While South Korea’s music has become very popular, its food not so much. Today, at the back of the song’s success, we present to you three simple Korean recipes, shared by the Korea Tourism Organisation.
“With travel being restricted, people are dreaming about their favourite destinations and the moments of indulging in local food,” Jong Sool Kwon, Director, KTO (New Delhi) tells LuxeBook. “Recreating these recipes in your kitchen is very simple and will transport you straight to the food streets of Korea.”
BibimGuksu, a super tangy noodle salad One of the most popular traditional noodle dishes in K-cuisine, BibimGuksu is a light, yummy cold salad loaded with sweet, tangy flavours.
BibimGuksu, spicy-tangy buckwheat noodles
Ingredients 180g dried buckwheat noodles or soba noodles
For Salad-
Thinly sliced lettuce leaves (40g) and red cabbage (140g)
Step 1: Boil the noodles in boiling water and drain the noodles. Run some cold water over the noodles to cool it and drain.
Step 2: Place the noodles in a large serving bowl and mix all the salad ingredients with bibim sauce. After everything is put in the bowl, serve.
Step 3: To eat, mix all the ingredients well with chopsticks and indulge.
Sujeonggwa, a sweet, rejuvenating Cinnamon Tea Sujeonggwa is a relaxing, cold ginger-cinnamon tea, often served as a dessert. It is popular during the festivals as well!
Sujeonggwa, Korean Cinnamon tea
Ingredients
1 fresh ginger (30g); approx. 27g thin strips once peeled
2 cinnamon sticks
4 cups water (900ml)
1/2 cup sugar (90g); white or brown
2 dried persimmon (if available)
12 pine nuts to serve
How to make
Step 1: Peel the ginger. Cut into thin strips. Place these strips and cinnamon sticks in a pot with the water and bring to a boil.
Step 2: Once boiling, cover and simmer the heat. Continue to simmer for about 40 mins. The liquid will soon become a deep red-orange colour.
Step 3: Strain the ginger and cinnamon from the tea and add sugar. Stir into fully dissolve it. Add dried persimmon. Allow to cool to just slightly warm before refrigerating overnight.
Step 4: Serve cold, ideally in small bowls, with some soaked persimmon in each bowl (either leave one whole or cut it up to eat). Top the tea with some pine nuts.
Bingsu, Shaved Ice Dessert In the olden days, Bingsu was a delicacy available only to the rich and nobles as it was not easy to get shaved ice due to the lack of modern refrigeration equipment. The best part? It can be made in hundreds of different flavours!
Step 1: To make berry syrup- add the berries to a saucepan with 2-3 tbsp water on medium heat.
Step 2: Once the berries start to simmer, stir in the sugar until dissolved. Then, mash the berries with a fork until syrupy. Strain through a sieve and leave aside to cool.
Step 3:Meanwhile, prepare the fruit. Arrange it in side bowls, along with shaved ice.
To make shaved ice, add ice to a food processor and blitz in batches. Keep it in the freezer until ready to serve.
Step 4: Pour over the shaved ice, some cooled berry syrup and top it with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Enjoy immediately.
The history of Korean cuisine through the last 5,000 years has evolved as a fusion of taste and nutrition. Talking about the country’s luxury culinary scene, KTO’s Jong Sool Kwon says, “Hansik is our traditional, royal cuisine. It is a variety of local dishes laid across the table for guests to indulge in.”
He adds, “Korea House, a famous restaurant in Seoul serves the royal cuisine of Joseon dynasty, considered as the epitome of cultural food experience.”
