This research analyzedconsumer culture and usage of sugar in modern times based on 12 modern popular Korean cooking books with sugar recipes. Procedures were formed via textual analysis. The outcomes of the study can be summarized in brief statements. According to「Banchandeungsok」,「Booinpilj」, and「Chosunmoossangsinsikyorijebeob」, sugar was utilized in 34 out of 663 or 5.1% of cooked foods during the 1910s to 1920s. According to books such as 「Ganpyounchosunyorijebeob」,「Ililhwalyongsinyoungyangyoribeob」,「Chosun’s cooking of the four seasons」,「Halpaengyoungoo」, 「Chosunyorijebeob」, and 「Required reading for housewife」, sugar was added to 165 out of 998 or 16.5% of cooked foods during the 1930s. According to the books like「Chosunyorihak」,「Chosunyoribeob」, and「Woorieumsik」, sugar was an ingredient in 241 out of 756 or 31.9% of cooked foods during the 1940s. Sugar depicted within the 12 modern popular Korean cooking books primarily functioned as an alternative sweetener, starch, sweet enhancer, preservative, and seasoning. Similar to illustrated sugar from modern popular Korean cooking books, sugar has continually been favored by Korean cooks starting from the 1910s with 5.1% usage, the 1930s with 16.5% usage, and the 1940s with 31.9% usage. Despite its short history, sugar’s culinary importance in Korea has been on the rise ever since the early 1900s. Although sugar is an exotic spice in Korea, it has gained social, cultural, and symbolic recognition as well as practicality within Korean food culture. Thus, it has become more internalized and familiarized as an inseparable sweetness that characterizes current Korean food.

• 김미혜(호서대학교 생명보건과학대학 식품영양학과 및 기초과학연구소) | Mi-Hye Kim (Department of Food and Nutrition, The Research Institute for Basic Sciences, Hoseo University) Corresponding author