The spicy dish of tube-shaped rice cakes, ``tteokbokki,’’ frequently found in food stalls around Korea was selected by foreigners as their favorite street food.
According to a survey of 455 foreigners from 62 countries by the Institute of International Education at Kyung Hee University, some 31 percent of the respondents answered they enjoyed the spicy red dish the most.
The next favorite was chicken skewers with 29 percent, ``sundae,’’ or Korean blood sausages, with 20 percent and fritters at 9.6 percent.
Most of the foreigners, or 93.6 percent, said they liked Korean food, with 32.1 percent saying they liked it because it was tasty, 25 percent saying it was full of nutrients and 20.5 percent saying it was healthy.
While they also thought kimchi was the representative dish of Korea by 59 percent, 32.4 percent and 28.7 percent picked ``bulgogi’’ and ``galbi,’’ respectively.
The most frequently eaten dish turned out to be kimchi (29.2 percent), followed by grilled fish (17.1 percent), ``gim,’’ or dried seaweed (15.4 percent) and seasoned vegetables (10.9 percent).
When asked if there was a Korean dish they could make themselves, more than half or 59.8 percent answered positively. Kimchi jjigae, or kimchi stew, was the most common at 32.3 percent, while tteokbokki and ``gimbap,’’ rice and various fillings in seaweed roll, were also popular dishes to prepare themselves.
"외국인 길거리 음식으로 떡볶이 가장 선호"
국내 체류 외국인들은 길거리 음식 중 떡볶이를 가장 선호하는 것으로 나타났다.
경희대 국제교육원(원장 김중섭)이 최근 유학생, 결혼이민자 등 국내에 거주하는 62개국 외국인 455명을 대상으로 한국 음식에 대해 설문조사한 결과 외국인들이 가장 즐겨 먹는 길거리 음식은 '떡볶이(31.1%)'인 것으로 조사됐다.
이어 '닭꼬치(29.0%)', '순대'(20.2%), '튀김'(9.6%) 등의 순이었다.
외국인들 거의 대부분인 93.6%는 한국 음식을 좋아한다고 답했다. 한국 음식을 좋아하는 이유로 이들은 '맛있다'(32.1%), '영양가가 풍부하다'(25.0%), '건강에 좋다'(20.5%)라고 밝혔다.
외국인들은 한국의 대표 음식으로 '김치'(59.0%)라고 생각했지만 가장 좋아하는 음식으로는 '불고기'(32.4%)와 '갈비'(28.7%)를 꼽았다.
외국인들이 평소 자주 먹는 반찬은 '김치'(29.2%), '생선구이'(17.1%), '김'(15.4%), '나물'(10.9%) 등이었다.
실제 잘 만들 수 있는 한국 음식이 있느냐는 물음에 외국인의 59.8%가 '있다'고 답했다. 이들이 잘한다고 밝힌 음식은 '김치찌개'(32.3%), '떡볶이'(26.2%), '김밥'(15.9%)이었다.
