Hello everyone. This is the new ICC Student Staff Leader H.S.. Studying abroad in Japan for the first time in my life, the thing I missed for the most is not my family, nor my friends, or even my home (sorry to you all), but Korean food. When I was living in Korea for about 17 years, I had never knew that I would loved Korean food this much. There are Korean restaurants in Japan obviously, but I realized that the Korean food here is not the original taste. These days, I always dream of eating Korean food and I have started to watch Mukbang (videos eating Korean food), which I never watched when I was in Korea, because now I have reached to the level that I can feel full even just watching the Youtubers eating happily. In this article, I am going to introduce four Korean foods that I love the most.
First of all, the thing that I want to eat the most is Pork & Kimchi Jjim. Actually, I have never tried this before when I lived in Korea, but since it became popular among the Mukbang stars, I really want to try this delicious food. This one is a very simple dish because it’s just braising pork and kimchi, all in one dish. After watching the Mukbangs, I guess the taste is imaginable even for the ones who have ever tried pork and kimchi before. (My mom promised me to cook it when I return to Korea during the vacation. So excited!)
I was born and lived in Daegu for the most of my life. Daegu is located in the southern part of Korea, above Busan. If you ask Koreans what is the food that first comes to their mind when they think of Daegu, definitely 7 out of 10 will say that it is Makchang which is the food symbol of Daegu. As Makchang refers to pork or beef entrails, there are many people who can’t eat Makchang. However, the people of Daegu especially love it because it was first made in Daegu. There was a really delicious Makchang restaurant in my town, but the restaurant moved to another town and it became very hard to eat Makchang there. However, I have found a new great Makchang restaurant recently, so I can’t wait to try it there!
During cold days like these days, when you want to have a hangover soup(Haejang-guk) after drinking, or when you do not want to eat anything, the food that Koreans probably think of the most is Gukbab. Gukbab is a word that combined Guk and Bab, which refers to soup and rice in Korean. Simply, Gukbab is the food that we can eat rice with a certain soup. There are so many types of Gukbab so I will introduce you some of the bests that I love: Dwaeji(Pork) Gukbab, Sundae(Pork intestines) Gukbab, and Kongnamul(bean sprouts) Gukbab. Dwaeji Gukbab and Sundae Gukbab are the most common ones, while Kongnamul Gukbab is especially famous as a hangover soup. Gukbab tastes are really different in every restaurant, but I get used to the taste of gukbab of the restaurant right in front of my house, that one is the most delicious to me. I will definitely eat one of those Gukbab I have mentioned above, since there is no food better than this in winter.
As Korea is famous for its fast delivery service and late-night operation of stores, Koreans love eating Yasik(Late-night food). Among those Yasik, the most favorite one is definitely Korean Chicken (both fried and ovened). Korean Chicken is famouse not only in Korea but also in the world for its various flavors and types. Korean Chicken has a lot of brands and many different popular menues from those brands. Currently, Bburinkle from BHC, Red Combo and Honey Combo from Kyochon Chicken, and Golden Olives from BBQ are the most popular ones recently. Interestingly, many of the major chicken franchises, such as Hosigi Double Chicken, Tang Tang Chicken, and Mexicana Chicken, had started from my hometown, Daegu. I strongly recommend to visit the Daegu Chimac (Chicken&Beer) Festival which is held every summer in Duryu Park, Daegu.
Good news!!! I’m going back to Korea during this winter break! I would love to eat at least five meals a day just to eat all of the foods that I have missed while staying here. I will gain a lot of weight if I eat them all, but it is okay if I am happy. Thank you for reading it all and please visit Korea and try these amazing foods!
H.S. (Student Staff Leader)