Category Archives: Blog

What Makes Korea So Slim?

When you visit our Korean restaurant in Seattle, you’re not just indulging in a delicious meal. You’re also doing your body a favor. Indeed, though the powerful flavor and satisfying heartiness of Korean food may deceive you, Korean cuisine is among the very healthiest kinds of foods on the planet.

Consider our national obesity rate of 34.4%. It’s old news that this is the highest of any country, beating out runner-up Mexico by four percent and New Zealand and the UK by nearly ten. South Korea is the narrow-waisted winner among the developed world, boasting a scant obesity rate of 3.4% (a solid tenth of our own). Though there may be many factors playing a role here, it’s clear that the Korean diet is chief among these.

According to a scientific study, the average Korean meal contains 13% less fat than the average meal consumed in America or Europe. Korean food is rich in grains, vegetables, and spices, filling you up with fiber and vitamins and keeping your metabolism burning at peak performance. When meat is used, they tend to favor better, leaner cuts, flavoring them with rich marinates instead of unhealthy cooking oils.

So for your next night out, forgo the greases and fats that put the strain on America’s belts and treat yourself to healthy, Korean goodness!

Ceremonial Food in Korea

The food served at our Seattle Korean restaurant comes from a long history of culinary tradition. Food plays a central role in formal Korean ceremonies, such as weddings, funerals, coming-of-age rituals, and ancestral rites. Although the ceremonial foods differ across regions, the importance of these foods has contributed to their elaborate, carefully crafted flavors.

The ceremony associated with deceased relatives is called jesa, and Korean food is integral to the event. In a series of phases, food presented at funeral ceremonies includes rice, soup, liquor, noodles, skewers of meat, vegetables, kimchi, fruit, and many more.

Experience the mastery of flavor developed over thousands of years by visiting Old Village in Seattle!

Esteemed Korean Gal Bi Entrees

Served in many different entrees at our Seattle Korean restaurant is gal bi, which refers to a large variety of grilled, marinated beef or pork shot ribs. The marinade, most commonly used with beef ribs, uses a base of Korean soy sauce, sugar, and garlic. Gal bi translates to “rib,” and can be further specified by different prefixes that denote the type of meat and cooking method used.

Old Village cooks gal bi into a variety of different dishes, including hot and cold soups, combo boxes, and hot pots, although it is also commonly eaten by itself as an entrée. For many of these meals, the ribs are conveniently served boneless. Find out more about our gal bi recipes at Old Village in Seattle!

Be Adventurous, Try Fish Eggs!

Visitors of our Seattle Korean restaurant may be apprehensive to try anything made with fish eggs (or roe), but their widespread use in cuisines across the globe suggest that they are not such a strange delicacy. As a peninsula, Korea harvests the ripe fish roe from a variety of sea life, including herring, salmon, cod, sea urchin, and others.

Fish eggs can be served either raw or cooked, and are considered an excellent source of omega-3 fatty acids. Korean fish roe are often seasoned and served in hot soups, such as in our soft tofu soup.

More information on Korean fish egg recipes is available at our Seattle Korean restaurant.

Korea’s Cold Noodle Soup

The noodle soups served at our Seattle Korean restaurant come in both hot and cold variations, so you can choose a soup perfect for any season. Cold noodle soups, called naengmyeon, are made with an iced broth and long handmade noodles made from starch. Most Old Village cold noodle soups are made with flour or the starches of buckwheat, potatoes, and yam.

Cold noodle soup was a popular dish in Northern Korea, but following the Korean War, South Koreans too adopted the delicacy. Today, cold noodle soup has gained popularity worldwide and Old Village brings you a wide selection of naengmyeon. The long noodles traditionally symbolized longevity, so some still choose to not cut the noodles as they eat.

Korea’s Regional Recipes

Korea’s local agriculture and ingredients have set this cuisine apart from others for thousands of years. As a peninsula, Koreans relied heavily upon seafood and crops such as rice and vegetables. Pork, chicken, beef, and tofu are also commonly used in Korean cooking, bringing the cuisine great variety. Fermenting methods practiced in early Korean history brought us kimchi, the most frequently eaten food in the Korean diet.

Regional variations between recipes have also contributed to the diversity of Korean cooking. The royal court of Korea was the first to combine many of these regional variations, although the global popularity of Korean cuisine today has blended influences to an even greater degree.

Kimchi: More Than Just a Side

Although kimchi is most commonly served as a side dish, our Seattle Korean restaurant also serves full entrees with kimchi as the central component. The average amount of kimchi consumed each year in Korea is about 40lbs. per individual, so this variety has become important to the cuisine.

At Old Village, we serve kimchi in a variety of ways; try a kimchi soup or our Korean herb pork sampler. Korea’s most famous recipe, kimchi, has been creatively blended with entrees to bring you a unique variety of this daily essential.

Find out more about our kimchi options by visiting our Seattle Korean restaurant!

Tofu and Korean Cuisine

Many of the recipes at our Korean restaurant in Seattle use tofu, a type of curd made from soybeans. Tofu was first created in China in the second century BC and spread to Korea alongside Buddhism. Vegetarianism had been a common practice among Buddhists, and tofu was soon discovered to be a valuable source of protein.

In addition to its high protein content, tofu contains several other essential nutrients such iron, calcium, and magnesium. Low in fat and calories, tofu dishes should be kept in mind when looking for healthy alternatives. Old Village has a wide selection of soft tofu soups as well as tofu salad. See what other dishes can be made with tofu at Old Village in Seattle!

Korean Dolsotbap and Bibimbap

Two of the most popular dishes enjoyed at our Korean restaurant in Seattle are dolsotbap and bibimbap. The recipes are very similar, so if you like one, chances are you’ll like the other. Both dishes are rice-based (bap meaning “grains”) with meat, an egg, and a large variety of vegetables. Dolsotbap is served in a stone hot pot to turns the bottom layer of rice golden brown and a little crunchy.

Dolsotbap and bibimbap are perfect dishes for non-adventurous eaters and those who don’t care for spiciness. The dishes, however, can be made very spicy by adding hot sauces. These two entrees are typically cooked with beef, rice, zucchini, carrots, soybean sprouts, spinach, and egg. Find out why dolsot and bibimbap are some of Korea’s favorite dishes by visiting us at Old Village Korean restaurant!

Hot Korean Soups and Stews

Delicious, flavorful soups are a perfect choice for a light meal or a cold day when you visit our Korean restaurant in Seattle. Korean soups (called guk) remain popular in the cuisine year-round since recipes may be either served hot or cold. Historically, soup has played a major role in Korean cooking; it was often prepared in times of famine and consumed to warm up in cold weather.

Thick, seasoned stews (jigae) are a commonly shared side dish, but Korean soups are most often eaten as a main dish. They can be prepared with all kinds of ingredients, including beef, chicken, seafood, tofu, veggies, and even kimchi.

Check out our selection of soups and stews at Old Village Korean restaurant in Seattle!