I’m a little bit surprised by these results:
Bibimbap, or rice with vegetables and red pepper paste, is the most popular local food among foreigners living in Korea, according to a poll released yesterday.
The survey, commissioned by the Corea Image Communication Institute, also found that nearly six out of 10 foreigners believed Korean food could be popular abroad.
The survey was conducted among 207 foreigners from Aug. 19 to Sept. 3 to measure the appeal of Korean food to foreigners and its potential in the global market.
It found that 79 percent of respondents enjoyed traditional Korean food and 59 percent said Korean food could be popular in other countries.
When asked about their favorite Korean food, 17 percent of respondents picked bibimbap. Bulgogi, or seasoned beef, came in second with 14 percent, while galbi (barbequed beef ribs) received 11 percent and kimchi (pickled cabbage) came in fourth at 5 percent. [Korea Herald]
I like bibimbap but I would think bulgogi, galbi, or samgyeopsal would rate higher than bibimbap. Who thinks bibimbap is the top Korean food?
Popularity: 3%
11:14 am on October 24th, 2007 1
actually, I would have voted for one of the gringo versions of been soup–soondooboo-chigae or dwenjun-chigae–long before bibimbab…
But my favorite has got to be those big mandu things I had in Yoeido (at a shop behind the LG Twin buildings)… almost as good as home cooking…
11:27 am on October 24th, 2007 2
Oh…who cares about this kind of shit. It’s fluff, let’s tackle real issues like why is it that over 60% of E2 don’t finish their contracts.
Koreans are of low mentality, they only talk about food. That’s what you get when poor farmers get rich too quickly. You can take a rat from the gutter but you can’t take the gutter from the rat.
11:58 am on October 24th, 2007 3
Hey skippy, I’m not Korean. And when a guy from Texas (who knows real barbeque means brisquets and smokers big enough to tow behind your F350) comes to Korea, it IS important to talk about the food…
5:44 pm on October 24th, 2007 4
Chicken cheese ramyon.
6:13 pm on October 24th, 2007 5
Sounds like Mark has spent to much time in ma’s tent.
8:22 pm on October 24th, 2007 6
Actually I tried mok sal for the first time the other night. It is pork, but way better than sam gyeop sal as there is more meat and less fat, yet cooked the same way. The side dish of onions in vinegar was really good, too.
As for bibimbap, I’d rather eat one of my dog’s turds than that meatless poo-poo.
11:03 pm on October 24th, 2007 7
I wonder what the demographics of the sample were?
Cheapskate ESL teachers spending as little as possible on food?
Bulgogi and Sam Gypsal are never going to take off in the West as there’s too much fat in them.
1:56 am on October 25th, 2007 8
bibimpap? It’s OK. Just like ramyon or fried rice is OK, but who really gets excited about a dish comprised of rice and vegetables?
kalbi, samgyeopsal, and ‘Mexican chicken’. That’s all any foreigner really needs to know about Korean food.
3:02 am on October 25th, 2007 9
Scott, what about gamjatang? Ridiculously over-priced, but probably the best Korean food out there IMO.
8:27 am on October 25th, 2007 10
Ni de yonghuming zhen shi kelian de.
11:37 am on October 25th, 2007 11
skippy, if you think that Korean news is fluff, then have you seen U.S. news lately? Paris Hilton, Britney Spears, and Anna Nicole Smith dominate the headlines. Little airtime is given to the soldiers in Iraq or Afghanistan.
7:21 am on October 26th, 2007 12
I’ve always liked bibimbap for it “fill me up” quality and the gochujang (red bean paste) that is used in it is a delight to the mouth and to another orifice where it ends up eventually.
As for why this made it tops in the survey, I kind of agree with Jon Allen when he asks about whether the survey was done amongst fat ESL teachers trying to spend as little money on food as possible.
My favorite all time Korean feast has always been Bulgogi with rice and all the side dishes that you can muster and, of course, the obligatory fried garlic and soju chaser.
7:51 am on October 26th, 2007 13
My all time favorite is spicy samgeopsal which was served in a restaurant I frequented in Uijongbu and also on Cheju Island where there is a number of restaurants there that serve excellent samgeopsal from the pigs they raise there.
Bulgogi if cooked properly is also excellent. The best bulgogi I have ever had was at a restaurant at Sanjeong Lake in northern Kyeongi province.
4:14 pm on October 27th, 2007 14
Ah, kamja tang. Good stuff. I avoided trying it for a long time due to its less than appealing name (translates into ‘potato soup’). It’s basically a pork dish.