[Korean Food - part 2]
Overview of
Korean food
Jjigae, gamjeong, and jochi are similar to guk, but they are thicker in
texture and stronger in taste. They
are seasoned with bean paste, red
pepper paste, and shrimp fermented
in salt. Gamjeong refers to jjigae
seasoned with red pepper paste. Jochi is the term for jjigae served during a royal meal. Casserole is a soup
with seasoned meat and vegetables.
It is boiled and cooked on the spot and shared by many people.
Namul (vegetable or wild-greens dishes)
Korea has much in common with China and Japan in terms of dining style due to frequent cultural and historical exchanges. But
over time, Korea has developed its own unique cuisines.
Korea was once a primarily agricultural nation, and boiled rice
has become Koreans’ stable food. Stable food and side dishes are
clearly distinguished in Korean table settings. A traditional Korean
meal consists of a bowl of rice and side dishes. Koreans use a wide
arrange of ingredients such as meat, fish, vegetables and seafood
with unique seasonings. As there are many ways to cook these ingredients, Koreans have developed diverse kinds of cuisines.
Boiled Rice, Staple of the Korean Diet
Bap, or boiled rice, is the
staple of Korean cuisine.
Barley, millet, beans, and
red beans are sometimes
mixed with rice for special
taste and nutritional value.
Vegetables, seafood, and
kimchi are also added to rice
when cooking for a better
taste. One of the most famous rice dishes is bibimbap, boiled rice mixed with seasoned vegetables and meat.
Juk, or porridge, is grains boiled over time with a lot of water.
Many varieties of juk exist, such as juk made of pine nuts, abalones, sesame, walnuts, and mung beans. Mieum is a thin porridge
and Eungi is a thin starch porridge.
Naengmyeon (buckwheat noodles in a cold broth), manduguk
(dumpling soup), tteokguk (rice cake soup) are cuisines enjoyed
in everyday life and on special occasions. These dished are also
often enjoyed for lunch.
Guk (soup), Tang (thick soup), Jjigae(stew)
A Korean table is never completed without soups such as guk,
tang and jjigae which always accompany bowls of rice. They are
made of a variety of ingredients such as beef, seafood, and vegetables, with seasonings such as salt, soy bean sauce, bean paste,
and seafood fermented in salt. Soups that most frequently appear
on Koreans’ tables include seaweed soup, bean paste soup, seolleongtang (beef and bone soup), yukgaejang (spicy beef soup).
Namul, vegetable or wild-greens
dishes, is one of the most basic side
dishes in the Korean diet. While
namul refers to both raw and cooked
vegetables and wild-greens, it usually means cooked ones these days. Almost all kinds of seasonal vegetables
and wild-greens are used for namul
dishes. Koreans often skewer and
dry the ingredients to use them when
they’re out of season. There are different ways to cook namul according
to the type of its ingredients. Vegetables with green leafs are parboiled
and seasoned with combinations of salt, soy sauce, sesame seeds, sesame
oil and garlic. Wild greens such as Chinese bellflowers are boiled and
stir-fried with seasonings. Fresh seasonal vegetables are not boiled, but
tossed in a sweet and sour seasoning.
Gui (grilled dishes), Sanjeok (beef and vegetable brochettes), Jijim (pan-fried dishes)
Gui, or grilled dishes, first appeared in
the Korean diet when Koreans began to
use fire for cooking. Neobiani is a type
of grilled dish served in royal cuisine.
It is thinly sliced beef marinated in a
bulgogi sauce (soy sauce, sugar, garlic,
green onions, and sesame oil), and then
grilled at the table over charcoal.
Sanjeok is a grilled brochette made of
seasoned meat, vegetables and mushrooms. There are many kinds of sanjeok according to their ingredients,
such as sanjeok made of beef and vegetables, mushrooms, green onions and
fish. Sanjeok brings beauty to the table
as it is made by putting ingredients of
many colors onto skewers.
Jeon is a pan-fried dish. It is also called as Jeonyueo or Jeonyuhwa. These
dishes include thinly sliced meats, fish, and vegetables that are coated in
flour, dipped in egg and pan-fried. Some common pan-fried dishes include pan-fried summer squash, pan-fried fish, and pan-fried meat. Jijim
is a small pancake made of flour batter pan-fried with various ingredients.
Some popular pancakes include mung b X[