Posted on 06/17/2018 5:41:02 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
So you want to go out in town and try out a restaurant your friends told you about? Well, Here's some helpful tips on how to order, even if your Korean speaking skills are limited.
Meats: When you go out to eat at a Korean restaurant with meat as the main dish, you will want to order a bit differently than you would at an American restaurant. Of course, if you are ordering a steak or a hamburger it is no different. However, if you are ordering meat to be grilled at your table you will normally order by the serving:
Give me three servings of ribs . > 갈비 삼인분 주세요 / gal-bi sam-in-bun ju-se-yo. The “sam-in-bun” part of the request is asking for 3 servings/portions.
Beef: 소고기 / so-go-gi
Common beef orders: * Beef Ribs > 소갈비 / so-gal-bi. * Rib roast cut into small grillable portions but without the bone: 소갈비살/ so-gal-bi-sal. * Sirloin cut for grilling Korean style: 등심 / Doong-shim.
Pork: 돼지 고기 / Dwe-ji-go-gi
* Pork ribs: 돼지갈비 / Dwe-ji-gal-bi. * Side pork (uncured): 삼겹살 / sam-gyop-sal.
* Though you can eat each of these directly from your grill, when you order them in a restaurant there is normally a way to truly make the experience more enjoyable. With each order of these meats will come a variety of vegetables and condiments. Normally you will receive lettuce leaves, garlic, red pepper paste, and, depending on the restaurant sesame leaves, Julian sliced onions, mushrooms, etc. (With the sam-gyop-sal, you will receive a small bowl of Sesame oil with some seasoning.) When the meat is cooked to your satisfaction, take it from the grill and place it on a lettuce leaf. Then add a dollop of rice and a little of each of the extras, pepper paste, garlic, onions, mushrooms, etc. Wrap it all into one large ball and stuff it into your mouth. It sounds rude but it is really the best and least offensive way to eat this.
Chicken: 닭고기/ Dalk-go-gi
Chicken Ribs: 닭갈비 / Dalk-Gal-bi. Not really what it sounds like. This is actually normally chicken breast cut into pieces and seasoned (spicy) then mixed with vegetables and cooked at your table in a grill or wok. (Boneless: 뼈없는 / Byeo-eob-nun) Fried chicken: 닭 튀김 / Dalk-dwi-gim. (It is just as common to hear “Chicken Fry.” Fried chicken with spicy sauce or flavoring : 양념 닭 /양념 치긴 / Yang-nyom-dalk / yang-nyom-chi-kin
Rice is a staple of Korean life and there are a number of ways to get it in a restaurant:
Rice: 밥 / bab
Fried Rice : 볶음밥 / Bok-kum-bab
If you want a certain kind of meat in the fried rices just add in the appropriate meat Pork Fried Rice: 돼지 고기볶음밥 / Dwe-ji-go-gi-bok-kum-bab
Chicken Fried Rice: 닭고기볶음밥 / Dalk-go-gi-bok-kum-bab Shrimp fried rice: 새우 볶음밥 / Se-u-bok-kum-bab Rice mixed with vegetables and seasoning: 비빔밥 / Bi-bim-bab. One variation of this dish is to have the bibimbab served in a hot stone bowl 돌솥비빔밥 / Dol-sot-bi-bim-bab.
Noodles: 면 / Myeon
Ramen: 라면 / ra-myeon Cold noodles: 냉면 / Naeng-myeon There are two common varieties of cold noodles 1. One is with the noodles served in a broth and is called water naeng myeon: 물냉면 / mul-naeng-myeon 2. Second is mixed with spicy red pepper sauce, hot mustard, and vegetables which is 비빔냉면 / Bi-bim-naeng-myeon.
One favorite Korean noodle dish of many westerners is Chap-chae and though it doesn’t use the “Myeon” is a noodle dish normally using vermicelli noodles (당면 / dang-myeon) mixed with vegetables stir fried in a mixture of sesame oil and other ingredients.
During the next couple of weeks try ordering some of these dishes you won’t be sorry.
Eat well: 많이 잡수세요 / Ma-ni jab-su-se-yo.
X2 2 ID Vet. Bibimbap was a breakfast staple for me the two years I was there. KATUSA snackbar on K-16.
Great food!
I take it you have never lived in Korea.
I get it. We have plenty of Koreans in these parts, and I love my KBBQ joints. Also my dolsat bimibop.
bwahahahahahaha
There was plenty of dog meat available during the Winter Olympics this year there.
In my two tours of Korea I saw dogs offered as meat exactly one time, and I travelled quite a bit. The French eat horses, many cultures eat bugs, insects, snakes, eels, etc. You do know what a veal is, right? A suckling pig?
I agree with your opinion on the Korean people. When I was stationed there in 1969 I also found them to be extremely sad that they had lost contact with family in the North. But their sadness didn’t prevent them from hating the communists. They were fiercely loyal to we Americans, especially the ROK Marines they sent to Vietnam. The VC/NVA were scared _hitless of them. Their military commanders and NCO’s had power of life and death on their subordinates. Many times I witnessed brutal beatings of low ranking soldiers who didn’t salute properly or were chewing gum as they came through the main gate and became Ti Quan Do practice for the gate guards. There were other cultural differences that took some getting used to as you learned that life in the Orient was cheap. I understand that it is far different now.
Humans have eaten everything imaginable since we “evolved” from primates. I guarantee your ancestors ate worse than dog at some point.
I spent a month in Korea, and went out a few times.
I probably broke all their rules of etiquette because I had no clue how we were supposed to eat. There were always several little plates of stuff—much of it unidentifiable—on the table, and we did not know what we were supposed to do with it. One thing they always served in the little plates was kimchee; I have realized that no matter how many times I try it, I will never like it.
I did like the bibimbap.
It’s good to learn new phrases in different languages, but I would just hope the menu had photos of the meals and clear arabic numbers for the prices. The worst thing would be to order way too much food for something I didn’t like, then realize I did not have enough money to cover it.
I don’t think washing the dishes for deficiently paid bills is still an acceptable solution. That may only have been in the movies anyway.
LOL, if you watched KDramas, you’d think all that Koreans ever ate was Subway.
Product placements are a big deal in KDramas.
Just know the difference between bul-go-gi (beef) vs the “other” meats. Ordering ke-go-gi means any meat and no telling what you’ll get. Have never heard of so-go-gi. Be careful!
“In my two tours of Korea I saw dogs offered as meat exactly one time, and I travelled quite a bit. “
Been a few years since I was there. Back then it was mostly a once a year culture thing but none of the Koreans I worked with would eat dog meat.
I did see a few trucks loaded with dogs during that summer event window.
When I was in TDC, I’d say downrange with never a problem. That 2nd S&T mess hall we had to go to because the 2nd Av one was being remodeled, though... Btw, best mess hall in Korea was the NCO academy in Camp Jackson.
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