Korean Cuisine and Dining

Korean Cuisine and Dining (Korean: 《한국인의 밥상》), sometimes translated as Korean Food Table,[1] is a South Korean television documentary series that airs every Wednesday at 7:40 pm, South Korean time.[2] It focuses on Korean cuisine, and is presented by Choi Bool-am.[2] It aired its first episode on January 6, 2011.[3]

The show has also notably covered Korean history in order to explain the various foods covered.[3] The series has also covered food of the Korean diaspora, including Sakhalin Korean cuisine[4][3] and Koryo-saram cuisine.[5]

The series celebrated its tenth anniversary on January 7, 2021. By this point, Choi had traveled over 350,000 km (220,000 mi) to over 1,400 destinations for the show.[3] Choi reported that the food that moved him the most was food of the Korean diaspora. He was reportedly moved by kimchi made from the rind of watermelon in Latin America, as well as kkaetnip leaves grown by a Korean American couple in a New York City apartment.[3] He felt that the stories of the people making the food was more important than the food itself, and was motivated by a sense of duty to share these stories with others.[3][6]

Planning for an episode reportedly begins around two months in advance. Scouting out locations for filming and the filming itself each take several days.[6]