05 November, 2009 15:21 PM

South Korean Government Sets Standard Menu Names For Korean Food

SEOUL, Nov 5 (Bernama) -- South Korea said Thursday that it will seek to standardize the names of dishes at Korean restaurants, domestically and around the world, to help foreign diners know what they are ordering, reported Yonhap news agency.

The new menu scheme will be first introduced at local restaurants frequented by foreign customers, Seoul's agriculture ministry said, adding that efforts will also be made to have the system adopted overseas.

The ministry has come up with recommended standard spellings and descriptions for 124 dishes, beverages and desserts in English, Japanese and Chinese. French and Spanish will be added to the list in the near future, it said.

"There has been a considerable need to establish a uniform list of names for traditional Korean dishes, as restaurants both in Korea and abroad have been using whatever names they saw appropriate," the ministry said.

Explaining further, the ministry recommends that restaurant owners describe the word "gimbap" as "dried seaweed rolls."

Currently some eateries called the rolls "kim bap," or by longer names as "rice rolled up in dried seaweed," which has caused confusion for most diners. confusion.

The ministry went on to say that "Bibimbap" should be described as "rice mixed with vegetables and beef" and "samgyetang" as "ginseng chicken soup" under the new menu standards.

The ministry said that linguists, government officials and experts from the Korea National Tourism Organization took part in the establishment of the standard names.

It hopes that restaurants will begin to start changing their menus late this year, but there will be no penalty for restaurants that choose not to adopt the new system.

"Soon the names can be downloaded from a government website (www.foodinkorea.co.kr) and be printed for use. The site will also include basic recipes and pictures," the ministry said.

-- BERNAMA

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