The 8 Korean Foods For Beginners(How many foods did you try?)

1. 비빔밥 Bibimbap

The most traditionally famous Korean food. 비빔 means ‘to mix’ and 밥 means ‘rice.’ It’s a rice dish usually mixed with a fried egg, vegetables, meat, red pepper paste, and sesame oil. But, you can literally mix anything with rice to name a dish “비빔밥.”

2. 불고기 Bulgogi

불 means ‘fire’ and 고기 means ‘meat.’ A Korean beef barbecue that nine out of ten people who try Korean food for the first time like without any hesitations. It’s a dish with thin marinated slices of beef. It can be boiled with soy sauce-based broth or grilled without soup.

3. 된장찌개 Doenjang jjigae

된장 means ‘soybean paste’ and 찌개 means ‘stew.’ It’s a hot boil stew with vegetables (zucchini, mushrooms, potatoes, red peppers, etc) and soybean paste. Meat or seafood can be added according to one’s taste.

4. 삼겹살 Samgyeopsal

삼겹살 literally means ‘three layered fat.’ It’s named after the lean meat and fat parts of pork being overlapped three times. It’s famous for being one of the Koreans’ favorite foods. Pairing 삼겹살 with soju is one thing I would suggest you try, if you drink alcohol.

5. 떡볶이 Tteokbokki

떡 means ‘rice cake’ and 볶이 means ‘fried.’ It’s a stir-fried rice cake mixed with red pepper paste and fish cake. Its nickname is ‘Koreans’ soul food.’ There’s even a book called “I want to die, but I want to eat tteokbokki.” This is how much Koreans love this food. It’s chewy, spicy, and savory.

6. 김치찌개 Kimchi jjigae

김치 means ‘kimchi’ and 찌개 means ‘stew.’ Soybean stew and kimchi stew are the two most famous stews among Koreans. It’s also one of the easiest Korean foods to make. You can easily visit ‘kimchi stew restaurants’ that specialize in selling kimchi stews.

7. 김밥 Gimbap

김 means ‘seaweed’ and 밥 means ‘rice.’ It’s not sushi. It’s a roll that’s filled with vegetables (reddish, carrot, burdock, cucumber, etc) and other ingredients, such as tuna and beef. From luxurious, expensive gimbap to cost-effective gimbap, there are so many different types of gimbap you can choose.

8. 냉면 Naengmyeon

냉 means ‘iced’ and 면 means ‘noodles.’ The dish is served with icy cold soup. The noodles are made with buckwheats and the soup with beef broth. If you visit Korea in summer, you have to eat naengmyeon as it’s a beloved summer Korean food. But don’t forget to cut the noodles with scissors. The noodles are hard to cut with your teeth.

???? How many Korean foods on the list have you tried so far?