Book offers wisdom on globalizing hansik

First lady Kim Yoon-ok, left, appears in a TV program on CNN last year to introduce local cuisine. / Korea Times file

By Lee Hyo-won

Globalizing ``hansik’’ or Korean cuisine has long been a key agenda here. But what exactly does that mean in promoting local dishes?

Ahead of the G20 Seoul Summit, the ``C20’’ or 20 culture experts were invited to explore the local cuisine, while during the summit first lady Kim Yoon-ok treated the spouses of the G20 leaders to a traditional court-inspired meal. Kim also appeared on CNN to introduce Korean dishes while Hollywood actress Heather Graham was recently in town for a cookery program.

Hansik restaurants can be easily spotted in any city around the world. But promoting hansik seems to involve more than just making sure as many non-Koreans try a bite of kimchi. Changes need to start at home, according to a new book.

Kwon Chang-ho, who works for the Korean embassy in Beijing, offers a smart analysis of the local culinary scene and practical advice addressing problems through ``Korean Food, Cook Up the World’’ (Lux Media: 328 pp., 13,000 won).

Highly recommended by star chef Edward Kwon and other culinary experts, the book’s greatest selling point is that it is truly idealistic in the sense that it is first and foremost very realistic.

The young diplomat’s passion for Korean food is palpable ― he says he is green with envy upon seeing non-Japanese sushi fanatics make pilgrimages to Japan. But Kwon’s long sojourn in the United States and other foreign countries has enabled him to palate the local food from an outsider’s point of view.

He argues that the local cuisine needs to undergo a qualitative improvement and dishes out some of the most practical advice ― upgrading the local restaurant culture, making new creative attempts and developing a system that is tailored to Korean culture.
The author begins by outlining factors that cripple hansik’s foray into the world and proposes 69 tips to realize its globalization.
The daily lives of Koreans have undergone a huge paradigm shift ― it’s difficult to imagine a time when Koreans weren’t wearing Westernized clothing or living in high-rise apartment buildings. But among the three basic necessities, food, clothing and shelter, Kwon says, what we eat tends to change last.

Korean dishes are notoriously time-consuming, involving lots of mincing, dicing and fermenting, but the writer points out that they are largely made with very few ingredients. Scallions and garlic, and a hint of salt, sesame oil and pepper ― ingredients that were most common during a time when foodstuffs were rare, and Korean ancestors were wise and talented enough to develop variations that have endured to this day, and even coming into vogue for being great for diets.

But Kwon reprimands the local culinary scene for being lazy ― for not developing anything new in a time when Korea ranks among the world’s top 10 trading nations and thus has a multitude of new ingredients and sauces available.

He also points out the fact that the country, despite being crowded with restaurants, lacks a real restaurant culture. There are only two kinds of eateries: Bustling market-style places with reputed dishes that are frequented round-the-clock by diners but lack any sort of order (they are noisy and crowded, so people line up, eat quickly and leave) or ``sarangbang’’-style (the private quarters of a traditional Korean house) places that are more high-end but have separate rooms that recreate the feeling of eating at home. Few establishments offer a unique restaurant-going experience. Style, in addition to taste, must become an important factor for restaurants.

The book argues the need for Korean food to be presented in a more elegant way, by offering dishes in small bite-size portions with stylish spoons and chopsticks, and moreover, by upgrading the service. But it also stresses the importance of preserving generations-old eateries with run-down charm, such as the tiny shops lining Pimat-gol in downtown Seoul.

In terms of taste, Kwon suggests that inspiration can be found in children’s taste buds, like spicy ``ramyeon’’ (instant noodles) topped with cheese, that often entail creative experimentation. But thoroughly traditional local dishes such as ``chueotang’’ (ground loach broth), which is an acquired taste even for many Koreans, can actually be developed into something truly unique, and thus, global.

Kwon says that globalizing hansik will require the combined input of not only chefs and culinary specialists, but also businesspeople, hotels, interior designers and ultimately, consumers as restaurant-goers, who need to become more aware of the services they are entitled to.

Last but not least, ``Korean Food’’ stresses the importance of standardizing the Romanization of Korean food ― if people fall in love with ``bulgogi’’ (barbecue), how will they be able to order it again if a restaurant lists it as ``bull koki’’?