As freshers week approaches and with students notorious for spending a fortune on takeaways to cure those dreaded Sunday hangovers, students are being encouraged to embrace the ‘fakeaway’.
A new study has revealed that Korean food is the cheapest cuisine to make at home, with a meal on average costing £1.34 per portion – almost half the price of the average Chinese dish.
And with the average Chinese costing £27.28, cooking in the halls of residence kitchen could save them approximately £650 a year.
The findings revealed that Japanese cuisine is the second cheapest to recreate at home, with dishes costing approximately £1.97 per person, followed by Mediterranean (£2.06), Indian (£2.28) and finally Chinese (£2.53).
The study, conducted by Asian snack and drink brand, Kelly Loves, took 5 of the most popular dishes from the UK’s favourite cuisines and looked at the average price of the ingredients needed to prepare the recipes at home.
Pizza was the most budget-friendly dish to create from scratch at 47p a portion, followed by Korean fried chicken (57p), Korean pajeon (78p) and finally Italian favourite, fettuccine alfredo (£1.09).
At the other end of the scale, Chinese Peking duck was the most expensive dish at £6.62, making it 14 times more expensive than pizza. This was followed by Indian classic, lamb rogan josh (£3.70), British favourite, fish and chips (£3.48) and, finally Japanese sushi (£3.18).
Kelly Choi, Founder of Kelly Loves, says:
“For students looking to cut costs, popular Korean dishes such as fried chicken, pajeon, bibimbap, tteokbokki and bulgogi are the dishes to create at home if you’re looking at cost-saving options without compromising taste, flavour and variety. Most Korean dishes are simple – based on rice and vegetables, accompanied by meat or seafood, which is budget-friendly.
“Korean food mainly relies on spices and seasoning which give it its unique and well-known flavour. For example, sesame oil, soy sauce, salt, garlic, ginger, gochujang and kimchi are all well-known for their distinctive taste. All of these, once in the cupboard, can be reused frequently.
Korean culture places a lot of importance on sharing food. In Korea, banchan (Korean side dishes) sharing is a feature on the table at mealtimes and so meals are naturally more communal and therefore cost-effective. Every Korean dining table looks like there is a party taking place — full of variation and colour.”
