I did not eat a lot of pork before coming to South Korea, so my body had to adapt, but I always enjoyed trying all of the different vegetable and seafood side dishes.
I think food preparation is the best part of Korean barbecue! At a Korean barbecue restaurant, you grill your own meat and side dishes. This was a challenge for a beginner like me, but my friends helped me learn quickly. Cooking your own food is so much fun and it makes eating your meal very interactive. The bingsoo dessert is also fun to eat because you can pour as much or as little sweet condensed milk on your pretty mountain of shaved ice as you wish!
South Korea is a geographically small country covered in very tall mountains. This makes it difficult to graze large cattle. After the war, Koreans wanted to eat more meat than ever before, but the rough terrain makes it hard to raise cows for beef. The most highly consumed meat in South Korea is pork because pigs are easier to raise in South Korea’s environment. Soybeans are also easily grown or bought in the area. Some bingsoo is eaten with sweet red beans, which are also grown locally.
