Let’s have a drink! – A look at the Korean drinking culture

A scene often appearing in the Korean TV dramas is people drinking alcoholic beverages and getting drunk. When you travel to South Korea, you can often see people drinking alcoholic beverages in green bottles called soju. According to a survey by the Korea Alcohol and Liquor Industry Association, in 2010, 93.8% of men and 83.8% of women said they regularly consumed alcohol. Alcohol is indeed an integral part of the Korean life.  Let’s talk about the Korean drinking culture in this blog post. Continue reading

Hansik (Korean Food) Series -Samgyeopsal

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