Celebrating Blog Second Anniversary at School Food

November 28, 2016November 27, 2016 Kalbi Food and drinks, Travel jangchung-dong, jokbal, korean culture, korean food, school food

Jokbal (pig trotters) eaten at School Food in HK — Jokbal (pig’s trotters) served at School Food in HK

Time flies – today is the second anniversary of this Korean Culture Blog! I would like to take the opportunity to thank all the readers of my blog, in particular, my blog followers, for the support. Like what I did on the first anniversary (as mentioned in my post on this blog’s first anniversary), I went to the Korean restaurant, School Food (스쿨푸드), at Taikooshing in Hong Kong to celebrate this second anniversary, but this time I tried different food – a modified version of jokbal (족발), the Korean-style pig’s trotters (as shown in the photo above). Continue reading →

Here comes Dongji (Winter Solstice) in South Korea…

December 22, 2015December 20, 2015 Kalbi Festivals, special days and rituals, Food and drinks, Gift giving dongji, korean culture, korean food, patjuk, saealsim, winter solstice

Meaning of Dongji to Koreans

Today (22 December 2015) is Dongji (동지 – Winter Solstice) – this is the day with the longest night-time (or the shortest day-time) within the year. It usually falls on 22 or 23 December of the Gregorian (or the Western) calendar. After Dongji, the day-time gradually becomes longer signalling the coming of the spring. So, in the past, people considered Dongji as the “little lunar new year”, and considered themselves one year older after Dongji (vs. nowadays people consider themselves one year older on New Year’s day). Continue reading →

Celebrating Blog Anniversary at School Food

November 28, 2015November 28, 2015 Kalbi Food and drinks, Travel korean culture, korean food, school food, soy carbonara topokki, spam mari

Time flies! Today is the first anniversary of this Korean Culture Blog. On this first anniversary day, I would like to take the opportunity to thank all the readers of my blog, in particular, my blog followers. Your support is a powerful motivation for my writing.

School Food at Taikooshing, HK

SPAM Mari II

To celebrate my blog anniversary, I went to the Korean restaurant, School Food (스쿨푸드), at Taikooshing in Hong Kong for lunch. Continue reading →

Hansik (Korean Food) Series -Chimaek (Fried Chicken and Beer)

April 28, 2015October 17, 2020 Kalbi Drama, Food and drinks, Pop culture, Pop music chimaek, fried chicken and beer, hansik, kim jin-ho, korean culture, korean food, my love from the star

**Last updated on: 15 October 2020**

In the hit Korean drama, “My Love from the Star” (별에서 온 그대), the main female character, Cheon Song-yi, likes chimaek (치맥) very much. Chimaek (or Chimac) is the short form for fried chicken (치킨 – pronounced as “chikin”) and beer (맥주 – pronounced as “maekju”) generally used among the younger generations. Due to the popularity of that Korean drama in China, chimaek has also become a popular Korean food there. It was said that customers needed to wait in line for 3 hours to order fried chicken at some Korean fried chicken restaurants in Shanghai and Beijing. Continue reading →

Hansik (Korean Food) Series -Kimchi

April 23, 2015June 11, 2017 Kalbi Drama, Food and drinks, Pop culture, Pop music, Travel alexander, gimjiang, hansik, immortal classic, kimchi, kimchi museum, kimchi refrigerator, kimchi song, kimchikan, korean culture, korean food, UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity List

If you ask, “What is the Korean food that Koreans can’t live without?” I am sure a lot of people (both Koreans and foreigners) will say “Kimchi”. Kimchi (김치 – fermented vegetables) is one of the staple food of Koreans – you can always find kimchi as one of the side dishes on the tables in most Korean families and restaurants in South Korea. Kimchi can indeed be considered as one of the national symbols of South Korea. Moreover, in South Korea, when taking photos, Koreans say “Kimchi” to make people smile (the equivalence of saying “Cheese” in English). In this blog post, let’s talk about some interesting things about kimchi, including kimchi being used as a theme in Korean pop culture like TV drama and pop song. Continue reading →

Hansik (Korean Food) Series -Korean Table Manners

April 21, 2015April 29, 2015 Kalbi Food and drinks, Language, Useful Korean phrases hansik, korean culture, korean dining etiquette, korean food, korean table etiquette, korean table manner

Every culture has its own rules relating to table manners and the Korean culture is no exception. In order not to upset the Koreans who dine with you, you should familiarize yourself with the Korean table manners. In this blog post, I will talk about some interesting Korean table manners which may be quite different from the other cultures to help you avoid culture shock when dining with your Korean friends. Continue reading →

Hansik (Korean Food) Series -Samgyetang

April 16, 2015October 17, 2020 Kalbi Food and drinks chicken ginseng soup, chobok, hansik, jungbok, korean culture, korean food, malbok, sambok, samgyetang

**Last updated on: 15 October 2020**

What do you eat or drink when the weather is very hot? Ice cream, fresh cool vegetable and/or fruit salad, iced cold drinks…you will definitely want something cool or even cold. However, for the Koreans, on the hottest days of the year, they eat something served in sizzling hot pot – it’s samgyetang (삼계탕 – ginseng chicken soup), one of the must-eat Korean cuisine not only for Koreans but also for foreigners. Let’s talk about samgyetang in this blog post. Continue reading →

Hansik (Korean Food) Series -Samgyeopsal

April 14, 2015April 29, 2015 Kalbi Festivals, special days and rituals, Food and drinks grilled pork belly meat, hansik, korean culture, korean food, oyeopsal, samgyeopsal, samgyeopsal day, soju

In my blog post on Bulgogi, it is mentioned that for bulgogi, meat is marinated before it is grilled and the type of meat which can be used can vary, e.g., beef, pork or chicken. In South Korea, there is another kind of grilled meat dish which is cooked in a different way and uses pork belly meat only – this is “samgyeopsal” (삼겹살 – grilled pork belly meat) which is liked by both Koreans and foreigners. In the Korean drama, you can often see people eating samgyeopsal during dinner gatherings with friends and colleagues. Let’s talk about samgyeopsal in this blog post. Continue reading →

Hansik (Korean Food) Series -Bulgogi

April 9, 2015April 29, 2015 Kalbi Food and drinks, Travel bulgogi, bulgogi burger, double bulgogi burger, hansik, korean culture, korean food, maekjeok, naengmyeon, neobiani

In the last blog post, I talked about bibimbap which is a hansik eaten by most foreigners. Another popular hansik among foreigners should be bulgogi (불고기 -grilled meat). Even the U.S. President Barack Obama is known as a big fan of bulgogi and it was said that bulgogi was one of his favourite lunch choices. During President Obama’s state visit to South Korea in 2009, bulgogi was served at the official dinner. It is also said that bulgogi is the only dish that marinates the meat before it is grilled. Let’s talk about this well-known Korean dish in this blog post. Continue reading →

Hansik (Korean Food) Series -Bibimbap

April 2, 2015April 29, 2015 Kalbi Food and drinks, Pop culture, Pop music, Travel BIBAP, bibimbap, bibimbap song, dolsot bibimbap, hansik, hello baby, jeonju bibimbap, korean culture, korean food, MBLAQ, U-Kiss

In my last blog post, I mentioned a survey conducted by the Korea Culture and Tourism Institute according to which bibimbap (비빔밥) is the hansik eaten by most visitors. I am sure you will agree to this result – anyone who has tried hansik should have already eaten bibimbap. Bibimbap is also sometimes served on Korean airlines. Moreover, bibimbap best represents the metaphysical philosophy of hansik by combining the five colours (i.e., green, red, yellow, white and black) which represent the five elements (i.e., water, fire, wood, metal and earth) that make up the universe. In this blog post, I will talk about this signature Korean dish. Continue reading →