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Visitors to Korea will discover a wide array of
unique and delicious food.
Korea was once a primarily agricultural nation, and since ancient times rice
has been cultivated as Koreans' staple food. These days Korean cuisine also
contains a large variety of meat and fish dishes along with wild greens and
vegetables. Various preserved food, such as kimchi (fermented spicy
cabbage), jeotgal (seafood fermented in salt) and doenjang
(fermented soy bean paste) are particularly popular due to their distinctive
flavor and high nutritional value.
In Korean cuisine all the dishes are served at the same time. A typical meal normally includes rice, soup, and
several side dishes, the number of which vary. Traditionally, lower classes had three side dishes,
while royal families would have twelve.
In Korea, like in neighboring China and Japan, people eat with chopsticks. However, a spoon is used more often in Korea,
especially when soups are served. Formal
rules have developed for table setting, which can vary depending on whether a
noodle or meat dish is served.
Food is a very important part of Korea culture, and Koreans pay great attention to the way in which food is
served. |
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Kinds of Traditional Korean
Food
1. Bap (steamed rice) and Juk (porridge)
Boiled rice is the staple food for Koreans; it is
eaten with almost every meal. In Korea people eat short-grained rice, as apposed
to the long- grained Indian rice. Korean
rice is often sticky in texture, and sometimes it is combined with beans,
chestnuts, sorghum, red beans, barley or other cereals for added flavor
and nutrition. Juk (porridge) is a light meal, which is highly
nutritious. Juk is often made with
rice, to which abalone, ginseng, pine nuts, vegetables, chicken, or bean
sprouts can be added. As well as rice porridge, red bean porridge and
pumpkin porridge are also delicious. |
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2. Guk (soup)
Korean meals traditionally consist of a soup served
with rice. The soup can be made
from vegetables, meat, fish, shellfish, seaweed, or beef bones. |
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3. Jjigae (stew)
Jjigae is similar to guk
but is thicker and has a stronger taste. The most famous jjigae (doenjang-jjigae
)is made from preserved soy bean paste. Jjigae is usually spicy and
served piping hot in a heated stone bowl. |
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4. Jjim and Jorim (simmered
meat or fish)
Jjim and jorim are
similar dishes. Meat and fish are
prepared with vegetables and soaked in soy bean sauce. The ingredients are then slowly boiled over a low heat
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5. Namul (vegetables or wild greens)
Namul consists of vegetables
of wild greens, which have been slightly boiled or fried, and mixed with salt,
soy sauce, sesame salt, sesame oil, garlic, onions, and other spices. |
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6. Jeotgal (seafood fermented in salt)
Jeotgal is a very salty food
made from naturally preserved fish, shellfish, shrimp, oysters, fish roe,
intestines and other ingredients. |
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7. Gui (broiled/barbecued dishes)
When cooking
gui, marinated meats are barbecued over
a charcoal fire. The most popular meats of this
type are bulgogi and galbi. There are also many
fish dishes which are cooked this way. |
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8. Jeon (pan-fried dishes)
Jeon is a kind of Korean
pancake. Mushrooms, pumpkin,
slices of dried fish, oysters, unripened red peppers, meat, or other
ingredients are mixed with salt and black pepper, dipped in flour and egg and
then fried in oil |
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9. Mandu (dumpling)
Mandu are Korean dumplings,
which are stuffed with beef, mushrooms, stir-fried zucchini, and mungbean
sprouts. Pork, chicken, fish or kimchi are sometimes used instead of beef. |
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