Pungent, spicy, salty but healthy are the best words to describe the Korean dining experience. From the all in one bibimbap (a combination of rice, meat and vegetables), to the soupy dishes which include Guk (soup), Tang (thick soup) or Jjigae (stew) or the infamous kimchi (fermented food) which is pungent, salty and spicy all in one - there’s never a boring moment when you eat Korean!

Bibimbap is a favorite amongst many, and is even served on international airlines such as Lufthansa as it is prized for its diversity in just a simple bowl. It is commonly served as a bowl of warm, fluffy white rice topped with namul (sautéed and seasoned vegetables), beef, gochujang (chili pepper paste) and a fried egg.

The healthy aspect of the Korean cuisine is that it’s always balanced out with lots of greens. For bibimbap, vegetables such as cucumbers, zucchini, mushrooms, bellflower root, spinach, soybean sprouts, bracken fern root, tofu or lettuce are added.

A variation to the dish is dolsot bibimbap (stone pot mixed rice), where the combination is served in a hot stone bowl and a raw egg is cooked right in the heart of the hot stone and combines very nicely with the rice, vegetable and meat to give it a chewy and sticky texture.

Traditional Korean cuisine is never complete without piping hot soup such as guk, tang and jjigae which always accompanies the staple meal of rice. Made from the stock of beef, seafood and vegetable and seasoned with salt, soy bean sauce and bean paste - soups such as seaweed soup, bean paste soup, seolleongtang (beef and bone soup) and yukgaejang (spicy beef soup) are nutritious to drink especially after a hard days work.

Next up is kimchi which is essentially vegetables or seafood pickled in a mixture of soy sauce, red pepper paste, red pepper powder or soybean paste. Korea boasts more than two hundred types of kimchi, all rich in vitamins, minerals and protein created by the lactic acid fermentation.

The most popular kimchi would be the Baechu Kimchi (whole cabbage kimchi) where whole heads of cabbages are trimmed to remove the outer leaves and then split into half’s and quarters. It is then soaked into brine (salt water) for about four hours until the cabbages have softened.

In the meantime, one can prepare the other ingredients which include mixing the ground pepper powder, chili powder, chopped garlic and ginger, pickled baby shrimp as well as oysters and clams together.

Once the cabbage is ready, pats dry the leaves and you’re all ready to rub the mixture in to the leaves. Spread the mixture evenly between the leaves of the cabbage until it is all used up. Let the kimchi ferment in a cool place within a container, at a temperature no higher than 68° F, for three to six days, until the kimchi is as sour as you like.

For a different dining experience, try Korean as it tickles your palette with its authentic and healthy offerings.