Each country has its own traditional and popular foods. In Korea, which has a strong pride in local foods, there are lots of foreign dishes that have evolved within Korean cuisine. Korean Feature will list familiar foreign foods and explain how they are developed in Korea. Moreover, The Konkuk Bulletin will introduce the places nearby Konkuk University where the students can go try these foods.
1. Macaron
Have you ever heard about Ddung-caron? This word is a combination the of words fat and macaron. In Korean, fat is “ddung-ddung”, so ddung-caron literally means fat macaron. Macaron is a smooth filling sandwiched between two shells and it was invented in France. However, Korean style macaron is about three times thicker than the classic one. Other than filling, fruit, cheese, or snacks go with the filling which makes it fatter than a traditional macaron. There are lots of flavors such as Cookie Crunch, Real Oreo, Match Kitkat, and Tiramisu, so on. For unique flavors, there are injeolmi and crispy crunch ice bar (돼지바) flavor. Injeolmi flavor is a popular Korean traditional rice cake covered with roasted soybean powder. Crispy crunch ice bar is a popular ice-cream bar in Korea. It is a combination of strawberry syrup covered by vanilla ice-cream and crunch chocolate.
A place to try Korean style macaron:
Mr. Macron: Seoul, Gwangjin-gu, Achasan-ro 33-gil, 63
2. Greek yogurt
Greek yogurt recently has become all the rage with people. Many see it as Mediterranean style yogurt, and it’s traditionally eaten with soft savory cheese, olive oil, vegetables, breads, and olives. It is made from milk that has been fermented and then has had the liquids from the regular yogurt eliminated. Greek yogurt provides several nutrients and lower carbs and fat options. Because of these benefits, people often eat it for their health. Other than the original way to eat Greek yogurt with olive oil, vegetables, and others, there are lots of different dishes in Korea. Greek yogurt in Korea contains various jam, fruits, granola, syrup, and other toppings. As mentioned earlier, there is also a Greek yogurt menu with Korean traditional flavor toppings. One of the dishes from Ourth yogurt, which is also a recommended place below, is called “Kongjui and Patjui” and it contains injelomi rice cake, Korean glutinous rice cake and red beans. These toppings make it taste like the Korean traditional dessert “patbingsu”.
Places to try Greek yogurt:
Ourth Yogurt: Seoul, Gwangjin-gu, Neungdong-ro, 153
Greek Day: Seoul, Gwangjin-gu, Neungdong-ro 13-gil, 44
3. Chicken
Fried chicken is one of the most loved foods in America. American fried chicken is usually covered in a flour and buttermilk mixture. However, in Korea, there are lots of sauces for chicken from soy sauce to spicy sweet sauce. The spicy sweet sauce is called “yangnyeom”, and it is only found in Korea. It is the most popular flavor with plain fried chicken. Other than yangnyeom, there are cheese powder, slicked leek, garlic, curry, and consomm flavors. New sauces for chicken are still being created, but the original old Korean chicken is called “tongdak”. This chicken is thin-skinned fried and was popular back in the 60s and 70s. Korean usually eat chicken with beer as they are known to be the best combination. The difference between other styles and the Korean style of fried chicken is that the chicken is fried lighter than others. Normally, the chicken is fried twice so the chicken is crispier and very moist. Not only is the meat of chicken fried, but Korean also fry the skin and feet of chicken.
A place to try Korean style chicken:
Haenam chicken café: Seould, Gwangjin-gu, Hwayang-dong 12-40
How about a food that originated in Korea and spread over the world?
Bingsu
Bingsu is a popular summer dessert in Korea with sweetened red beans and tteok served on a bed of shaved ice. Variations will include condensed milk, syrup, ice-cream, and corn flakes. Classic bingsu usually has red beans on the ice, but it can be replaced by ice-cream or fruit depends on the menu. The most common variations are green tea, mango, injeolmi, and patbingsu (classic one). Bingsu has spread out to various countries throughout for summer. Each country might have developed their own shaved ice desserts according to their cuisine, but Korean style bingsu is extending its popularity worldwide.
Places to try bingsu:
Sul-bing (nearby Konkuk University Station line 2)
Address: Seoul, Gwangjin-gu, Achasan-ro, 230
Sul-bing (nearby Children’s grand park station line 7)
Address: Seoul, Gwangjin-gu, Gwangnaru-ro, 382