Korea

Korean cuisine is based on the traditional foods and preparation techniques of Korea. From the complex Korean royal court cuisine to regional specialties and modern fusion cuisine, their ingredients and preparation are richly varied. Many dishes are becoming internationally popular. The foods described in this article are very different from Korean royal court cuisine, which is, to this day, widely enjoyed by the Korean masses.

Korean cuisine is largely based on rice, noodles, tofu, vegetables, and meats. Traditional Korean meals are noted for the number of side dishes (banchan) that accompany the ubiquitous steam-cooked short-grain rice and soup. Every meal is accompanied by numerous banchan.

Kimchi is a fermented, spicy vegetable dish usually made of baechu, radish, or cucumber. At least one type of kimchi is served as banchan at virtually every meal, year-round. It is also a common ingredient in other Korean recipes.

Korean food is usually seasoned with sesame oil, doenjang (fermented soybean paste), soy sauce, salt, garlic, ginger and gochujang (red chili paste). Korea is the largest consumer of garlic, ahead of the rest of Asia (particularly China and Thailand, excluding Japan) and the Northern Mediterranean (mainly Spain, Italy, and Greece).

Korean cuisine varies seasonally. During winter, traditional food usually relies on kimchi and other pickled vegetables preserved in big ceramic containers stored underground in outdoor courtyards. Preparation of Korean food is generally very labor-intensive.

Korean royal cuisine, once only enjoyed by the royal court of the Joseon period, takes hours to days to prepare. It must harmonize contrasting characteristics such as warm and col, hot and mild, rough and soft, solid and liquid, and a balance of presentation colors. It is often served on hand-forged bronzeware or bangjjaa. The foods are served in a specific arrangement of small dishes alternating to highlight the shape and color of the ingredients.

Some of these traditional royal cuisines, which can cost as much as W240,000 (~US$265) per person excluding drinks, include service by exclusive waiters. Restaurants that serve traditional royal cuisine can be found in select locations within the city of Seoul. Imperial cuisine has received a recent boost in popularity due to Dae Jang Geum, a widespread, popular Korean television drama about a humble girl becoming the royal head chef during the Joseon period. There is also a Korean tea ceremony.

Korean foods and dishes

Much of Korean cuisine consists of simple dishes. Many Korean banchans rely on fermentation for flavor and preservation, resulting in a tangy, salty, and spicy taste.

Certain regions are especially associated with some dishes (for example, the city of Jeonju with Bibimbap) either as a place of origin or for a famous regional variety. Restaurants will often use these famous names on their signs or menus (i.e. "Suwon galbi").

Main meat dishes

At traditional restaurants, meats are cooked at the center of the table over a charcoal grill, surrounded by various banchan and individual rice bowls. The cooked meat is then cut into small pieces and wrapped with fresh lettuce leaves, with rice, thin slice of garlic, ssamjang (mixture of gochujang and dwenjang), and other seasonings.

Royal dishes

Soups and stews

Mixed rice

Banchan (side dishes)

Noodles

Korean snacks

Snacks play an important social role in Korean culture. In Korea, snack food may be purchased from street carts during the day, where customers may eat standing beside the cart or have their food wrapped up to take home. At night, many streets are filled with small tents that sell inexpensive foods, drinks, and alcoholic beverages. Most Korean people consider the food sold there as snacks rather than a complete meal. Seasonal snacks include patbingsu, a refreshing iced treat eaten in the summer, and warm soup, gimbap, hotteok, and bungeoppang, which are enjoyed in the fall and winter.

Gimbap

Close up of GimbapGimbap (literally, seaweed-rice) is actually not as much a snack as much as a lunchbox meal. Mostly eaten on picnics. It was usually eaten more for ease rather than fulfillment.

It consists of cooked rice, sesame oil, salt, and sesame seeds, to which small amounts of vinegar and sugar are often added as seasonings. Then it is placed on a sheet of dried gim (laver). The seasoned rice is spread on the gim, and then fried egg, julienned carrots, julienned ham, seasoned ground beef or seasoned fish cakes, pickled daikon, seasoned spinach, and seasoned burdock root and cucumber are then placed closely together on the rice, and is rolled in the manner similar to that of the Japanese sushi. Today, there are many varieties of gimbap: tuna, cheese, bulgogi, vegetable, and more.

An appetizer that is closely related to gimbap is the California roll. This appetizer differs from gimbap because it is often made with imitation crab meat and Tobiko (caviar) is rolled onto the outside of the rice. Also, the cooked eggs are often left out. The California roll is very popular and can be easily purchased in the United States.

Buchimgae/Jeon

Fermented kimchi (kimchijeon) or seafood (haemul pajeon) is mixed into a flour-based batter, and then fried in an oiled pan. This dish tastes best when it is dipped in a mixture of soy sauce, vinegar, and red pepper powder.

Bungeo-ppang/Gukwa-Ppang/Gyeran-ppang

buchingae ("goldfish-bread") is a fish-shaped pastry that is usually filled with sweet red bean paste and then baked in a fish-shaped mold. It is very chewy on the inside and crispy on the outside. Gukwa-ppang is almost the same as bungeo-ppang, but it is shaped like a flower. Gyeran-ppang tastes similar to bungeo-ppang, but it has a shape of rounded rectangle. They are often sold by street vendors. (See also taiyaki.)

Other snacks

Anju (side dishes accompanying alcoholic beverages)

Anju is a general term for a Korean side dish consumed with alcohol (often with Korean soju). It is commonly served at bars, noraebang (karaoke) establishments, and restaurants that serve alcohol. These side dishes can also be ordered as appetizers or even a main dish. Some examples of anju include steamed squid with gochujang, assorted fruit, dubu kimchi (tofu with kimchi), peanuts, odeng/ohmuk, gimbap (small or large), samgagimbap (triangle-shaped gimbap like the Japanese onigiri), sora (?? (a kind of shellfish popular in street food tents), and nakji (small octopus, as eaten on screen in the movie Oldboy). Soondae is also a kind of anju, as is samgyeopsal, or dwejigalbi. Most Korean foods may be served as anju, depending on availability and the diner's taste. However, anju are considered different from the banchan side dishes served with a regular Korean meal.

Desserts

Traditional Korean table etiquette

Although there is no prescribed order for eating the many banchan (side dishes), rice, soup, or any miscellaneous foods on the table, it is customary to dip into one's individual rice or soup bowl, while the others taste the banchan (side dishes). Essentially, the elders, superiors, and/or guests must be treated with respect and have the privilege of eating first. It is also common that the best dishes are reserved for the elders, superiors, and guests.

Koreans do not pick up their rice or soup bowls from the table. Etiquette requires that the bowls stay on the table and that the sutgarak(spoon) and jeotggarak(chopsticks) are used to bring food to the mouth. Although picking up the bowls with one's hands is seen as uncouth, it may be socially acceptable in casual settings. Traditionally, the yangban class had the privilege of eating from lacquered tables as opposed to peasants who were relegated to meals in the field.

Bad manners include:

In informal situations, these rules are not important. During family dinners, however, they are usually enforced for the benefit of the children, so that they learn proper table manners and etiquette. The rules are enforced less frequently as children become older and have fully learned table manners relevant to Korea.

Speaking with food in one's mouth is acceptable, as long as one's mouth remains closed. Because one of the Korean equivalents of "Yeah" is "Mm", it is acceptable to answer someone's query with a closed mouth in a variety of ways. However, it is considered rude to reply with one's mouth open or with food showing. Chewing with one's mouth open in an overtly disgusting manner is also considered bad manners. It is considered perfectly acceptable to slurp one's soup. This is because the soups that Koreans serve are often served at boiling temperatures, and thus you must slurp in order to prevent yourself from being scalded. Koreans will comment that a guest is very quiet during dinner if he or she does not speak, and one will not keep pace in eating with the Koreans if one stops eating to speak.

Another rule to remember is that older people and higher ranked people (by profession or social status) often do not have to follow the rules, and that other people at the table do have to follow the rules; the point of these rules is to show due respect to those who are above you.

Though diners do not need to finish all the shared food that was provided, it is customary to finish one's individual portion of rice. Eating too quickly will imply that insufficient food was given. Therefore, it is rude to eat too quickly and finish long before the others at the table. It is also rude to leave excessive amounts of leftover food because it is seen as wasteful. This is especially important at someone else's home or when eating with elders, who may comment about the past, rice was too expensive to be eaten commonly. At restaurants, Koreans tend to have one person pay for the entire meal. Unlike in Western countries where people pay "Dutch" by dividing up the bill, one person offers to pay and others repay the person by paying for a meal in the future. Banchan dishes are intended to be finished at each meal, so they are presented in small portions and replenished as they are emptied. It is acceptable to ask for refills of any of the side dishes.



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