Wrriten by Yechan Han and Tony (Junseok) Lee
Numerous people and countries around the world have countless misconceptions and misunderstandings about Asian cultures, including in our schools. Especially, people have a hard time differentiating the cultures between Eastern Asian countries: China, Japan, and Korea. Therefore, this article will explicitly focus on exploring and describing the differences between Korean food and Japanese meals.
Although Korea and Japan have distinct cultural differences, there are also some similarities as they are located right next to each other. Thus, we will first discover about Korean meals and foods.
Firstly, the most well-known and famous traditional food in Korea is Kimchi. Generally, many people think that Koreans only eat Kimich as it is the most famous Korean food. In fact, this is half correct and half wrong. Obviously, Koreans do not only eat kimchi as a meal. However, in every meal, there is kimchi! Thus, there are countless types of kimchi that Koreans eat during their meal shown in the picture below. There are cabbage kimchi, green onion kimchi, radish kimchi, white kimchi and etc.
Obviously, Koreans do not only eat kimchi as a meal. However, in every meal, there is kimchi!
Hence, kimchis vary as the ingredients differ. Moreover, the interesting fact is that, normally, the types of kimchi differ by where it is made even though they are the same types of kimchi. Each region has its own specific style, which also changes its taste. Therefore, the fact is that Koreans do not only eat kimchi but there are always varieties of kimchi in their meal.
If you want to know more about Kimchi, check out this article (click here).
Secondly, the second most famous traditional food in Korea is Bulgogi. Bulgogi is a thinly sliced beef marinated in a sauce, that is a mix of soy sauce, sugar or honey, sesame oil, garlic, onion, and often puréed Asian pear. It is mainly considered as a main dish and its collaboration with rice and kimchi enhances the taste of it.
Ultimately, Bibimbap is also considered a traditional food in Korea. It is basically rice mixed with different kinds of vegetables with red pepper sauce. It is normally made of pork, zucchini, onion, carrot, spinach sprouts, rice, and other various types of vegetables. It is also considered a main dish and is normally served in a stone pot. A stone pot is a plate that is made of rock that prevents the transfer of heat, allowing for the foods inside to stay warm, which enhances the taste.
As we have seen some of the traditional foods in Korea, we are also going to discover what a daily meal in Korea looks like. The main components are rice, kimchi, and soup. As we have mentioned before, there are various types of kimchis. Hence, there are numerous types of vegetables used in making kimchi for its own specific style, allowing people to have numerous different types of kimchi in their daily meals. Moreover, there is extremely important information to know in order to understand Korean foods, which is rice. In Korea, the rice is cooked through the steaming process, which is very different from other countries in South America or Europe, where the rice is cooked with boiled water. The process takes place by rinsing and soaking short-grain rice. Then cook it with water in a rice cooker or pot until tender, and let it rest before serving. Hence, it explains why rice in Korea rice is more sticky, hot, short, and compressed while rice in South America is more scattered, easily separable, long, and narrow. Ultimately, Korean people usually eat soup, which is mostly broth, with rice and kimchi. There are enormously huge amounts of different types of broths, so it is hard to generalize, but they usually contain meats or fishes. Here are some examples:
However, rice, kimchi, and soup are just the main foods that are always in daily meals, of course, there are main dishes such as meats or fish in daily meals.
As discussed earlier, Japan and Korea are very closely related countries, so they have similar eating habits. Thus, we will also be going to explore Japanese foods. In particular, sushi is the most famous food in Japan and is all over the world, but there are many other delicious and attractive foods in Japan, such as Sashimi.
Sashimi is one of the traditional foods that Japanese people enjoy eating. It is made by slicing fresh fish thinly with a knife and taste with soy sauce or wasabi. Since it uses fresh fish, it is somewhat similar to sushi. In fact, Japanese people generally have a habit of eating sashimi with rice and miso soup. Tempura is also famous traditional food in Japan in a batter made with flour, cornstarch, and cold water is then dipped into a variety of seafood and vegetables and fried in hot oil until crispy. The interesting fact or information is that Tempura was derived from Portugal as Portuguese Catholic missionaries traded with Japan, bringing their Western-style cooking methods of fries. Thus, it explains that Asian cultures were also influenced by Western cultures, which shows that Asian countries and cultures are also exposed worldwide.
Moreover, there are many traditional foods in Japan that people enjoy eating, but among them, there are some that are particularly popular: Yakiniku and Okonomiyaki. Yakiniku is grilling the thinly sliced beef marinated in sauce over a fire until it is lightly charred. In this way, Japanese people enjoy eating not only seafood but also meat. Okonomiyaki is cooking a mixture of various seafood, meat, cabbage, flour, eggs, etc. on an iron plate (also can be decorated with toppings of sauce such as mayonnaise).
There are also foods that are famous and enjoyed by people all over the world as Japanese food: Sushi, Ramen, and Tonkatsu. Sushi is a dish of raw fish on top of rice and has been a traditional dish in Japan since the 4th century BC. Nowadays, many people enjoy sushi not only in Japan but also all over the world. Also, there are many types of sushi. Depending on the type of rice, the type of fish, and the method of making it, there are different names and various tastes. This is what makes many people enjoy eating sushi. Ramen is the noodles that are put in the broth and topped with vegetables, spices, green onions, eggs, seaweed, etc. Koreans also enjoy eating ramen, but while Korean ramen has thin noodles and spicy broth, Japanese ramen is mostly not spicy and has thick noodles. Tonkatsu is a dish made by coating beef or pork in egg and breadcrumbs, frying until crispy, and eating it with sauce and various side dishes such as cabbage. Many people around the world eat fried meat, so many people in Korea eat tonkatsu. In Japan, they eat it with soup or udon, but in Korea, there is a custom of eating it with soup or kimchi.
In conclusion, Asian countries, Korea and Japan each have their unique dishes and meals to make enhance the taste and beauty. In similarity, Koreans and Japanese make their meals with rice, noodles, and various side dishes such as soup. In addition, both countries enjoy eating seafood, which explains why there are numerous types of dishes made with sea animals. In difference, while Korea focuses on having different kinds of side dishes to balance out the nutrients, Japan has a tendency to focus more on decorating their meals, having main dishes with a few side dishes.
References
https://www.10000recipe.com/recipe/6858140
https://www.10000recipe.com/recipe/6863296
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