One thing Americans like to tell me about Korean foods are…
that Korean dishes are “too sweet”, especially the side dishes.
I know many side dishes do contain sugar, often to balance their saltiness or spiciness.
But one thing I never understood was that they tell me in a way that implies no American dishes are sweet – which is simply not true.
BBQ meat or vegetables with barbecue sauce?
Burgers, french fries, meatloaf or BLT with ketchup?
Wings, salads or pizza with ranch dressing?
Wings with other sweet sauces like honey BBQ, honey garlic or mango habanero?
Salads with other sweet dressings like thousand islands, honey mustard or balsamic vinaigrette?
Pancakes or waffles with syrup?!
Glazed ham? Cornbread? Breakfast cereals?!
I don’t have a problem with any of the above, and I do enjoy many of them indeed – some more than the others (Thousand islands is an awesome salad dressing).
But I’ll also share that I do consider barbecue sauce, ketchup, and ranch dressing to be pretty sweet, as someone who did not grow up in America. It’s interesting to hear many Americans don’t consider ketchup to be sweet when a quarter of it is just sugar (by weight).
Just another chance to think about what one may consider “normal”.
p.s. This post is based on my experience, not based on U.S. national statistics.