A couple days ago, I went out to eat at a Korean-Chinese restaurant called Ye-won. The Korean word for Chinese food is 중식 (jungsig). The fascinating part about this specific visit is that learned something new. That is, Korean-Chinese restaurants only sell Korean food. I was confused at first since I grew up thinking that Korean-Chinese restaurants were Korean restaurants that sell Chinese food, hence is the reason why you call it jungsig. Turns out that the food being sold is Korean but utilizes Chinese ingredients and style when making the food. My mind was blown after learning this as I lived my whole life thinking some of my most favorite dishes were Chinese.
This discovery is actually a captivating part of Korean culinary history. I learned that Chinese immigrants would settle in Korean a couple hundred years ago, also bringing their culinary expertise with them. This led to the Korean-Chinese culinary tradition that exists today in many restaurants. Many Korean dishes nowadays have adopted Chinese ingredients and style. One prime example is jjajjangmyeon, which is actually one of my childhood favorite dishes (although many restaurants don’t make it as tasty anymore). Jjajjangmyeon has Chinese origins, but Korean has adopted it into its own culture and “Koreanized” it to make it one of the most famous comfort foods in Korea and America for Koreans.
So essentially, you can consider it to be Korean-Chinese infused cuisine, but Koreans like to take credit for it because it is Koreans who transformed the cuisine into their own style and taste. This phenomenon has been my recent discovery that has rocked my understanding of Korean cuisine, culture, and history. I am looking forward to learning more about Korean culinary history.
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