(Extra virgin olive oil, a picture from weekly chosun)
A couple of readers asked me why do Koreans use so much olive oil in cooking. If you go through a couple of my recipes, you will soon notice that too.
Well, to be honest, I have no idea what kind of cooking oil other Koreans use for their cooking. However, I do know that I prefer using Extra virgin olive oil (I now use rice bran oil) for my cooking, because we believe that it is healthier than other kinds of oil. Though, since it is relatively expensive, I use vegetable oil for deep frying.
Before olive oil became very popular in Korea (around 2004-5), most Koreans used vegetable oil (including bean oil), but now since there are more varieties of oil available such as olive oil, grape seed oil, canola oil etc, I assume people choose by their preference, budget allowance, and how health conscious they are.
What kind of cooking oil do you use?
