North Korean cuisine. North Korean cuisine, dishes, recipes, history

The cuisine of North Korea is the culinary traditions and cooking methods of the state of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (not to be confused with the Republic of Korea).

Traditional dishes

Bread

Soups

Main dishes

Naengmyeon, translated from Korean as Cold noodles, is perhaps the most common food in Pyongyang, this dish has a strong cultural history, stories and songs are composed about it. Pyongyang cold noodles are made from buckwheat. It is black and served in a clear, cold broth and usually contains an egg, a few pieces of meat. Koreans wish long noodles long life or long years of marriage. Everyone at the wedding is treated to cold noodles, so saying “No noodles, thank you” would be very rude.

Most North Koreans are mildly obsessed with cabbage kimchi, and a spicy version of the dish is now on the United Nations cultural heritage list. North Korean kimchi usually comes with a lot more spices than South Korean kimchi.

The biggest cliché in Korean cuisine is dog meat. By the way Koreans don't call it dog meat, in North Korea it's called sweet meat. Dog meat is a delicacy in North Korea and people can afford it maybe once or twice a year. In most cases, tourists are offered dog soup. Usually it is very sharp, and it is actually quite difficult to make out the taste of meat. There are several restaurants specializing in dog meat in Pyongyang, the most popular dishes there are dog ribs and steak. By the way, in North Korea, the culture of keeping dogs as pets is guard dogs and there are farm dogs. And another question that often arouses interest - What breed of dog do Koreans eat? Koreans eat dogs specially bred for this breed - Nureongi.

Salads and appetizers

Dessert

The drinks

Alcohol

In 2000, North Korea imported an entire brewery from Ushers of Trowbridge (UK) to the capital to make Taedonggang, now the most popular beer in the country. Back then, it was all for the sole purpose of publicly declaring that North Korean beer is better than South Korean beer...and now it actually is. True, this is more likely not a merit of the North Koreans, but a defect of the southerners, their beer is of a painfully poor quality. Let's go back to Taedongan, named after the river that runs through Pyongyang. North Korea has a special beer economy - men get beer vouchers every month. However, those who refuse beer will be given more food - so this is a rather difficult choice. Other than that, if you want a beer you can go to a trendy bar and buy a pint there for two or three dollars, or go to a more proletarian place and get it for a voucher or for money - about 25 cents.

Another very popular drink in North Korean cuisine is soju. A fairly cheap drink with an alcohol content of 20-40 degrees. Soju is more popular in Pyongyang, while even cheaper makgeolli predominates in the countryside. In North Korea, it is customary for a person who is late for lunch or dinner to pour three shots of soju.

The cuisine of North Korea is practically no different from South Korean cuisine, and is a reflection of the gastronomic elements of neighboring countries.

National cuisine of North Korea

Rice occupies a central place in Korean cooking: it is cooked crumbly, viscous and liquid, and other products can be added to it during cooking. In addition to rice, legumes (soybeans, mung beans, adzyki beans) have become widespread in North Korea. So, soy is useful for making tofu cheese, its sprouts are often fried in oil, and fermented seasonings and various sauces are prepared on the basis of soy milk. It is worth noting that panchang is often served with rice and second courses - a variety of salads and snacks in small plates (mainly salted, boiled, pickled or fried vegetables with spices).

Not a single meal is complete without putting on the table kimchi (their basis is pickled cabbage): kimchi comes with garlic, onions, peppers, edible herbs, radishes, fruits and even salted shellfish. To give a special taste to some unleavened dishes, in North Korea they are supplemented with soy sauce or meat broth based on spices, herbs, herbs and vegetables.

Popular Korean dishes:

“kuksu” (a dish in the form of cold noodles made from buckwheat flour, seasoned with a broth based on meat, vegetables and herbs);
“hamul-than” (spicy soup with seafood);
“luotal” (soup with meat and rice);
“khwe” (a dish of meat marinated in soy sauce or vinegar, with vegetables, fish or seafood);
“kadi-cha” (eggplant-based salad);
“tothorimuk” (acorn jelly).

Where to try Korean food?

When you go to a local restaurant, you can be sure that you will be served something of a set meal - i.e. in addition to the main dish, soup, rice and kimchi will be on your table.

Tips are common everywhere, although they are not officially encouraged, but if you wish, you can thank the attendants with a small cash reward (5-10% of the bill).

In Pyongyang, to satisfy your hunger, you can visit the National restaurant, where guests are treated to Korean dishes and local beer (the entertainment program is represented by evening performances of traditional music groups).

Cooking courses in North Korea

You will be offered to start your gastronomic journey through North Korea with a visit to restaurants in Pyongyang - for those who wish, they conduct master classes in cooking Korean dishes, followed by an independent repetition of the actions of the chef and tasting cooked in a friendly company.

For visiting North Korea, you can find such an exciting occasion as taking part in the Culinary Arts Festival (April, Pyongyang).

I don't know how, but I love Korean food.
In Moscow, however, there are not too many places where you can enjoy it.
However, they do exist, and one of them is the Koryo restaurant on Ordzhonikidze Street.
This restaurant is unique because it is owned by North Koreans and they cook and work there.
The interior is appropriate, but the atmosphere is very friendly, almost homely, the cuisine is excellent, and the prices are very democratic, which cannot be said about some other Moscow Korean restaurants.
There are many Koreans among the visitors, apparently from the south, as well as Japanese.
There is a secret VIP room with karaoke, it seems that for the citizens of North Korea they are only, at least, only they go in and out of there in my memory.

Having visited Korea once again recently, I decided to report to the public, if there is one.

The hall is quite spacious, everything is very ascetic, which, in fact, should be expected from a North Korean restaurant.

There is a television showing performances by North Korean ensembles in front of large halls filled with military and working people.
Every now and then images of Kim Jong-un appear on the screen, as expected.
Nearby is a hanger with Korean national women's costumes. They say that waitresses used to dress in them and sing Korean songs for visitors, but I myself have never seen this.

The waitresses, by the way, are all tall and pretty. There is also a bar counter, where without it.

But let's move on to the main thing - to food.
The menu in the restaurant is extensive, and in addition to Korean, there are also Japanese dishes (sushi, rolls, etc.), and even the so-called European dishes, such as Olivier and even borscht.
Portions are mostly small, with the exception of a few dishes, the serving is simple and slightly careless, but this is offset by prices in the region of 200-400 rubles. for a dish.

What Korean meal is complete without the main national dish, kimchi? None, of course.
I am ready to testify that the best kimchi in Moscow is served in Korea. It's just super kimchi, I would say. There is a large portion, there is a small one, which we ordered.

Shrimp dumplings are amazingly delicious.

Glass noodles with mushrooms are also a test.

Zucchini in batter stuffed with shrimps. I don’t know how they managed to stuff the shrimp into zucchini, but the result was impressive.
The waitress warned that they were preparing for a long time, 30-40 minutes, but brought in 20.

The main dish - perch in soy-orange sauce - dump head. The fish is tender, the sauce is amazing.

Calamari fried with hot peppers. Korean cuisine in general is known to be very spicy. Which was confirmed by these squids.

The highlight of the program is bibimbap. Something like pilaf in Korean - boiled rice in a very hot cast-iron (a crispy crust should form), on which various vegetables, nori and an egg are laid out. Sometimes it happens with meat, but in Koryo they cook without it. The spicy gochujang paste goes there, and everything is mixed just before use.

I must say that the bibimbap this time was not the best I've ever tried. But maybe I'm just too big a fan of it and picky.

Here's how they ate dinner. With beer for two 3400 rubles.

In the 1970s, the North Korean government set out to expand relations with other countries. At this time, the first tourists began to enter Pyongyang, and North Korean goods and establishments began to appear abroad. One of such "exit" attractions was the restaurants of traditional Korean cuisine, which were opened in Russia and Europe. There are two official establishments in Moscow that are supervised by the embassy of the DPRK - the Koryo and Rynrado restaurants.

Features of North Korean cuisine

The cuisine in the North and South of the peninsula does not fundamentally differ, so there is no need to talk about the features of North Korean dishes. Like South Korean ones, they are distinguished by their sharpness and abundance of spices, they are represented by vegetables, meat, fish and seafood. It should be noted right away that there is no traditional exotic dog meat in restaurants. From meat, mainly chicken and beef.

At the same time, it should be taken into account that when Koreans say that their food is spicy, this most often means that it will be very difficult for Russians to eat it. If you do not like hot food, it is better to immediately ask the waitress to reduce the amount of spices.

North Korean beer "Taedongan" enjoys a good reputation even abroad. However, it is not always possible to try it in restaurants - most often guests are offered Czech, German and Russian drinks. In general, it is unlikely that you will be able to try traditional alcohol or soft drinks. Visitors have to be content with the usual tea, juices, soda and alcohol to choose from.

Eat in restaurants with chopsticks and spoons, depending on the dish. The variety of treats is large - up to two hundred items. At the same time, the portions are quite voluminous, so many visitors recommend not ordering many dishes at once or dividing them into a company. The disadvantages of the menu include a small selection of desserts - they offer only three options that are made from sweet beans and sesame seeds.

In addition to traditional cuisine, European dishes are also offered, but, judging by the reviews on the network, they are ordered infrequently.

Staff and service

In both restaurants, the waitresses are young and attractive North Korean women who don't speak Russian very well. However, it is not so bad as not to find a common language with visitors. One of the assumptions why well-speaking people are not hired is “prevention” from conversations on unwanted topics. At the same time, it is believed that the waitresses at home were educated in the service sector and earned a good reputation. Under other circumstances, they would not have been released abroad.

There is also a theory about beauty: the tenderness of girls and their embarrassment due to the incorrect pronunciation of words should contrast with the image of the DPRK in the world. Everyone is accustomed to the drill step and military uniform, but in reality they are faced with meek and attractive Korean women.

True, visitors often note that waitresses are reluctant to make contact, smile a little and keep aloof. However, what some visitors perceive as unfriendly, others regard as unobtrusive. Previously, groups of musicians and dancers often performed in North Korean restaurants, but this is no longer practiced in Koryo and Rynrado. You can order a performance separately and in advance - for example, for a banquet. Representatives of restaurants explain this by the fact that Russian visitors much more than Asians like to relax in a calm and quiet environment.

However, for those who want to have fun, Koryo has a karaoke room - one of the favorite leisure activities in North Korea.

Restaurant furnishings

There is no need to say that North Korean establishments are made in the usual, deliberately Asian style. Rather, they resemble Russian middle-class cafes - and maybe even canteens. However, thanks to this, not just a Korean, but a North Korean mood appears in the establishments. The walls are decorated with landscapes made in the traditional style, national interior items and even a hanger with folk costumes - Josonots (as hanboks are called in North Korea).

Korean channels are shown on TV in the restaurant - most often you can get to news releases, concerts or performances by North Korean artists. The interior is also decorated with the colors of the national flag - in red-white-blue, for example, the bar in the center of the hall is painted. I would also like to say more about the names. "Koryeo" is the name of Korea, which was used in the country until the early 14th century. And the DPRK authorities usually use this word when they talk about the unification of North and South Korea.

The name "Rynrado" comes from an island on the Taedong River, which flows in Pyongyang. It is considered a symbol of the modernity of the DPRK - for example, it houses the world's largest May Day stadium.

And if visitors are especially lucky, they can get a free copy of the legendary Korea magazine in Russian.

North Korean Cuisine Traditions not very different from their South Korean "relatives".

Unprecedented simplicity has become a characteristic feature of the national cuisine of North Korea, of course - Koreans simply mix everything in a row, using literally any products and the most common processing methods. However, of course, there are differences between the traditions of each region, and this, in principle, is quite explainable by different climatic and natural conditions, as well as the influence of the peoples of the countries bordering the DPRK.

Recipes North Korean cuisine. Dishes for the holidays. National New Year's recipes.

First meal:

Main dishes:

The main local cuisine is rice in all its forms and methods of preparation. At the same time, the role of this cereal is so great in Korea that in almost all establishments there are simply no other dishes, except for using rice. The most popular dishes are ordinary boiled rice without salt, unleavened rice porridge called “pap”, rice chops, rice cakes (“chahltok” or otherwise “tteok”), “bibimbap” pilaf prepared according to a special recipe, “cook” soup , which is served with ordinary boiled rice, vegetable sandwiches, rice or omelet called "gimbap", red pepper paste with rice and cold vegetables and many other types of rice - sour, simple, sweet, tart with a huge variety of additives, spices and fillers.

There are also appetizers, represented by a fairly large variety, and even quite often they have a brighter taste compared to the main dishes. When setting the table, Koreans arrange small plates of snacks around a rice dish, and during the meal, various snacks are mixed directly to the taste of the diner.

A popular snack in North Korea is sauerkraut or pickled cabbage called kimchi. Despite the fact that at first glance, the method of preparing this snack is quite simple, in reality it has a lot of options. For example, "kimchi" with carrots, radishes and various other vegetables is also sometimes added with edible herbs and garlic, onions and peppers, and even fruits.

And for special gourmets - salted clams. The Koreans themselves say that there are more than 500 variants of kimchi.

Of course, we should not forget about the famous "Korean carrot", which is so popular with us. Like kimchi, this snack has many recipes - more than two hundred. In addition to these snacks, various types of mushrooms and the traditional “he” dish, made from meat, vegetables, seafood or fish marinated in vinegar or salted or in soy sauce, are also widely used.

A fairly important place in the daily diet of the people of the DPRK is occupied by various soups, and any Korean meal necessarily begins with broths. The most interesting thing is that the meat that was used to cook it is usually served as a second course.

As for drinks, various decoctions of herbs, barley and rice, as well as mineral and ordinary water, are traditional for Koreans. By the way, they don’t drink them at the table, they usually drink alcohol during dinners, of which there are quite a lot here. The national cuisine of North Korea is very peculiar but at the same time delicious.