Okay, so today I’m gonna share my little food adventure… or should I say, deep dive into North Korean cuisine. I know, sounds kinda crazy, right?
It all started when I stumbled upon some articles online about food in North Korea. I got super curious. Was it all just propaganda pictures of feasts, or was there something more real and interesting going on? So, I decided, why not try to recreate some dishes? I mean, I love a good cooking challenge!
First thing I did was research. I spent hours digging through blogs, watching documentaries, and reading anything I could find about North Korean food. Finding reliable information was tough, I tell ya. A lot of it was either heavily biased or just plain vague. I finally pieced together a few dishes that seemed somewhat authentic and had recipes I could actually work with.
Next up: shopping. This was tricky. I live in a pretty diverse city, but finding ingredients that are specifically used in North Korean cooking? Not easy. I ended up substituting a lot. For example, I couldn’t find proper kimchi ingredients, so I had to settle for generic Korean kimchi base and tweaked it myself. Same with some of the fermented sauces – had to improvise!
Alright, so let’s get to the cooking. I started with something called “North Korean Pancakes”. Apparently, they’re not sweet like the ones we usually eat. These were savory, filled with vegetables and a little bit of meat (I used pork ’cause that’s what I had). I mixed the batter, chopped the veggies (mostly cabbage and scallions), and pan-fried those babies. They came out kinda… rustic. Not the prettiest, but the taste was surprisingly good! Salty, savory, with a slight tang from the kimchi I added to the filling.
Then, I attempted some kind of noodle dish. I think it was supposed to be something like Onban. Finding the right type of noodles was another adventure. I eventually found some thick wheat noodles that looked close enough. I made a broth with beef and some veggies, added the noodles, and topped it with a fried egg and some more kimchi. This was… interesting. The broth was flavorful, but the noodles were a little too chewy. I think I overcooked them. Oops.
I also tried making some Dubu Bap which, from what I gathered, is basically rice topped with seasoned tofu. This was actually the easiest one. I crumbled the tofu, stir-fried it with some soy sauce, garlic, and a little bit of chili paste, and piled it on top of rice. Simple, but satisfying. I think this is something I could actually eat regularly.
What did I learn? First, North Korean food is probably way more diverse than what we usually see in the media. Second, recreating it is HARD. Finding ingredients is a pain, and reliable recipes are scarce. But it was a fun challenge, and I definitely learned a lot about different flavors and cooking techniques. Would I do it again? Absolutely! Maybe next time I’ll try making some Kimchi from scratch. Wish me luck!
And yeah, that’s pretty much it. Just my little food experiment. It was fun, it was educational, and it gave me a new appreciation for the complexities of North Korean culture (even if it’s just through its food).
