Gastronomy in Korea, Republic of

The South Korean cuisines have similarities to Chinese and Japanese food; it excels because of its own typical flavor. Food in South Korea is really delicious. Along with being so tasty and spicy, dishes are also rich in nutritional value. The cuisine is mostly based on meats, noodles, rice, tofu and vegetables. And it also commonly involves heavy seasoning with doenjang (fermented soybean paste), garlic, ginger, gochujang (red chili paste), salt, sesame oil and soy sauce. Korean cuisine changes seasonally. On winter, traditional food normally relies on kimchi. It is a soured and spicy vegetable dish commonly made of baechu (Napa cabbage), cucumber or mu (daikon). Almost every meal the Kimchi is served as a banchan. It is also a usual ingredient in other Korean dishes.

The main dishes are Bibim guksu (spicy cold wheat flour noodles); Kalguksu (boiled flat noodles, commonly in a broth made of fish and sliced zucchini); Naengmyeon (dish consists of various kinds of thin, hand-crafted buckwheat noodles, and is served in a large bowl with a lemony iced broth, raw cut fruit and vegetables); and Ramyeon (spicy version of Japanese ramen, normally cooked with meats and vegetables). Most popular desserts in the country are Tteok (pasty rice cakes cooked from pounded rice) and Hangwa (ingredients consists of grain flour, honey, sugar and yeot, or of fruit and eatable root).

Korean non-alcoholic beverages are cited to as a eumcheongny. The categories of eumcheongnyu are cha (tea), galsu (thirst water), hwachae (fruit punch), jang (fermented grain juice with sour taste), jeup (juice), milk, milsu or kkulmul (honeyed water), sikhye (sweet rice drink), sujeonggwa (persimmon punch) and tang (boiled water). Some alcoholic beverages are cass, cafri, hite, microbrewery, OB lager beer, soju and taedonggang.