Origins and Influences

Elek Ferency

For my chapter I wanted to focus on Korean Cuisine, cooking has always been an interest of mine and I decided I wanted this final project to connect what I’ve learned by diving a little deeper into Korean food and its origins. Korean food has become increasingly popular across the world and in America, especially in big cities like New York and Los Angeles. People are being exposed to and becoming more familiar with foods like Korean barbecue, bibimbap, bulgogi, Korean fried chicken, and kimchi, especially. I wanted to dive a little deeper into what people may know about Korean cuisine to see how the history of Korea and its people may have influenced the cuisine.

Korean history greatly influenced Korean cuisine and its development into what it is today, the conditions and the lifestyle of the people living in Korea through the centuries took from what they knew and kept evolving the cuisine throughout their lifetimes. The cuisine of Korea was most influenced by the agricultural history of the Korean peninsula. The agricultural history of Korea was similar to the rest of northeast Asia, Korean history was also largely intertwined with Chinese history but Korean cuisine, like the country itself, would take on its own independent form. Fermented foods are popular in east Asia, a big part of Korean cuisine is fermented foods, usually vegetables or grains. On the Korean Peninsula they experience very variable summer and winter seasons so preserving foods for throughout the year was essential. Some areas in Korea were isolated from each other because of the geography of the peninsula but early Korean cuisine included fermented vegetables and beans, and preserved, salted fish and beans. There are a few aspects of Korean cuisine, sub-groups of a Korean meal that have been named. Bap (cooked rice), kimchi (fermented vegetables), kuk (food with broth), and banchan (various side dishes) are all staples in Korean cuisine. Traditional cooking methods included boiling, blanching, fermenting, pickling, and salting; baking, and frying were not commonly used cooking methods traditionally in Korean cuisine. Some of the specific ingredients included in Korean cuisine are: jang (fermented soybean products), kan jang (soy sauce), gochujang (red pepper paste), and doenjang (soybean paste). Overall, Korean cuisine includes a large amount of high salt dishes, however there is a lack of saturated fats, and fermented food like kimchi help reduce the risk of high blood pressure. ^[1]

Being that a large part of Korean cuisine is fermented vegetables, other preserved whole foods, and fermented pastes, they need vessels to prepare and store the food. Pottery became a part of Korean culture; clay pots and jars were used in the production and storage of fermented and preserved foods. The jars ranged in size and shape, usually tall and rounded with an opening at the top and a lid. These clay pots and jars were used to store foods and ingredients such as kanjang, gochujang, doenjang, as well as kimchi. The fermented foods are able to be preserved for a long time in the clay jars and kimchi was able to be kept fresh for an extended period of time. This clay pottery were made in simple kilns with a smoke stack that was fueled by fire to keep up the heat. Clayware took many forms in the Korean household: cooking pots, seasoning grinders, seasoning containers, medicine pots, rice containers, boiling pots, and liquid and oil bottles. Spatulas and ladles were also made out of clay, smaller utensils like spoons and strainers were made out of metal and woven branches. Usually the pots and jars are stored in an outside area, sometimes a patio or an outdoor terrace called a jangdokdae. The jangdokdae receives a lot of sunlight and is most efficient outside because the fermenting and preserved food need ventilation. The pots were individually decorated and were well kept, the clay jars and the jangdokdae were cleaned regularly. The pots were sometimes sealed by wrapping red paper put onto straw around the pots and placing charcoal around the pot in attempt to preserve the flavor of the ingredients inside. ^[2]

Aside from China, Korean cuisine and culture had been influenced by Japan. In more modern Korean history, interactions between Japan and Korea changed culture, cuisine, and technology inside the kitchen. Japan and later the United States introduced a wave of foods into the Korean market from the late 19th century, foods like sushi and the pork dish tonkatsu became popular. Japan had experienced an industrial revolution prior to Korea and developed newer cooking techniques and technology. The electric rice cooker was imported into Korea from Japan and changed an aspect of daily life in the Korean kitchen. There was no longer a need for Koreans to keep fresh rice around the home for multiple meals without having to cook up a new batch of rice. ^[3]

Bibliography

Kim, Soon Hee, et al. “Korean Diet: Characteristics and Historical Background.” Journal of Ethnic Foods, 15 Mar. 2016,  26-31. www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352618116300099.

Lee, Wooyoung. “History of Food Exchanges between Korea and Japan.” The Korea Herald, 10 Dec. 2015, www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20151210001173.

“Pots and Pottery.”  Life in Korea. www.lifeinkorea.com/culture/tools/tools.cfm?xURL=kitchen.