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Korea's climate and terroir are suitable for agriculture, and the cultivation of mixed grains began as early as the Neolithic period, which led to the popularization of rice cultivation. Since then, grains have been the center of Korean food culture, and in the late Three Kingdoms period, the traditional Korean diet was formed, with rice and vegetables as the main and side dishes. Later, the grain diet developed into rice, congee, cakes, noodles, dumplings, katsuyu, and wine, as well as the fermented diet, in which soybeans were used to make soy sauce, and then soy sauce was made. Not only cultivated vegetables, but also a wide variety of wild vegetables that grow on their own in the mountains and fields can be used to make coleslaw, rice balls, vegetables, kimchi, etc., to decorate the table with seasonal variations.

Historically, under the food concept of "medicine and food together", medicinal herbs such as ginger, cinnamon, wormwood, schizandra, wolfberries, salvia, orange root, papaya, pomegranate, pomelo, and ginseng have been widely used in dietary preparations. Various foods such as ginseng chicken soup, moxa cake, salvia, and gazpacho are seasoned, as well as a wide variety of teas such as ginger tea, ginseng tea, papaya tea, pomelo tea, goji berry tea, and cassia tea. Seasonings and spices are also used as medicines in Korea, and it is believed that onions, garlic, ginger, chili peppers, sesame oil, and sesame seeds all have medicinal properties. The daily life of Koreans consists of rice as the main food with a few dishes. The staple food is mainly rice mixed with millet, barley, soybeans, pinto beans and other mixed grains.

Side dishes are mainly soups, miso soup, kimchi, miso, and foods made with meat, flatfish, vegetables, and seaweed. This way of eating not only provides an even intake of various foods, but also achieves balanced nutrition.

The staple foods include rice, congee, noodles, dumplings, rice cake soup, and katsu-iru soup, and the side dishes include miso soup, barbecued meat, miso meat, stir-fried meat, wild vegetables, vegetables, miso fish, dried fish, pickles, stews, hot pots, kimchi, and many other kinds of food. In addition to these daily meals , the Korean diet also includes a wide variety of cakes, sweets, tea, wine, etc., as well as a variety of fermented foods.

Korean food includes daily meals that are repeated every day, foods prepared for the major rituals that must be performed in a lifetime, food prepared for the harvest festival and fishing festival to pray for a good harvest, food for the tribal festival to pray for the peace of the tribe, and food for the festival to mourn the deceased, as well as seasonal snacks that are made according to the change of seasons. Korean seasonal food customs are the crystallization of the wisdom of man and nature, and are very scientific in nutrition. For example, eating walnuts on the 15th day of the first month of the lunar calendar prevents sores for the whole year, which is based on the scientific theory that supplementing the missing fatty acids effectively prevents skin eruption, ringworm, and eczema. And spring eat spring wild vegetables, both the feeling of spring , but also to replenish the lack of vitamins due to the winter.

It can be said that the local diet is based on local geographic and climatic characteristics of regional specialties, is made by the ancestral cooking method of the authentic folk diet. Thus, it seems that the yearly customs undertaken in various places, through rituals as well as living practices, are not only characterized by local culture, but also have great significance from the nutritional point of view.

The current world trend is health. As people emphasize on health, it is natural to focus on diet, and kimchi, which is a representative of Korea, has become a worldwide healthy diet and has gained attention. In this regard, we would like to introduce Korea's top 10 representative diets and BEST RESTAURANTS, which are selected based on the criteria of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism and the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, questionnaire surveys of foreigners, and surveys of the most popular menus of overseas Korean restaurants, etc. We have listed kimchee, bibimbap, Gongjung diet (a high-class Korean set menu), spare ribs, barbecue, gochujang (five-flavor pork), ginseng chicken soup, cold noodles, seafood dishes, and fried rice cakes as the top 10 representative diets.

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1. Kimchi

Kimchi, one of the representative foods of Korea, is a fermented food that is essential to the Korean table. Nowadays, not only in Korea, but also in many other countries, kimchi has become a popular diet. The most familiar type of kimchi is spicy cabbage made from red chili peppers, but there are actually dozens of different types of kimchi. There are also kimchi soups, kimchi pancakes, kimchi fried rice, and many other dishes that utilize kimchi.

2. Bibimbap

Bibimbap, which is the representative food of Korea along with kimchi, is the country's highest traditional food, which is white rice mixed with stir-fried meat, various kinds of vegetables, and chili sauce or seasoning. It is not only delicious and healthy, but also easy to make and eat, making it the best food on airplanes. There are many famous snack bars in Jeonju, the hometown of bibimbap, and many well-known bibimbap restaurants in Seoul.

3. Gungjung Diet (Premium Korean Food)

Gungjung Diet is the highest summary of Korean food culture that combines health and deliciousness with color and taste made by first-class cooks who have studied the secret for dozens of generations. It was passed down to the nobles during the palace banquets, and then to the commoners by the nobles, and has greatly influenced the Korean food culture. If you have a little bit of money to spare, you can try palace cuisine, which is a high-class Korean cuisine, to experience a large part of the traditional Korean food culture.

4. Spare Ribs

Among the meat dishes that are popular among Koreans, such as barbecue, pork, and spare ribs, spare ribs are the most advanced dish. Beef or pork cut about 1cm long and 1cm apart on both sides is grilled over medium-high heat with onions, garlic, sesame oil and soy sauce, and is crispy and delicious. Because it is expensive and troublesome to make, it is usually eaten at home only on birthdays or special festivals, and is mostly eaten at restaurants.

5. Yakiniku

Yakiniku is a dish made by soaking beef or pork in a sauce made of soy sauce, honey (or sugar), green onions, garlic, sesame seeds, salt and pepper. It is one of the most popular Korean meat dishes among children because of its sweet taste and flavor. It is easy to make at home and is a popular family dish.

6. Pork

Pork is the meat from the belly of a pig that has three overlapping parts of meat and fat. In Korea, which is the world's largest consumer of gochujang, the consumption of gochujang has reached a point where the domestic supply exceeds the demand and large quantities of it need to be imported from overseas. Gochujang, which is raw meat grilled to a crisp on an iron plate and then wrapped in lettuce, is one of the most common Korean meat dishes. It's especially tasty for guys to get together with friends and soju.

7. Ginseng Chicken Soup

Ginseng Chicken Soup is a healthy summer diet in which a chicken is cleaned, cut open, and cooked with ginseng, jujubes, and sticky rice, seasoned with the right amount of salt, and placed in water. Koreans have a tradition of eating ginseng chicken soup to replenish their energy during the hot, sweaty, and weak summer months of July and August, when the first, middle, and last days of the year are over. That's why the ginseng and chicken soup stores are often packed on such special days.

8. Cold Noodles

Cold noodles are made by mixing a small amount of mung bean flour with wheat flour, topped with thin-skinned meat, cucumbers, pears, and other vegetables, and an egg, and then topped with a long-cooked beef broth that has been chilled. In addition to the water-cooled noodles described above, there is also the typical slightly spicy bibimbap made with chili sauce and a mixture of various ingredients. If you put chopped flounder on top of the bibimbap, it becomes chopped cold noodles, and if you change the soup of cold noodles to daikon radish kimchi soup, it becomes daikon radish kimchi cold noodles. Cold noodles used to be eaten in winter, but now they are mainly eaten in summer.

9. Seafood Cuisine

Korea is surrounded by the sea on three sides and is rich in seafood cuisine. Among them, the most popular ones among Koreans are seafood onion cake made of onions, vegetables, seafood, etc., mixed with flour and eggs, and put oil on the pan; chopped fresh fish sliced into thin slices and eaten directly; and slightly spicy fish soup made of chopped fish that is eaten are all famous. Seafood and scallion pancakes are popular as a snack for children and as a drink for adults, and dontaku and seafood and scallion pancakes go very well together.

10. Pokguk

Pokguk, which is similar to a Western pastry, is a popular snack among Koreans. Rice is the main ingredient, and it can be made into various kinds of cakes by adding various kinds of grains, chestnuts, jujubes or fruits, mugwort, pumpkin, and other ingredients. The sweet and savory cakes made from a variety of ingredients have different tastes, and it is fun and enjoyable to pick and choose from more than 100 kinds of cakes. In the past, rice cakes were essential for parties, birthdays, festivals, and other occasions. Recently, there are bakeries that sell mochi, and you can buy them at small supermarkets. When you enter a mochi specialty store, you will find beautiful mochi that you can't bear to eat, and you can enjoy it with traditional drinks. If you are traveling to Korea, try this delicious traditional Korean snack.

In today's healthy eating society, Korean food is loved by more and more people for its simplicity and nutrition, and I believe that in the near future, the healthy Korean food culture will certainly radiate a brighter light.