What makes food taste good? Beside quality and handling of the main ingredients, seasonings and spices are key to making food more flavorful. In general, they can increase the taste 👅, add new aromas 👃 and also change the visual appearance of the dish. 👀 If a food is not seasoned well, it is considered... Continue Reading →
Brown, bitter but lovely: Acorn jelly 도토리묵
Can you find a connection between squirrels, Romans and Koreans? Here's one: Acorns. Everyone knows that squirrels are fond of nuts, including those of the oak tree. 🌰🐿 Archaeologists and historians know that also humans have consumed acorns since ancient times. 🌰🏛 Who knew that at present, foods made from acorns are a significant ingredient... Continue Reading →
Flowers and Food in Korea
May - this month is filled with special events: Around the world, many countries have designated the second Sunday of May as Mother's Day to commemorate mothers (including grandmothers, godmothers, or parents in general!). [In 2020, Mother's Day was on May 10.] In addition to that, Christian holidays such as Ascension and Pentecost are often... Continue Reading →
Compilation of mushrooms and seaweed in Korean
By now, we have touched upon the vast diversity of plant-based foods like vegetables, fruit, grains and nuts. 🗒🌱 You may have learned enough Korean to identify the most common animal-based ingredients as well. 🗒🐮 So what's left? Well, a LOT! 😉 For example, there are hundreds of fungi and many kinds of seaweed, which... Continue Reading →
Temple Food and Taboo Food 사찰음식 및 오신채
Happy birthday to you ~happy birthday to you ~happy birthday, dear B...Buddha!happy birthday to you~ In case you didn't know it, yet: April is THE birthday month. 🥳🎂🎉 For reasons unknown to me, a majority of people is born in this month. Even Buddha's birthday (with reference to the historic figure Siddhartha Gautama) is celebrated... Continue Reading →
What you need to know about seaweed in Korea
Do you love the smell of the sea? 🌊 Or do you dislike that "fishy" smell? 🐟 Any thoughts on seaweed? 🌿 Nori seaweed (gim 김) and other marine organisms on a rock exposed during low tide. Bogil Island (보길도), 2018. Seaweed.... 🤔 Funny name to begin with, right?! Another name for it is algae,... Continue Reading →
The longest list of fruits in Korean
Did you learn how to say the names of common vegetables in Korean, yet? Or are you more fond of fruit? A fruitarian, perhaps? 🍓😋❤️ Then knowing the names of fruits is essential for survival. [Additionally, you might want to learn Korean names of seeds, e.g. cereals and beans or nuts. Or if you don't... Continue Reading →
The most common animal-based ingredients in Korean
Below vocabulary list provides the names of common animal-based food ingredients in Korean language. 🗒🐮🇰🇷🇰🇵 Advertisement at a traditional Korean market in Seoul 2019. What's on sale? Hopefully it helps when checking the ingredient list on food labels 📝, while generally studying Korean 📚, with identifying unknown foods 🔍 or in communicating what you want... Continue Reading →
Chocolate-colored noodle soup: Pat-kalguksu 팥칼국수
Okay, the long title above is no direct translation of the protagonist's name. But it's the first impression on your first date: Long noodles are swimming in a thick soup with a color resembling milk chocolate. 🍫 The bowl may be steaming from heat, which underlines your association with either hot chocolate or fresh chocolate... Continue Reading →
Midwinter’s food is vegan: Patjuk 팥죽
It's tiiiiiime!!!! It's THE time of the year again! What time? Christmas time?🎄 Right, Christmas is coming up. ✝️ And so is Hanukkah. 🕎 But before that, we have another important event: Winter Solstice! Now, what is that? Winter solstice is the day that has the longest night of the year. ☃️🌠❄️ And what makes... Continue Reading →