On the Chinese Internet, there have been many "legends" related to South Korea -- Korean Xi bloggers, as long as they don't die, they will learn from death; young people in South Korea have evolved sleep by exercising late at night and walking in the early morning; and there is ice American style flowing in the blood of Koreans......
Liver explosion Koreans: One hand ice American style and one hand liver protection tablets
These legends are true and false, but there is only one I am convinced of - Koreans love to eat raw.
I love to eat raw, and Choi Min-sik munched a live octopus in the Korean movie "Old Boy" and gave me some small shocks, but after all, it is a movie, and movies always have to exaggerate a little......
Later, when I saw a food blogger who dismantled bloody beef liver with chili peppers and kimchi, and a beautiful blogger who loved beef bone marrow that had not undergone any processing, I knew that it was not that the movie was too exaggerated, but that I was too short-sighted......
Raw beef bone marrow, friends who have eaten it talk about what it tastes like
Source: YouTube Korea mukbang ONHWA
Map of raw food for Koreans
Raw meat + raw seafood
Going to South Korea without eating raw beef is about the same as going to Beijing without eating roast duck. It is said that this dish appeared on the king's table during the Joseon Dynasty.
Beef with bright red color, cut into thin strips, mixed with sesame oil, garlic and pear shreds, coiled into a round cake shape, and then knock a raw egg, evenly sprinkled with white sesame seeds, can be served with shochu as a snack dish, and can be made into raw beef bibimbap with rice.
Raw beef & octopus and mung bean pancakes at Gwangjang Market, a traditional Korean market
In addition to raw beef, Koreans also have the Xi of eating raw water, such as beef liver and beef shutters. These raw waters, which are usually found in rotisserie, are marinated in a sauce for a period of time to add flavor before being served to guests. It is said that the fresh raw beef liver has a crispy and sweet taste, and South Korea's national idol IU once munched on beef liver and shutters in variety shows.
Raw beef and often paired with live octopus make another section of the Korean map – seafood and river fresh.
In the Korean drama "Let's Eat Together", the protagonist Doujun swallows raw beef + live octopus in one bite
South Korea's coastline is long and winding, and seafood is abundant. Seafood has a tradition of being eaten raw, and Korea is no exception, such as shrimp and crab, sashimi, live octopus, abalone, sea sausage, and spotted ray.
Raw pickled shrimp and crab are extremely popular in Guangdong and Jiangsu and Zhejiang regions, and have always been regarded by gourmets as a way to eat seafood that can retain the most original flavor of seafood to the greatest extent, and the flavor type is mainly divided into two types: sour and hot and salty. Korean soy crab is very similar to the latter in that it is also marinated in soy sauce and has a juicy and umami taste. Because it is too good to eat, the sauce crab also has a nickname in South Korea - "rice thief",
Friends with a good stomach can really try it, it's delicious
Live octopus must be the first shock of Korean cuisine to exotic travelers. His honey, his arsenic. This kind of food sounds a little cruel, but it is a Korean tribute to octopus. Live octopus is originally a fishermen's dish in the southern harbor of Korea, but because of the respect for umami and the inconvenience of making a fire, it is not cooked at all, so it is grabbed and eaten directly, and finally it has become one of the national dishes of Korea. Although people die every year because of an octopus stuck in their throat, South Koreans still enjoy it.
The live octopus will help me mix the noodles well
Source: Korean drama "Let's Eat Together"
There is a raw food that smells like stinky tofu - spotted rays. The stench of spotted rays comes from fermentation. In Korea, the perfect accompaniment to spotted rays is makgeolly rice wine, which is also often seen in the traditional Jeolla-do dish "Samhae", where spotted rays and pork slices are eaten on kimchi.
There is also a kind of pink meat insect that the people of Shandong and Dalian are very familiar with, which looks like something unspeakable, and Koreans also like to eat it raw, that is, the spiny beetle, also known as sea intestine. In "My Love from the Star", Cheon Song-yi said that sea sausage and soju are a perfect match, and ordered Do Minjun Xi to go to South Korea's famous Eonyangjin Aquatic Market to buy sea sausage and eat it at home. Before eating the sausage raw, cut off the bristles on the head and tail, remove the internal organs, and then dip it in chili sauce or sesame oil to eat.
I still think that the sea intestine rice in the coastal area of Shandong is more delicious
In addition to meat and seafood, there is also an important category of raw food that occupies an unshakable place in the life of Koreans - vegetables. Whether it's lettuce and perilla leaves used to wrap meat during barbecue, or dazzling kimchi, they are actually eaten raw.
A meal for Koreans settled
Eating raw is also a kind
Cultural exchange
Dietetics believes that after the application of fire to cooking, humans began to consume cooked food, which meant moving from "nature" to "civilization". The Chinese diet attaches great importance to "cooking", and "drinking blood from Ru Mao" and "eating it alive" are regarded as barbaric and uncivilized behaviors.
But the pursuit of "cooked" is not monolithic. For example, sashimi originated in China and was known as fish belly, 脍 or 鲙 in ancient times. Later, it spread to Japan, the Korean Peninsula and other places. Therefore, the Korean raw food culture, which was once influenced by China, is a remnant of historical traditions.
Shunde Yusheng, who doesn't like to eat fish, also thinks it's delicious
Some ethnic minorities in China still retain the tradition of eating raw beef. For example, the Dai residents of Yunnan like to eat the "chop sheng", during major festivals or red and white ceremonies, the raw meat is removed from the muscles and bones, chopped into minced meat, and finely chopped green onions, garlic, small coriander, large coriander, pepper, pepper, pepper noodles, salt and other ingredients stirred well, and then put in a small amount of lemonade.
Yunnan chopping is born, believing in the power of Yunnan spices
Eating raw offal is not entirely unacceptable. Beef has a high status in Korea, and beef liver should be used as much as possible, and eating raw fresh beef liver is also one of the ways to use it. Some netizens commented under the video of a certain up master eating raw beef liver: "I have eaten raw sheep liver before, my family is of the Daur tribe, a herdsman." Take out the liver of the sheep that you just killed, soak it in cold water, soak it in the blood water, mix it with vinegar and a little salt and some seasoning, it is not fishy at all, it is particularly crispy and delicious. ”
The crunchy crunch
Eating seafood raw is a tradition among coastal fishermen around the world. Eating it raw means convenience and maximum enjoyment of umami. Coastal Xi gradually influenced the inland, the raw pickling of Chaoshan, and the raw fish of Shunde. South Korea is no exception.
Parasites + stomach cancer
Is it really because of raw food?
Eating raw food means risk. Raw beef may contain tapeworm solium, which lives in the human intestine and can cause symptoms such as weight loss, abdominal pain, loss of appetite and itching around the anus.
Eating freshwater sashimi carries the risk of liver fluke infection. Eating undercooked freshwater crabs is very likely to infect lung flukes. Whether it's soy sauce, chili peppers, vinegar, or seemingly extremely lethal alcohol and wasabi, they only have a seasoning function, but they can't kill parasites.
Microscopic liver flukes
Source: Centre for Food Safety, Hong Kong
Of course, clean soil and water, good public hygiene, a relatively complete and transparent supply chain, and strict food safety standards will greatly reduce the risk of parasitic infection. South Korea was also once a "parasite kingdom". In order to eradicate parasites, in the 60s of the last century, South Korea passed the "Parasitic Disease Prevention Act" and established the Parasite Eradication Association. In 1969, South Korea began banning the use of human manure as fertilizer. Since 1971, a nationwide sample survey of intestinal parasitic infections has been conducted every 5 years. In the 90s of the last century, the rate of parasitic infections in South Korea has dropped to extremely low levels.
However, there are still unavoidable risks associated with raw food. If you are very concerned about your health, try to avoid raw food. If you really don't want to sacrifice your appetite, you must pay attention to the source and handling of your food, as well as the frequency of raw food.
There is also a saying that Koreans love to eat raw food, so they are prone to stomach cancer.
Gastric cancer is indeed one of the common cancers in Korea, and according to data published by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) in 2020, gastric cancer is the fifth most common cancer in Korea after lung cancer, colorectal cancer, breast cancer, and liver cancer. South Korea has the third highest incidence of gastric cancer in the world, followed by Mongolia (32.5 per 100,000), Japan (31.6 per 100,000), South Korea (27.9 per 100,000), and China fifth.
The mechanism of cancer has not yet been clarified. The current consensus is that cancer is the result of a combination of factors, including external environmental factors, such as environmental pollution, bacterial infection, socioeconomic level, etc., as well as individual factors, such as carrying specific genetic mutations. In general, risk factors for stomach cancer include a family history of stomach cancer, stomach infection caused by Helicobacter pylori, eating a lot of high-salt and smoked foods, smoking, drinking alcohol, etc.
Compared to raw, barbecue with wine cannot be said to be healthier
Many studies believe that the high incidence of stomach cancer in East Asian countries is closely related to the long-term tradition of eating high-salt foods and pickled foods. Compared with raw food, high-salt, pickled cooking methods have a greater impact. However, although the incidence of gastric cancer in South Korea is high, the five-year survival rate of gastric cancer is also extremely high, reaching 77%, which is at the world's leading level.
Therefore, respecting the food and Xi habits of various cultures, we should not try blindly, and it is important to have an understanding of our own body.