I love Korean barbecue, and If you eat with me, I’ll usually do all the cooking! At a KBBQ restaurant, servers will bring the meat to the table where the meat, typically pork, will be grilled over an open charcoal grill at the table. While the meat is being cooked, people at the table will use this time to socialize. It’s a very lively time; everyone will be eating and laughing. There’s lots of other sides here besides kimchi, including lettuce leaves, rice, jalapeños, garlic, and dipping sauces, such as sesame sauce and salt. One of my favorite things to do is to roast the garlic on the grill in a metal cup filled with sesame oil until they’re a soft and golden brown.
Another amazing Korean dish is bibimbap. Bibimbap is a rice bowl dish that is topped with vegetables, meat, and a fried egg. The ingredients are arranged in colorful and symmetrical patterns, making it a feast for both the eyes and the taste buds. Bibimbap is often served in a hot stone bowl, which keeps the food warm and crispy. I was able to eat bibimbap in the place where it originated in Korea, at a village called Jeonju. It is an extremely fresh meal with the traditional ingredients. I learned that, back in the day, the different number of colors of foods in Bibimbap used to represent more power; this is because only the rich and royalty were able to obtain a variety of foods. The colors also tended to represent different attributes as well. Some sources say the five main colors in bibimbap represent different symbols, such as the five elements or the five directions (north, west, south, east, and center).
Korean barbecue and bibimbap are just two of many cuisines in Korean culture.
