A Delicious Korean Summer Sweet

Have you ever heard of bing-su, the world's most delicious, luscious, and mouthwatering dessert? Simply, bing-su is a combination of ice shavings, sweetened azuki beans (pat beans), sweetened condensed milk, and sticky rice cakes. In our contemporary culture, bing-su has been given a whole new shelf of toppings to add. Why don't we take a look?






Patbing-su with additional fruit and cereal.

A conventional ice cream bing-su topped with fruit and cereal flakes.



Green tea bing-su & fruit bing-su with beans and nuts. Doesn't it look delicious?



The Kimchi Chronicles

Have you heard of the Kimchi Chronicles? It's a PBS TV documentary featuring Korea and Korean food. The host: Marja Vongeritchten is the author of a cookbook known as the Kimchi Chronicles: Korean Cooking for an American Kitchen. In the book, popular Korean recipes are described and original dishes are shown with a slightly lighter, modern flair that is sure to make you tongue leap with delight. For more information about the book and the show, check out the website below.

In the website be sure to watch the introductions of each episode!

http://www.kimchichronicles.tv/ 

Q & A about Korean Food 1

 Hi Korean food! Would you mind if I ask you a few questions about yourself? Great, let's get started.

I've heard that Korean food is really different from any of the other Asian cuisines. Could you explain to us a little more about what sets it apart?

"Yes, well unlike usual Asian cuisines, Korean food uses a lot of seasonings, and for a variety of reasons. Green onions and garlic are sprinkled on meat and fish dishes to take away unappetizing scents, and roasted sesame, sesame oil, and red chili paste are used to spice up the taste of the food. One very interesting fact about all these seasonings is that they lower the cholesterol levels and remove any poisonous substances in our body. "

Alright, the next question: how do the meals of the ancient kings and queens contrast with that of the common people?

"Ah, as you know, the kings and queens were much richer than their subjects, so they were allowed to have more complexity in their meals and nicer food than others. For example, royalty always dined on a meal with 12 side dishes, while normal people had to make do with 3,5, or 7 dishes. In addition, kings and queens used brass and silverware, which kept the food warm and changed color if in contact with poison, while everyone else used simple ceramics. Finally, the king's every meal was accompanied by two court ladies, one who tasted every dish for poison, and the other lifted the lids of the dishes.

Wow, thanks so much for the wonderful answers! I might even want to bring you back for another interview!

My Favorite Korean Foods

Korean food is not very widely known to the world, but it is actually one of the world's most healthy and tasty cuisines. The five main colors of our cultural food are black, white, yellow, green, and red. The tables at Korean restaurants or at practically any Korean home are usually groaning with a deliciously diverse assortment of side dishes and soups, but the main dish is always(drum-roll...): rice! Enough introducing, why don't we go on to the lip-smacking food list!

My most favorite food is Seolleongtang(ox bone soup), a very nutritious and wonderful soup simmered in an ox bone, with beef slices, rice, and rice noodles added for flavor.

Next is Samgyetang, or a ginseng chicken soup.(You may have already noticed, but I happen to have a weak spot for broths containing meat and rice) In samgyetang, a whole young chicken is stuffed with ginseng, sticky rice(heavenly), jujubes(Korean dates), garlic, and cooked in a soup. Samgyetang is very hard to find in the U.S., so I usually only get to eat it once a year during our summer visit to Korea.

Finally, I really enjoy a traditional Korean dish known as Bibimbap. Bibimbap is a rice dish loaded with multiple cooked vegetables, lots of gochujang(red chili paste), and sometimes a little bit of beef. Bibimbap is served in a large piping hot earthenware pot that keeps the food warm and produces a fine layer of crunchy rice at the bottom of the pot that makes a perfect dessert.

So the next time you visit Korea, be sure to try at least one of these dishes, because you are missing out on the best food in the world!

Welcome!

Welcome to The Korea Book! Here we are an open book on everything about Korea, from photos, and power points to exciting descriptions of recent visits. It always frustrated me at how little the world truly knows about Korea, so I decided to make a website, dedicated exactly to the purpose of showing the world the true Korea. And what better way than to make you webpage represent an open book that everyone can read? The title is also symbolic because I am planning on publishing a book about everything I learned over this summer. Well, thank you for your visit, and please take a good look around before heading on your way! 안녕히가세요! (Korean for goodbye)