Abstract
This survey examined the Indonesian college students' knowledge of Japanese and Korean food as well as the interest of Korean college students in Southeast Asian food. Although many Indonesian college students have prior experience of eating Japanese food in Indonesia, only few of them have prior experience of eating Korean food. Despite the lack of the experience on eating Korean food, “kimchi” is well-known among them. The surveyed Korean college students have low interest in Southeast Asian food and they seem to lack the knowledge on Islamic religious food taboos.
The students not only in Korea but also in Japan, majoring in food science and food-related subjects at colleges, should be encouraged to have more interest and knowledge concerning food taboos, and more information on Japanese and Korean food should be made available to Indonesian people. This may lead to expansion of Korean and Japanese-food-related businesses in South-east Asia, including Indonesia.
The authors consider the necessity of propagation of awareness on Korean and Japanese food, the creation of impression on Korean and Japanese food as healthy dishes, and the introduction of much healthier food in Southeast Asian countries like Indonesia.
