North Korea: How the Lack of Food Created a Unique Cuisine

What should I eat today? This common question frequents the mind of all. However, the word “what” represents either the abundance of food of nations such as South Korea, but it may also reveal the lack of sustenance in others like North Korea. In countries such as South Korea and the United States, this word affirms the many options that one has to choose from. Think of your fridge: you often have too many options to choose from! On the contrary, in countries such as North Korea, “what” does not signify the many options of food; rather, it represents the want for any type of food to simply fill the stomachs of the people.

Just as with dialect, the food differences between North and South Korea have grown more distinct since the countries split in 1945. If you ask a South Korean what the three basic necessities were, he would most likely answer “clothing, food, and shelter.” However, if the same occurred with a North Korean, the most likely response would be “food, clothing, and shelter,” emphasizing the desire of food for the typical North Korean.

Due to this scarcity, common North Korean food includes rice, soup, kimchi, gochujang (red pepper paste), and doenjang (soybean paste). With the lack of a meat industry, the winter season is especially brutal. Produce growth is stunted during this time, as typical during any winter, resulting in the food of this season consisting of only the basics: rice, kimchi, and gochujang. The latter two are eaten during the winter months due to their fermentation process, stalling any possibility of spoilage.

Although food remains a scarcity for many North Korean families, some will prepare popular dishes during special occasions. These include Pyongyang cold noodles (Pyongyang raengmyon) and “artificial meat rice” (injogogi). The former is a cold noodle dish, consisting of buckwheat noodles, beef, kimchi, cucumbers, egg, vinegar, and mustard. Named after the capital of North Korea, Pyongyang cold noodles can also be found in South Korea by the name of naengmyeon. The next of these, “artificial meat rice,” was eaten during the Arduous March famine in the 1990s. Due to the aforementioned lack of a meat industry, North Koreans used tofu to create a protein resembling meat. This dish was completed with the addition of rice and red pepper. While this originally provided sustenance for the body during the famine, it is now eaten for its delicious taste; it is even sold in South Korea. Because much of North Korea’s cuisine has been shaped by the poverty in that country, culinary gems have sprung from what seemed to be the worst of times, representing the impact food has on one’s culture.

Sources:

https://www.nknews.org/2023/08/ask-a-north-korean-whats-different-about-food-in-north-and-south-korea/

https://www.reuters.com/article/world/fake-meat-free-markets-ease-north-koreans-hunger-idUSKBN1D30VV/

https://www.youngpioneertours.com/pyongyang-cold-noodles/

https://more.ctv.ca/food/recipes/pyongyang-naengmyon.html