So listeners, let's say you've made it all the way to Korea and you are ready to eat. We've talked about where to eat and about etiquette before. Today I wanted to go through some general questions about Korean food and debunk some Korean food myths.

The first question that I always seem to get is: What do Koreans eat for breakfast?

I think this is a valid question since every culture has different things they might eat first thing in the morning. Well, in Korea they will traditionally have a bowl of rice, a soup and some side dishes. People then ask me, what do they have for lunch and I answer, "rice, soup, and side dishes." Then they will ask me, "what about for dinner?" Again, I will answer, "rice, soup, and side dishes." The perplexed look on my guests' faces is priceless. The typical Korean meal is centered around rice. And in Korea, rice is considered to be tasteless and while it is filling, it is not considered to be a complete meal. The word for rice in Korea is "bap" and the word for a stupid person is "babbo." The person who is stupid is the one that only eats rice and doesn't know they need to eat other foods with it or they will not be healthy.

Also, since rice is considered to be dry, they need a wet food such as soup to accompany it such as a kimchi stew, known here as kimchi chiggae, or a bean paste stew or doenjang chiggae. These soups will contrast the texture of the rice.

The side dishes that come with the rice and the soup are called banchan or "half plates." These half plates are usually fermented foods such as a kimchi, soy bean paste, fermented seafood known as jotgal, or blanched vegetables such as bean sprouts or spinach. There could also be some protein such as a fried egg, marinated meats or a broiled fish. Think of banchan as the vitamins of the meal for they are made up of fortified foods or of fresh, seasonal vegetables.

So...a typical Korean meal will have these basic elements such as rice, soup and side dishes, but the possible combinations are endless. You could have seaweed soup one day with marinated beef bulgogi and side dishes or you could have kimchi stew with a fried egg and side dishes the next. The important aspect is that the meal revolves around rice.

Last week, I went to a Korean National History Museum and I saw a life-like diorama of what Koreans ate during the poor periods during the 50s and 60s and the meal was similar. However, they had a bowl of barley rice that was 3 times the size of what Koreans have today. With it, they ate blocks of red turnip kimchi, fresh green chilies dipped in soy bean paste, and a bowl of seaweed soup. As rustic as that meal sounds, I think it probably tasted delicious.

Another question, I get often is, "Do Koreans eat Kimchi with every meal?" And the answer is, "yes and no." You see, the problem is that in Korea there is over 100 different types of kimchi. When most people think of kimchi, they think of the ubiquitous napa cabbage type of kimchi. However, kimchi can be made with turnips, green onions, cucumbers, eggplant, turnip greens, even tomato and apples. There are spicy versions and non-spicy versions. There is even kimchi water. Koreans like to have something pickled with their meals, so typically there is a kimchi type element at each meal. It could be pickled cucumbers and onions with, let's say, spaghetti or Italian food. It could be the yellow, pickled radish with Chinese food or curried and pickled onions with Indian food. Without a kimchi-type element with the meal, Koreans would feel the meal is not complete.

Travelers also ask me, "Are all Korean foods spicy?" That is a simple one. No. Not at all. There are spicy dishes and Koreans do like spicy food such as tteokbokki, or spicy rice cake noodles, or maeun galbijjim (spicy, braised beef), but there are lots of dishes that are not spicy such kimbap or rice rolls, jeon or pan-fried pancake type dishes and calguksu or knife cut noodles. Not all Korean people can eat spicy foods, its just that spicy foods tend to get more of the attention.