By Lois Lim
With the recently popularized foods of Korean barbecue and Korean fried chicken across the globalized platform, many foreigners can often generalize Korean food to be mainly focused on meat. Although these dishes are almost seen as synonymous with Korean food, Korean cuisine has more to offer than its new experience of meat dishes to foreigners. In truth, it is the fermentation culture of vegetables and grains that is the heart of Korean food. Seen in almost every Korean meal, fermented side dishes also known as banchan offer an array of pickled vegetables and grains that are essential to the Korean diet.
The idea of Korean fermentation and its importance in its culture can be dated back since its origin. Rooted in survival, Korean fermentation technology was developed due to the nation’s small geography. With less land, Koreans geared towards preserving vegetables underground to enhance and extend the flavors of their crops. As stated by an article called Diet in Korea, Dae Young Kwon states that fermentation was used not only to increase the nutritional value of food, but to also “intensify flavors in food beyond its role in food preservation”[1]. and this can be seen in how Korean cuisine uses fermented sauces like gochugang to make bases for their broths. From a recent study that aimed to define and categorize Korean cuisine, they stated that the “Koreans tended to use fermenting, boiling, blanching, seasoning, and pickling. Among these methods, the most characteristic method is fermentation”[2]. In having fermentation as the most prevalent use of preparing food, Korean meals have been historically served with cooked rice, broth, kimchi, and banchan, side dishes usually fermented vegetables. In trying to preserve the traditional methods and practices of Korean cuisine, many articles have shown that it is the fermented foods that define what Korean cuisine is.
In an effort to preserve the Korean cuisine’s authentic foods, my exhibit will discuss the depth of Korean cuisine and how fermentation and its culture have an impact on the Korean communities in the native land and across the United States. Through three contemporary sources including a documentary, an article, and a cookbook each story will tell their perspective of how Korean fermentation has defined their Korean identity.
[1] Young Kwon, “Diet in Korea”, Handbook of Eating and Drinking: Interdisciplinary Perspectives, (2020): 1441 doi: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-14504-0_150
[2] Kim Soon, Myung Kim, Myoung Lee, Yong. Park, Hae Lee, Soon Kang, Hyun Lee, Kyung Lee, Hye Yang, Young Lee, Dae kwon, “Korean diet: Characteristics and historical background “, Journal of Ethnic Foods 3, 1 (2016): 26-31 doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jef2016.03.002
