Korean Hallyu wave or K-POP has been consistently spreading in South East Asia countries since the end of 90's. Korea actively spread their culture and reached Indonesia In the early of 1999 through globalization. Until now Korea still continues spreading their culture around the world with entertainment products.
Not only Korean culture is spreaded through drama series, TV, reality shows and music but also can be found on lifestyle products like cosmetics products, culinary and tourism. One of the smart ways they promote their culture is they give scene time more on every entertainment product, for example culinary. Usually in their film there are some scenes that show Korean Food specifically. That is the smart way and proven to make us interested to try the food after watching the film. In Indonesia K-Pop has a domino effect on the food industry thus many Korean restaurants were born, they sell Korean food with localized taste for Indonesian people.
We can see on some survey, that in Indonesia younger generation is familiar with Korean culture. One of survey that held by Snapchart TASC online survey result 85% of young Indonesian have known and enjoy Korea entertainment. It’s in line with the increasing number of Korean restaurants in Indonesia and provides ideas in Snack Industries to launch some snacks with Korean taste. Here are some Korean food that are match for seasoning snack in Indonesia :
1. Kimchi
Kimchi is a fermented food made from Chinese cabbage, radish, garlic, onions, green onions, chili paste (Gochujang), fish sauce, rice flour, sugar, salt etc. The spicy character, fresh sourness easily adapts to the Indonesian tongue, because we have Asinan which is also fermented food. The popularity of kimchi is increasing as there are many packaged kimchi products and several influencers are also competing to make kimchi with local flavors.
2. Tteokbokki
This one food is made from rice flour which is shaped like a stick. The chewy character combined with Korean spicy sauce, oden, fish balls etc makes mouthwatering. Nowadays, we can easily find instant Tteokbokki products in supermarkets.
3. Bulgogi
Beef is cooked with a mixture of soy sauce, garlic, sesame oil, ground pepper, ginger, onion, sugar, salt etc. The unique character of Bulgogi is due to the presence of sesame. Bulgogi flavor has also begun to be used in several snack products and instant noodles.
4. Fried Chicken Korea
The unique thing about Korean Fried Chicken is the dipping sauce. After the frying process, the fried chicken is dipped in Korean-style spicy sauce which adds to the flavor. Spicy, sweet, savory characters and sprinkled with sesame seeds are accepted for the Indonesian taste.
5. Sundubu Jiggae
Popularized by the film Itaewon Class in 2020, Sundubu Jiggae is a Korean tofu soup made from a mixture of kimchi, fish sauce, garlic, scallions, etc.
Following the trend K-POP, NP Foods Indonesia actively develops seasoning Korean Style that can be applied for snack and instant noodles. PT. NP Foods Indonesia also committed to producing and distributing products that comply with BPOM Regulations, as we follow the Indonesian Government and as our concern for the Indonesian people for what they consume.
Reference:
K-everything : Indonesia consumption of Korean culture and entertainment, 2022 <https://snapcart.global/article- k-everything-indonesian-consumption-of-korean-culture-and-entertainment/> (diakses 26 Juni 2023)