochujang (red chili paste). -- Taken from wikipedia!

I beg to differ on the meaty part though, they hardly eat much meat...mostly veggies. Infact the meals we had are catered to suit us, more than the koreans. Bet the Koreans would have their arteries clogged if they ate the way we did. Seems like koreans end up emptying their tummies with our local signatures; think bak kut teh, laksa...and the yummilicious calorie busting delicacies!

This entry is entirely on my personal experience in Korea and own opinions as well!

Mains

BBQ anything!

Koreans in korea do not use oil to fry the food, relying mostly on the fats from the meat to 'oil' the pan and it's good for bbqing. Garlic is always used to flavour the meats.

Steamboat of all sorts, drop all the ingredients into it and boil. Just like that!

Samgyetang (Chicken Ginseng Soup)...It's on the bland side, either comes stuffed with glutinous rice or noodles and a dash of pepper. You can't really taste the ginseng, just a hearty hot bowl of chicken soup imo.

Abalone Porridge, a Jeju island specialty! Just salty porridge to me. Not many slivers of abalone though.

Rice (bop) is a must at every meal...in metal containers. Their rice is somewhat sticky, more so like Japanese rice we eat in sushi. Some surprises along the way, koreans may sprinkle it with roe and sliced egg or some grains...or plain.

Bimbimbap..their famous export.

Korean breakfast of breadroll and fried egg

Banchan (side dishes)

Kimchi (fermented vegetables) that comes with every single meal, breakfast, lunch, dinner..every meal.

Ggakdugi (radish cut into cubes and seasoned with red chili peppers)

Namul (나물) is steamed, marinated, or stir-fried vegetables usually seasoned with sesame oil, salt, vinegar, minced garlic, chopped green onions, dried chili peppers, and soy sauce.

Kongnamul (Cold boiled bean sprouts with sesame oil)

Sigeumchi namul ( Lightly parboiled spinach dressed with sesame oil, garlic, and soy sauce)

Musaengchae/Muchae ("Noodles" of white radish in a sweet vinegar sauce, sometimes with ground dried chili peppers)

Japchae (잡채) — A stand-alone dish in its own right, japchae can also be eaten as banchan. Japchae is translucent starch noodles accompanied with a variety of vegetable and beef in a slightly-sweet garlic sauce.

Korean-style potato salad (감자 샐러드) with apples and carrots

Hobakjeon (seasoned and fried zucchini)

Yeun-Keun Jo-Rim (Seasoned lotus root)