A Koryo-saram vendor in Almaty, Kazakhstan. Two dishes closest to the camera are morkovcha (2007)

Koryo-saram are ethnic Koreans of the former Soviet Union. They have a distinct style of cuisine that is descended from Korean cuisine and influenced by the cuisines of various countries they have lived in. They are often considered distinct from Sakhalin Koreans, another Korean group from the former Soviet Union that has their own cuisine.

The cuisine has achieved significant popularity throughout the former Soviet Union, with dishes like morkovcha widely available in grocery stores, and street foods like pyanse achieving significant popularity in Vladivostok and Moscow. However, to the reported surprise of some visitors from Russia, the cuisine is virtually unknown in South Korea. It is also considered by some to differ from South Korean cuisine significantly, especially as it descends primarily from the cuisine of regions now in North Korea.

Description

A Koryo-saram vendor in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, with various Koryo-saram banchan, including morkovcha (center) and funchoza (front, right)

Of Korean regional cuisines, Koryo-saram cuisine is most closely related to that of the Hamgyong provinces, now in North Korea. This is because many Koryo-saram are descended from people from that area.^[1]

Many of the dishes are adaptations of Korean dishes that use ingredients that Koryo-saram had access to.^[2][3] For example, while pork is popular in Korea, Koryo-saram cuisine in Uzbekistan lacks it since it's not widely available as a result of Islamic dietary restrictions on the consumption of pork.^[3] Seafood is also popular in Korea, but inland Koryo-saram do not consume it.^[3] The cuisine was also adjusted to suit the tastes of local non-Korean customers, notably by reducing the amount of pepper used.^[2]

Koryo-saram also consume food typical to the region that they are in. For example, a significant proportion of Korean Ukrainians move to South Korea for work. Many of them report that they miss Ukrainian food and enjoy South Korean food less than their food from back home.^[4] Cafe Lily, an Uzbeki Korean restaurant in New York City, serves Central Asian cuisine alongside Koryo-saram cuisine.^[5]

The cuisine is also considered so distinct from South Korean cuisine (in part because it descends from cuisine from areas now in North Korea) that some Koryo-saram, like notable academic German Kim,^[3] find many South Korean dishes unpleasant and unfamiliar.^[3][6] Some Russians are reportedly surprised when they visit South Korea and find that morkovcha is virtually unknown.^[2]

Koryo-saram have also incorporated elements of Korean cuisine into other dishes, particularly through the use of Korean spices.^[3]

Some of Koryo-saram dishes have achieved significant popularity throughout the former Soviet Union. Morkovcha can be found pre-made in many grocery stores.^[7][8]

List of dishes

• Jimchi (чимчхи) – descendent of kimchi, made without saeu-jeot.^[9] Name pronunciation comes from the Hamgyong Province pronunciation of the word.^[10]
• Morkovcha – carrot-based dish descended from kimchi.^[11] Commonly called "Korean carrot salad" in Russian.^[8]
• Kuksu – a cold noodle dish descended from janchi-guksu^[12][5]
• Funchoza – noodle salad dish, variant of japchae^[13][14]
• Begodya – steamed buns similar to jjinppang-mandu^[5]
• Sundya – blood sausage descended from sundae^[5]
• Bukjai (пуктя́й) – a soybean stew descended from doenjang-jjigae. In one restaurant in Traetgol Village in South Korea, the dish was served with tomatoes, cabbage, and a hardboiled egg^[9]

References