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Visitors to Korea will discover
a wide array of unique and delicious Korean food.
Korea
was once a primarily agricultural nation, and since
ancient times rice has been cultivated as Koreans'
staple food. These days Korean food also contains
a large variety of meat and fish dishes along with
wild greens and vegetables. Various preserved Korean 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 food 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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Different 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)
Gui
is when marinated fish or meat are barbecued over
a charcoal fire. The most popular gui dishes
are meats, such as bulgogi and galbi,
however, 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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