By Honorary Reporter Alle Blessing Ovase from Nigeria

Photos = Alle Blessing Ovase

One must explore cuisine to truly know a nation's culture and traditions. As someone passionate about Korean culture, I often contemplated if I could ever get the Korean experience in my home country of Nigeria. 

This curiosity was recently alleviated with the help of the Seoul-based Korean Food Promotion Institute, which sent 12 types of meal box kits through the Korean Culture Center (KCC) in Nigeria to Hallyu enthusiasts in my country. This gave us the opportunity to get a taste of Korea by cooking and eating these 12 distinct Korean dishes at home.

Many aspects about the kits amazed me but one that stood out was the packaging and preservation. The meals were each beautifully packaged in rectangular-shaped boxes and aesthetically pleasing individual wrappers for each ingredient. Over the years, Koreans have perfected the art of preserving food, so many of their dishes are pickled, salted, fermented or spicy. The meals in the kits were no different, containing pickled radish, freeze-dried tofu, fermented cabbage and lots more. The ingredients were preserved so that they could last a long time without refrigeration. I had my kit for about a month, and the last meal I prepared tasted as fresh as the first.

With each slice of my knife, each stirring of the pot and each bite I took, I learned more about Korean culture, people, history and food. I tried the famous side dish kimchi as ingredients in a variety of foods such as jeon (traditional pancakes), mandu (dumplings) and fried rice.

It was an absolute delight to eat these meals with my family and friends and watch them react to the taste. I saw their expressions change as they experienced the flavors, textures and spiciness of each meal, while simultaneously falling in love with how flavorful and savory the dishes were.

Every meal kit was an adventure for my senses. I thank the institute for giving me this amazing experience and look forward to the next.

kalhong617@korea.kr 

*This article is written by a Korea.net Honorary Reporter. Our group of Honorary Reporters are from all around the world, and they share with Korea.net their love and passion for all things Korean.