Enjoy your drink with some delicious food!
Traditionally and typically before the main meal, Koreans enjoy eating certain dishes called anju (안주) that pair well with alcoholic drinks. These are usually served with some makgeolli, soju, beer, or other Korean traditional liquors.
In this article we’re going to show you a few of them, based on which kind of alcohol they are best enjoyed with.
- Beer (맥주):
Most people tend to accompany beer with dried food like dried nogari (young pollack) or dried/semi-dried squid and seasoned nuts, but it can also be enjoyed along with tteokbokki (rice cake simmered in a spicy sauce), corn cheese, fried chicken, twigim (the Korean version of tempura), and so on.
- Cheongju (청주):
Similarly to beer, this traditional Korean rice liquor is usually savored with dry dishes like jeonggwa (dessert prepared by boiling down dried fruits or edible plant roots in honey), but also with bulgogi (thin, marinated slices of meat), jeon (pancake-like dish made with vegetables, kimchi, seafood or meat) or sanjeok (dish made of skewered, thinly sliced meat and vegetables).
- Makgeolli (막걸리):
This type of beverage calls for soups and spicy anju snacks such as tofu-kimchi and dak-galbi (spicy stir-fried chicken), but also bindae-tteok (mung bean pancakes), bossam (boiled pork served with cabbage wraps), mak-guksu (buckwheat noodles), raw oyster, and more.
- Soju (소주):
Soups and spicy food go well with soju, and Koreans love pairing it with budae-jjigae (a.k.a. “Army base stew”, a spicy stew made incorporating a variety of ingredients like spam, bacon, hot dogs, etc), dakbal (spicy chicken feet), kimchi-jjigae (kimchi stew), eomuk-tang (fish cake soup), jokbal (braised pig trotters), and similar.
All these finger-licking delicacies can be found in most restaurants and markets and are a good means to socialize while experiencing Korean culture to the fullest.
Make sure you don’t miss out on them! 건배~
By Tya BÉRAMICE-DRACAN & Cristina SEVERI