 |
| gettyimagesbank |
By Yoon Ja-young
People overseas pick Korean-style fried chicken as their favorite Korean food, while more than half of the Koreans surveyed do not think it belongs in that category, according to recent polls.
A survey of 1,500 Korean nationals by the Korean Food Promotion Institute shows that 63.9 percent believe that regular fried chicken is not Korean food, while 45.1 percent say that neither is marinated fried chicken. Respondents were asked whether they would consider each of thirty different kinds of food consumed here as Korean.
The survey results showed that kimchi is the dish that most people (99.7 percent) consider Korean, followed by doenjang-jjigae, or soybean paste stew, at 99.3 percent, buchimgae, or savory pancakes, at 95.3 percent, japchae, or glass noodles with fried vegetables, at 94.3 percent, and gimbap, or seaweed rice rolls, at 90.8 percent.
Koreans' perception of fried chicken as not Korean contrasts with another survey by the institute in which people living overseas picked fried chicken as their favorite Korean dish. In the survey conducted in August and September, 8,500 people in 17 cities around the world were asked to name their favorite Korean dish. Fried chicken topped the list, with 16.1 percent of votes. They also picked Korean-style fried chicken as the Korean dish they eat most frequently, followed by kimchi and bibimbap.
Joo Young-ha, a professor of folklore studies at the Academy of Korean Studies, said in an interview with local CBS Radio that one should focus on the concept of K-food, rather than arguing whether or not fried chicken should be considered a Korean dish. When asked whether fried chicken is a Korean dish, he said that it should be considered a K-food, adding that this category includes not only dishes that Koreans traditionally think of as Korean, but also dishes served in Korean restaurants or those produced by Korean food factories.
Joo pointed out that foreign nationals living overseas often come to be interested in K-foods such as samgyeopsal (grilled pork belly), soju, tteokbokki (stir-fried rice cakes) and pajeon (scallion pancake) after seeing those dishes in Korean dramas, while Koreans want to introduce foreigners to more traditional dishes, like royal cuisine, as Korean.
 |
| Japchae / gettyimagesbank |
He said that the perception of whether certain dishes are Korean changes over time. Tteokbokki, for example, emerged late as in the 1960s, and japchae started as a dish based on Chinese sweet potato noodles and Japanese soy sauce in the 1930s, although the dish dates back to the Joseon Dynasty. As time passed, however, Koreans came to regard this new form of japchae as traditionally Korean, he added.
![[VIDEO] Filipina K-pop idol and K-drama actress react to stereotypes about the Philippines](https://img.koreatimes.co.kr/upload/thumbnailV2/230201chantyjoyce2web_5891a49058fb1.jpg/dims/resize/178/optimize)
![[INTERVIEW] Tati Gabrielle, actress of Korean, African-American descent, feels proud of her heritage](https://img.koreatimes.co.kr/upload/thumbnailV2/d2f45162b11d4965a7168093560f59e3.jpg/dims/resize/178/optimize)
