This topic is not related to the MIS, but to share
about a Korean Cuisine that I experience since I joined my new company. I have
joined this company since May 2013, a Korean’ construction company established
in Malaysia almost ten (10) years.
(Sources: felixbennet picture)
Korean cuisine as a national cuisine
known today has evolved through centuries of social and political change.
Originating from ancient agricultural
and nomadic traditions in southern Manchuria
and the Korean peninsula, Korean cuisine has evolved
through a complex interaction of the natural environment and different cultural
trends.
(Sources: felixbennet picture)
Korean cuisine is largely based upon rice, vegetables,
and meats.
Traditional Korean meals are noted for the number of side dishes
(banchan)
that accompany steam-cooked short-grain rice. Kimchi
is served often, sometimes at every meal. Commonly used ingredients include sesame oil,
doenjang
(fermented bean paste), soy sauce,
salt, garlic, ginger, pepper flakes and gochujang
(fermented red chili paste).
Ingredients and dishes vary by province. Many
regional dishes have become national, and dishes that were once regional have
proliferated in different variations across the country. The Korean royal court cuisine once brought
all of the unique regional specialties together for the royal family. Meals are
regulated by Korean cultural etiquette.
(Sources: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Korean.cuisine-Kimchi-Jeotgal-01.jpg)
Kimchi refers to often fermented vegetable dishes
usually made with napa cabbage, Korean radish, or
sometimes cucumber, commonly fermented in a brine of ginger, garlic, scallions,
and chili pepper. There are endless
varieties with regional variations, and it is served as a side dish or cooked
into soups and rice dishes. Koreans traditionally make enough kimchi
to last for the entire winter season, as fermented foods can keep for several
years. These were stored in traditional Korean mud pots known as Jangdokdae
although with the advent of refrigerators, special Kimchi freezers and
commercially produced kimchi, this practice has become
less common. Kimchi is packed with vitamin A, thiamine B1, riboflavin B2,
calcium, and iron. Its main benefit though is found in the bacteria
lactobacilli; this is found in yogurt and fermented foods. This bacteria helps
with digestion. South Koreans eat an average of 40 pounds of Kimchi
each year.
While soju is the best known liquor, there are well over 100
different alcoholic beverages, such as beers, rice and fruit wines, and liquors
produced in South Korea as well as a sweet rice drink. The top-selling domestic
beers (the Korean term for beer being maekju) are lagers, which differ from
Western beers in that they are brewed from rice, rather than barley.
Consequently, Korean beers are lighter, sweeter and have less head than their
Western counterparts. The South Korean beer market is dominated by the two
major breweries: Hite
and OB. Taedonggang
is a North Korean beer produced at a brewery based in Pyongyang since 2002. Microbrewery
beers and bars are growing in popularity after 2002.
(Sources: http://www.trifood.com/soju.asp)
(Article Sources: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Korean_cuisine )
Soju is a clear spirit which was originally made from
grain, especially rice, and is now also made from sweet potatoes or barley. Soju
made from grain is considered superior (as is also the case with grain vs.
potato vodka).
Soju
is around 22% ABV,
and is a favorite beverage of hard-up college students, hard-drinking
businessmen, and blue-collar workers.
The
best part about this company is having a monthly dinner to gather all the
staffs; sharing our love, joy, happiness by having “Korean Cuisine”.
