Korean Cuisine: A Feast at Every Meal
I have a penchant for Korean food. Given an opportunity to eat out, I'll look for the best Korean restaurant in the area. How about you? Are you acquainted with cuisine of Korea?
For years, prognosticators have been saying that Korean food would soon come into its own in the U.S, the way Japanese and then Thai food did over the last twenty years.
Epicurious recently predicted that Korean cuisine would finally reach the masses in 2011, noting that a 13-part PBS series about Korean food was slated to air this year featuring Jean-Georges Vongerichten and his Korean-born wife Marja.
I haven't seen anything lately about "The Kimchee Chronicles," but from a trailer in the New York Times, it looks like a food-lover's travel log of the culture and customs of Korea.
Though I've been exploring Korean cuisine for years, I have only scratched the surface when it comes to Korean fare. Choosing a meal from a typical Korean menu, which may be mostly in Korean, can be daunting to first-timers.
What I do know is that a Korean meal is always a feast, because an assortment of banchan, or small plates, often made up of pickled vegetables, or tofu or fish, is always a part of the meal. Whether you're one or one hundred at the table, it is always laden with a tempting array of dishes.
Join me over the weeks as I explore Korean cuisine, my small attempt, along with Jean-Georges, to introduce Korean food to the uninitiated. And feel free to share your own experiences with this exciting cuisine.
--Tracy Schneider
Mari on February 21, 2011 at 06:02 AM
Thank you for the heads-up! I love Korean food and look forward to the PBS series and your posts. I hope that the cuisine catches on, and more people discover how wonderful it is.
Rita connelly on February 21, 2011 at 07:44 AM
I am just learning about Korean food, but every time I have an oppportunity to enjoy it I am blown away at the complex flavors of such simple food. I look forward to learning - and eating - more of this marvelous cuisine.
Dan D on February 22, 2011 at 12:27 PM
I have only on two occasions dined on Korean food, and I enjoyed it but often did not know what I was eating. I have a deadly allergy to mushrooms and must avoid them, and the staff at the restaurants were unable to understand or reliably answer my questions as to whether any dishes served included mushrooms. I guess without a Korean mentor it will be difficult for me to explore the cuisine.
Tracy Schneider on February 22, 2011 at 10:15 PM
Mari, I'm with you! I hope Korean food catches on and more Korean restaurants pop up.
Rita connelly, Korean cuisine really does have "complex flavors", which makes every meal an adventure.
Dan D, at my last Korean meal there were lots of mushrooms in many dishes. (Some I could identify, others I could not). Sounds like this cuisine will be a difficult one for you to wade through. So sorry!