Frying is the most popular cooking style used in food service institutions in Korea because fried dishes are well accepted by students. However, trans fat contents reduction have recently been required in many foods for health reasons Therefore, alternatives to frying such as oven baking or roasting are being used in many institutions. Steam convection ovens provide dry heat as well as steam so that they can be used to make a wide variety of Korean dishes. In this study, a menu acceptance test was conducted over 2 weeks. Pork, chicken, fish and potato dishes cooked by conventional cooking methods were served for 4 successive days, after which the same dishes were prepared using the oven. Overall, 322 junior high school students evaluated the traditionally cooked foods, while 316 evaluated the oven cooked foods. Comparison of the foods prepared using both methods only revealed a significant difference in the acceptability of foods on the fish menu (p<0.05). Specifically, the acceptance of fried fish was higher than that of the oven baked fish. Additionally, overall acceptance of the menu by males was higher than the acceptance by girls. Furthermore, students who had the preference for special ingredients showed a higher menu acceptance for the menu cooked with those ingredients. On average, approximately 25% of the meal was not consumed and left as plate waste. The portion of the fried fish not consumed was smaller than that of the oven cooked fish, but the portion not consumed did not vary based on cooking method for any other foods evaluated. Overall, it is expected that the oven cooking method will be a good substitute for frying or other cooking method for traditional Korean dishes.

The purpose of this study was to divide into a few groups of Bibimbabs with distinctive menu patterns and accompaniments from 484 Bibimbab menus of 360 elementary school foodservices around Busan city and Gyeongnam province. The menus were collected from the internet(http://www.kdclub.com) and the home page of elementary schools from December, 2004 to September, 2005. Moreover, Bibimbabs with high frequency were analyzed by seasons and regions to give informations for menu planing and developing in elementary school foodservices. The serving frequency of Bibimbabs was significantly different among seasons, highest in summer and lowest in winter. Kongnamulbibimbab and Bomnamulbibimbab were highest in frequency in rural areas meanwhile, Sanchaebibimbab, and Chamchibibimbab were frequently served in Busan. The basic structure of Bibimbab meal based on main dish, soup, kimchi and one or two accompaniments consisted of 'side dish', 'fruit & beverage', or 'starchy food & dessert'. Thus, most of the Bibimbab meals were composed of 4~5 dishes. Five groups of Bibimbabs were suggested by the menu patterns and kinds of soups. Soups, fruit & beverage, and kimchi were included in the menu patterns of nearly all groups of Bibimbab. However, side dishes and strachy foods & desserts were included of excluded according to the groups of Bibimbabs. Some kinds of soups and side dishes were different among the groups of Bibimbab. These results suggest that the cost, avaliable labor and seasonal constraints contributed mainly to the numbers and kinds of accompainments in the Bibimbab meals. However, taste and sensory balance were also considered in the Bibimbab menus in the School Lunch Program.

This study was performed by questionnaire to investigate the preference and satisfaction on the menu of school foodservice of high school students. This study aims at providing useful information to establish subdivided menu developing direction. The subjects were consisted of 637 high school students(435 males and 202 females, 5 direct type schools and 5 trust type schools) in Gyeongju area. The results of this study were: The preferred school foodservice menu of subjects was 'seasoned roast chicken', 'steamed pork rib', 'beef rib soup', 'yogurt', 'sandwiches', 'boiled rice with assorted mixtures', 'boiled rice', 'watermelon', 'spaghetti' in that other. On the other hand, the preference for 'spinach soybean soup', 'steamed Mideodeok', 'boiled lotus root', 'roasted sweetpotato stalk', 'chopped and seasoned cucumber' was very low. Males favoured rice and meats, while females liked better noodles and vegetables. Direct type foodservice students' preference scores were higher than those of type foodservice students in side dish menu categories. The preferred and satisfied menu of subjects was meats and sweet foods, and but the preference and satisfaction for vegetables and tough foods was very low.