Greek vs South Korean food & cuisine

Every day eating revolves around wheat breads, vegetables like tomato and eggplant, legumes, greens, and cheeses, feta and graviera, with yogurt as sauce or base. Coastal fish and island seafood sit alongside lamb, goat, pork, and charcoal-grilled souvlaki.  Honey, nuts, and phyllo dough desserts provide a sweet finish. In short: elemental ingredients, careful seasoning, and communal joy. 

Charcoal grilling and stone-pot cooking are common, contrasting with China’s wok-centered stir-frying and Japan’s frequent raw or lightly handled seafood; grilling at the table is especially characteristic in Korea.

Another use of wheat is as a comfort food, hilopites, Greek pasta, resembling flat, square-shaped pieces, often homemade and cooked in rich tomato sauce with chicken or lamb.

In Greek cuisine, rice isn’t as essential as in some other cuisines, but it does bring diversity in flavors and textures. It’s used as a filling for tomatoes, bell peppers, and grape leaves, in soups, and in pilafs (though bulgur is also used in pilafs), often seasoned with fresh herbs, olive oil, and lemon. The use of other cereals is minimal.

Traditional cooking used cast-iron pots, leaving a toasted crust called nurungji, which is eaten as a snack or brewed into sungnyung, a roasted rice water drunk after meals to refresh the palate.  In everyday meals, the default white rice is plain. But Korea also has a tradition of various mixed baps.

In Korea, noodles (guksu) are popular but secondary to rice. Unlike China or Japan, where noodles hold deep cultural weight, in Korea they remain complementary.

Rice noodles are rare; buckwheat, wheat, and sweet potato starch dominate. Sweet potato starch gave rise to japchae’s glass noodles. Noodles appear as hot soups, cold broths, or stir-fried dishes, served hot or at room temperature.

Barley often substituted rice, and many households still mix it into rice. Barley tea (bori-cha) is the default table drink. Corn, more common in the north, was eaten roasted, boiled, ground for porridge (oksusu-juk), or mixed with rice; corn tea (oksusu-cha) is also standard.

Wheat was historically scarce, but became central in knife-cut noodles, buckwheat blends and dumplings mandu.

The most frequently used are tomatoes; they are the base of many sauces and are the star of gemista and Greek salad. Eggplants are often grilled, baked, or fried, mashed into a popular smoky eggplant dip, melitzanosalata. Zucchinis you may find stuffed with rice and herb mixture or transformed into fritters. Roasted peppers might be used in salads, spreads, or served as accompaniments. Spinach, dandelion, and amaranth greens are of widespread use. While okra is more commonly associated with cuisines of the American South, the Middle East, and Africa, it also finds its place in Greek kitchens; here, it is known as bamies.

Greek cuisine stands out for its minimalist approach to pulse preparation. They cook them in olive oil to bring out the natural flavors and season mainly with garlic, onions, tomatoes, oregano, and lemons, while neighboring cuisines incorporate more spices.

Greek cuisine is rich in potato recipes. Lemon is a key ingredient in almost everything – it adds the iconic flavor this cuisine is known for.

Kimchi began as salted vegetables; chili peppers from the Americas transformed it into the spicy red napa cabbage style by the 18th century. Garlic, ginger, scallions, chili, and fish sauce give depth. Koreans eat 36–40 kg of kimchi per person yearly, though consumption has declined in recent decades due to lifestyle shifts, sodium concerns, and changing habits.

Meals also include namul (seasoned greens), braised roots, and pickles. Popular dishes: jeon (zucchini, scallion, or kimchi pancakes), japchae (sweet potato noodles with vegetables), and ssam (greens used as wrappers for rice, condiments, or meat).

Legumes are central: soybeans for tofu, soybean sprouts (kongnamul), soy milk for kongguksu noodles, and fermented condiments (doenjang, ganjang, gochujang). Mung beans appear in bindaetteok (pancakes) and nokdumuk (starch jelly). Azuki beans are used in rice cakes, breads, and patjuk porridge.

The sea contributes fish, algae, and seaweeds – another essential plant-based element of Korean cuisine.

Asian pears, persimmons, apples, citrus, melons, and berries are popular in South Korea. Asian pears and persimmons were especially important, as gifts, in ceremonies, in traditional medicine, as meat marinades, and all over art and poetry.

Lamb is the most iconic meat locally, especially during the Orthodox Easter, when whole lambs are roasted on spits. Dishes like kfeftiko rustic slow-cooked lamb, paidakia lamb chops, and lamb fricassee, braised with greens, are popular.

In the same rocky terrains, goats roam alongside sheep. They are loved and prepared similarly; the meat is flavorful and pairs well with Greek herbs.

With the advent of Christianity in Greece, pork became more prominent as it wasn’t associated with ancient pagan rituals like lamb or beef; the relative ease of pig farming also contributed to its popularity.

Koreans were historically farmers; rice and grains anchored meals, and meat was secondary. Buddhism discouraged slaughter, keeping meat less central, but beef held symbolic weight in Confucian rituals.

Pork surged in popularity after the Korean War, becoming the most common meat in South Korea’s growing economy. Chicken was traditionally valued in soups and stews for nourishment, but in the late 20th century, fried chicken became a national phenomenon. Today, crispy twice-fried chicken with sweet or spicy sauces is a leading export, paired with beer in “chimaek” culture.

Korean meat dishes avoid large roasts or steaks. Meat is cut thin, bite-sized, or ground – once to stretch scarce meat, and also to ease marination, grilling, and sharing. No knives appear at the table; food is served ready for chopsticks and spoons.

Korean barbecue stems from older grilling but took shape in the 20th century. Bulgogi dates back over 1,000 years, yet grilling was not a daily fare. By the 1970s–80s, with rising incomes, restaurants popularized table-top grilling. Today, Korean BBQ – especially pork belly (samgyeopsal) – is central in South Korea and globalized across the U.S., Europe, and Asia.

Among the Greek islands, seafood specialties feature sun-dried octopus, which you’ll often see hanging outside to dry. This method tenderizes the meat and imparts a unique dried flavor. Once dried, the octopus is grilled, becoming tender and smoky.

Grilled sardines can be found in various cuisines, but the simple Greek preparation typically involves olive oil, lemon, and oregano.

Koreans eat raw fish quite often, but also differently from Japanese sashimi. Seafood is sliced thicker and chewier, hoe is almost always eaten with sauces, as a part of the bigger spread, often eaten on social occasions and followed by beer.

A very important to Korean flavor identity is jeotgal,  a category of salted, fermented seafood. Tiny shrimp, anchovies, oysters, roe, or crab are preserved into condiments that power kimchi, appear as punchy side dishes, or become fish sauces aekjeot.

Mountainous terrain favored sheep and goats, so sheep cheeses became dominant; feta is a white, brined, tangy cheese primarily from sheep’s milk, with up to 30% goat’s milk allowed under PDO rules.

Feta is among the oldest recorded cheese styles, linked to descriptions in Homer’s era, and still hugely popular – often cited as about 70% of Greek cheese consumption.

With over 120 million olive trees in Greece, that’s roughly 11 trees for every resident in the country. The majority of the olive oil produced is of extra virgin quality, making it one of the highest percentages in the world. It’s mind-blowing to think about the impact of olives and olive oil on Greek cuisine. One of the most characteristic aspects of Greek food is ladera dishes. These are vegetables cooked slowly in olive oil with tomatoes and herbs, creating a rich, comforting meal.

Nuts grow abundantly throughout Greece; they are enjoyed raw and roasted as a snack, a crunchy addition to salads or pilafs, and in sweets. Nuts, especially almonds, hold religious significance in Greece.

Many of Greece’s desserts, such as baklava, galaktoboureko, and kataifi, rely on phyllo dough soaked in honey or sugar syrup. The combination of crunchy layers with sticky syrup creates a signature texture central to Greek sweets.

Korean desserts are subtle and light, made of rice, beans, grains, nuts, honey, and fruits. The sweetness is delicate, just enough to balance bitterness. Chewy texture is very preferred, also crunchiness, or soft pressed sweets that dissolve on the tongue. Visually, many are shaped with molds, decorated with patterns, or colored naturally with plants.  Tea-culture roots and ritual/seasonal usage keep portions small.