Culture of Korean food

I learned by reading today that Koreans think health and food are related. Big surprise! Most societies think this. However, the interesting part is that foods in Korea are based on yin/yang. Vegetables are yang, positive and meat is considered yin, negative. So to balance yin and yang meat is always eaten with vegetables. A good example is when you go to a gogi (meat) house and you cook the meat and they also bring lettuce or another type of vegetable to consume with your meat. But rice is even more special than meat or veggies. It is precious because the cooking of rice creates harmony between earth, water, metal, fire, and wood. Earth produces rice, water boils rice in a metal kettle, fire heats the kettle, and wood makes fire. So food is not only delicious and pleasing to our senses but it is also philosophical.