Human Diet Series: Korea
by Sally Fallon and Mary G Enig, PhD
In today’s climate of political correctness,
the food of Korea holds special interest.
For while Korean cuisine is heavily influenced
by China, it differs in one important respect
- a reliance on beef as the main meat. Pork
is the main meat of China, and fish serves
as the main meat in traditional Japanese
cuisine; Koreans eat plenty of seafood and
pork, as well as some chicken. But the distinguishing
characteristic of this Asian diet is the
frequent use of beef. Consumption of beef
is more common among the affluent who typically
eat beef several times per week; the less
well-to-do consume more pork. Much of Korea’s
beef is domestically grown, with a total
of about three and one-half million head
of cattle per year, for a population of about
46 million.
A popular beef dish in Korea is one of the
fattiest cuts - beef short ribs - prepared
with a spicy sauce; or thinly sliced flank
steak or brisket, marinated in a sauce made
from toasted sesame oil, garlic, onion, sugar,
pepper and soy sauce, and broiled on a small
charcoal grill. Skewered beef, ground beef,
boiled beef and salted beef feature prominently
in Korean cookbooks - along with recipes
for the innards including liver, tongue and
tripe. A popular hors d’oeuvre or snack
is dried beef, similar to beef jerky. Thinly
sliced beef is marinated in a spicy sauce
made from soy sauce, garlic, ginger and sesame
oil and dried in the sun or in a very low-temperature
oven. Beef is also frequently eaten raw.
Koreans consume a wide variety of sea foods
including shrimp, oysters, squid, crab, clams,
abalone, snapper, cod, perch and whiting.
Fish and shellfish are usually steamed, but
are also eaten raw. Vitamin-D-rich shrimp
sauce, made of tiny preserved shrimp cured
in salty brine, is used in small amounts
as a flavoring. Small dried shrimp are added
to many dishes.
Eggs are consumed as part of traditional
dishes, such as egg custard, egg batters
and egg pancakes, and not separately as a
breakfast food. In fact, Koreans eat the
same foods for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Enzyme-rich fermented foods are served at
every meal, principally as kimchi, a spicy
condiment made from cabbage, radish, cucumber
and shrimp sauce. In the summer kimchi is
made every day. Winter kimchi is usually
made in autumn and is a project for the entire
family. The kimchi is stored in large earthenware
jars and buried in the ground, so that just
the mouth of the jar is above the surface.
A variety of other fermented foods can be
found in Korean markets including pickled
cucumbers, garlic, fish, crab, squid, anchovies,
jellyfish, shrimp and many flavorful fermented
sauces and pastes made from fish, shrimp,
red beans and soy beans.
Soybeans play a minor but important role
in Korean cooking, as tofu or bean paste
added to soups as a thickener, or mixed with
eggs. Mung beans are used more frequently,
either sprouted or cooked, and made into
delicious bean pancakes.
The principle grain is rice, which is prepared
by soaking overnight. The next day, the rice
is brought to a boil, cooked for about one
half hour, and then gently steamed for several
hours. Rice is also used to prepare various
types of rice cakes that are colored white,
green and pink, or mixed with nuts and other
seeds, and sold as convenience foods. “Five
grain rice,” a combination of glutinous
rice, black beans, sweet beans, sorghum and
millet, often replaces plain rice at family
meals. Additional carbohydrates are provided
by potatoes and sweet potatoes; noodles made
from wheat, buckwheat, sweet potatoes or
rice; or from various types of dumplings
and cakes. Grains were traditionally treated
by fermenting, roasting or malting, before
they were used for dumplings and noodles
- Korean markets carry wheat malt flour,
barley malt flour, fermented soy bean flour,
roasted five grain powder and potato starch,
all of which are easier to digest than flours
made with whole grains and legumes that have
not been properly prepared to neutralize
phytic acid and other anti-nutrients. Nowadays,
housewives are more likely to use white flour.
A unique feature of Korean cuisine is its
emphasis on wild roots, wild mushrooms and
ferns, gathered from the forests and mountainous
areas. These would provide minerals in abundance.
Plentiful fat soluble activators - from organ
meats and shellfish - would ensure that these
minerals are well absorbed.
Fresh vegetables are also served at every
meal, usually lightly steamed, particularly
turnips, radishes, green onions and lots
and lots of garlic. Most produce farms in
South Korea are privately owned and quite
small - averaging less than three acres in
size. The best cropland is along the western
and southern coasts.
Koreans also frequently consume seaweed,
particularly kelp, which is an excellent
source of iodine and trace minerals. A soup
of beef broth with added kelp and rice is
considered an important dish for pregnant
women.
Sesame oil is the chief oil used in Korean
cooking, although meat fats are used for
cooking ramen noodles. Wild sesame oil, also
called perilla oil, rich in omega-3 fatty
acids, is not used for cooking, but consumed
by the spoonful as a health food, or mixed
with raw egg.
On the whole, Korean cuisine is low in fat
compared to that of China. Chinese food is
characterized by the stir-fry technique and
the use of rich sauces. The Japanese eat
many things raw or deep fried, but most Korean
dishes are grilled, or prepared as stews.
Red pepper, ginger, garlic, onions, toasted
sesame oil and fermented sauces made from
legumes or sea food are the principal flavorings
used in Korean cuisine. Korean food is spicy,
but not overly so.
In general, Korea is not a tea-drinking nation.
In the old days, the water in China and Japan
had to be boiled in order to make it fit
to drink - and tea was added to make the
hot water palatable. Korea, however, was
blessed with pure mineral water that did
not have to be boiled, so widespread tea
drinking did not take hold. Today, ginseng
is widely used as a base for herbal drinks,
and as a hot drink. Other hot drinks are
prepared with roasted barley, cinnamon or
lemons. A variety of punches made from peaches,
strawberries, cherries, lemons, pomegranate
seeds and persimmons can be found in Korean
cookbooks. A popular beverage is sweetened
and fermented rice water. Korean alcoholic
beverages include a weak medicinal wine brewed
from rice, and a stronger distilled beverage
made from grain. Often flowers or fruits
are added to these brews to produce plum-ginger
wine, magnolia wine, hundred-flower wine
and chrysanthemum wine.
Most meals begin with soup based on a mineral-rich
broth made from beef bones. Korean beef broth,
made by simmering bones for at least twelve
hours, is a rich source of minerals, particularly
calcium and phosphorus, in easily assimilated
form. Korean stores carry concentrated soup
bone powder and fish powders to facilitate
the process of making soup and provide additional
calcium. Vegetables including radishes, cabbage
and mushrooms, as well as meat, tofu, seafoods,
rice and spice may be added.
One of the most prominent of Korea’s distinguishing
dishes is sul long tang, a broth made of
beef bones to which slices of beef brisket,
rice and noodles are added. Sul long tang
may be eaten at the beginning of a meal,
but it is also served as a popular snack
food, eaten morning, noon and night, and
available at numerous mom-and-pop style cafes
- the Korean equivalent to McDonalds, the
difference being that the fast food of Korea,
produced by traditional methods, is actually
good for you!
Sol lung tang is the specialty of a restaurant
called Gam Mee Ok, at 43 West 32nd Street
in Manhattan. Other dishes include raw beef,
cut into a julienne and served with the typical
tangy sauce, cooked brisket, tongue, liver,
tripe, sliced calves feet and an interesting
looking dish made of snails. Fermented kimchi
is served with everything. Fresh raw vegetables
garnish the various platters, served plain
and crisp - not smothered in vegetable oils.
Rice is served as a side dish as well as
a fermented beverage. Sugary desserts don’t
figure on the menu. In fact, the fare at
Gam Mee Ok is a paradigm of a healthy traditional
diet, containing a good source of fat soluble
vitamins (liver, tripe, tongue and snails),
raw meat, gelatinous mineral-rich bone broth,
and fermented condiments and beverages. Conspicuously
lacking are sugar and vegetable oils - and
for that matter soy. The one legume dish
is a delicious pancake made from mung bean
sprouts.
The waiters and waitresses at Gam Mee Ok
look like they have just stepped from the
pages of Nutrition and Physical Degeneration
- all have beautifully white straight teeth,
well formed faces and graceful, muscular,
lean physiques. In general, Koreans have
good teeth, at least compared to the Japanese.
According to National Cancer Institute data,
Korean women have one of the lowest cancer
rates in the world (64.9), slightly lower
than that of Japan (78.1) and China (88.6),
and considerably lower than that of the United
States (109.7). For Korean men, the cancer
rate falls in the lower middle range (150.3),
almost equal to that of Japan and China and
slightly lower than that of the United States
(150.3) Rates for colon and rectal cancer
for beef-eating Koreans are very low, as
are rates for lung cancer, breast cancer
and cancers of the reproductive organs. But
Koreans have the highest rate of stomach
cancer in the world. Irritants added to foods
- such as talc in white rice - may account
in part for high rates of stomach cancer,
as well as the prevalence of smoking and
consumption of alcoholic beverages, especially
among Korean males. Koreans have a relatively
high rate of liver disease, also possibly
due to consumption of alcoholic beverages
without the protective benefits of adequate
saturated fat in the diet. The rate of ischemic
heart disease is relatively low, about 21
per 100,000, compared to 66.8 in the United
States. Average life span in Korea is 70
for men and 77.7 for women.
Despite the impact of the west on South Korea,
and its embrace of industrialization, traditional
Korean cuisine has changed relatively little.
Like the French, the Koreans take food very
seriously. Koreans believe that the happiness
of a family depends on the quality of food
served in the household. For Koreans who
have emigrated to the United States, the
ties to their native diet are less strong.
While Korean markets in the US are filled
with a huge variety of Korean foods, from
fresh sea food to fermented condiments, they
also now sell bread, cakes and pastry made
with white flour. Candies made with sugar
and high fructose corn syrup take up far
more shelf space than traditional sweets
based on grains, seeds and honey or malt
syrup.
The challenge for Koreans in their homeland
will be to remain faithful to their traditional
diets, while increasing the amount of animal
foods, particularly animal fats, available
to the poor, and reducing carcinogens in
their environment and food supply. The great
challenge for Koreans in America will be
to resist adding sugary, devitalized foods
to their healthy traditional cuisine.
The authors are grateful to Tina Parks and
Hea Young Kuhn for their help in preparing
this article.
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All information Copyright ゥ1997,1998, 1999,
2000, 2001 PPNF. All rights reserved.
Contact The Price-Pottenger Nutrition Foundation
at info@price-pottenger.org
page last modified: 01/18/2001
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