Types of
Korean Food
There are three types of Korean food: staples, side dishes, and dessert. There are also various sauces,which have unique scents. Let us explore them in detail.
Staple Foods 주식류
Bap 밥
The staple food is white rice, or bap. There is also a mixed-grain bap that includes barley, sorghum, beans, adzuki beans and other grains with rice. Bap is made by boiling grains and fruits with rice, which absorb the water, and letting it rest for a sufficient amount of time. You can also create different kinds of bap for special dishes by mixing it with vegetables, seafood, or meat. Bibimbap is a dish where different kinds of herbs and meat are placed on top of bap.
Juk, Mieum (Thin Rice Gruel) and Ongyi (Another Type of Thin Rice Gruel) 죽, 미음, 응이
Juk, mieum, and ongyi are portable foods made from grains. Juk is made by placing or grinding the grains into boiling water and letting it rest. Mieum is different from juk, as the grain is put in a sieve to boil and is filtered. For ongyi, the grain is boiled in water and becomes thin enough to drink.
Mandu (Dumplings), Tteokguk (Rice Cake Soup) 만두, 떡국
Guksu 국수
Subsidiary Dishes 찬품류
Guk, Tang (Soup) 국, 탕
Jjigae 찌개
Jeongol, Bokkeum 전골, 볶음
Jjim, Seon (Dishes made with pumpkins, cucumbers, aubergines and Chinese cabbage) 찜, 선
Saengchae 생, 채
Fresh seasonal vegetables that are not cooked but are mixed with chojang (soy sauce with vinegar), chogochujang (red chili pepper paste with vinegar), and gyujajang (mustard sauce) are called saengchae. These are the most basic side dishes. Sugar and vinegar is used as seasonings to make the vegetables more sweet and tasty. White radish, cabbage, lettuce, cucumber, water parsley, deodok (mountain herbs), wild edible greens, and other raw, edible vegetables are also mixed with jellyfish, seaweed, green laver, and other seafood, along with, squid, clams, and shrimp that are blanched and seasoned, to make saengchae.. Horseradish or chilled vegetables are also a part of saengchae.
Namul 나물
Jorim, Cho 조림, 초
Jorim gives meat, fish, and vegetables a bit of a strong taste. It is also served on tables with full meals. Beef jangjorim (beef boiled down in soy sauce) can be left on the table for a long time and can be given a strong taste. The tasty white flesh of fish can be cooked with soy sauce, while the red flesh of fish and the fish that give off a fishy smell can be made by adding red chili pepper powder or gochujang. Cho originally meant “boiling,” but the meaning has changed to releasing starch after the ingredient is boiled. After the starch is disseminated, noodles will congeal and the seasoning must be sweet and not strong. The ingredients commonly used in cho are mussels and abalone.
Junnuuh 전유어
The prefix jun means boiling with oil. There were several words for junnuuh, such as yua, junnya, junya, jun and so on, but in the palace it was called junnuhwa. Gannam, gannab and gallab were all words used to refer to the junnuuh that was used during ancestral rites. The ingredients in junnuuh can range from meat and fish to vegetables. The ingredients must be cut into a size that is good for boiling, and salt and pepper powder must be used to season it. Next, dough and an egg must be added, and afterward it is boiled in a frying pan. Three different kinds of junnuuh should be served on one plate. Instead of eggs, buckwheat powder or dough juice can be used as ingredients.
Gui, Jeok 구이, 적
Hwe, Ssam 회, 쌈
Hwe is meat or fish eaten raw or with such seasoning as choganjang (soy sauce mixed with vinegar), chogochujang, mustard juice, salted oil, or other seasonings. It can be made with the soft meat of beef, liver, stomach, sheep or other meats. Croakers, halibut, pomfrets and other fresh fish are used as hwe, along with oysters and sea cucumbers. Squid, large and small octopuses, shrimp and other seafood are used to make uh chae, which is a type of sook hwe (raw white flesh fish slightly boiled in hot water). Vegetables used for sook hwe include water parsley, small green onions, edible shoots of fatsia, and other vegetables. When leaves from cabbages, pumpkins, sesame, and lettuce, or seaweed, reeds or other vegetables are used to wrap up bap, it is called ssam. Korean people like to wrap bap, bulgogi, and hwe with ssam.
Pyeonyuk, Jokpyeon 편육, 족편
Twigak, Boogak 튀각, 부각
Twigak is made by frying kelp, leather tree sprouts, and walnuts in oil. The side dish boogak is made with glutinous rice paste or rice paste with such added ingredients as potatoes, chili, sesame leaf, dried seaweed, and leather tree sprouts. Afterward, it is fried.
Po 포
Jangajji 장아찌
Kimchi 김치
Kimchi is Korea’s most basic side dish, and is made by pickling, preserving, and fermenting vegetables. While kimchi is fermenting, lactobacillus is created, giving it a sour taste. Also, the spicy taste of chili in kimchi stimulates one’s appetite and creates a unique taste. It also helps with digestive functions. Ingredients other than vegetables can be used to create a better taste. These ingredients include salted fish, which adds animal protein. During the gimjang, kimchi is made for the winter that is preserved for a long time. However, in other times of the year, vegetables that are plentiful during the season are used to make kimchi that does not have to be preserved for long.
Jutgal, Sikhae 젓갈, 식해
Spices and Sauces 양념류
Salt 소금
Honey 꿀
Sugar 설탕
Taffy, Grain Syrup 엿, 조청
Vinegar 식초
If you store alcohol in a pot, acetobacters enter the alcohol and oxidize it. As a result, acetic acid is created and clear yellow liquid comes to the top. This liquid is poured and used as vinegar. If you pour alcohol in again, in the same quantity as the extracted vinegar, vinegar keeps on forming. This is a completely different method of creating vinegar compared to today. The vinegar that is extracted with this method has also a unique smell.
Chili 고추
Pepper 후추
Pepper came to Korea from China during the middle of the Goryeo Dynasty,. It has been used for a long time to create a spicy taste. Before the importation of pepper, akane (cheoncho) was used by a lot of Koreans. However, since the importation of red chili, it is rarely used.
Mustard 겨자
Mustard is made by grinding the seeds of the leaf mustard. The powder itself is not spicy, but when it is mixed with hot water and put in a warm place it develops a spicy taste and is then used as a seasoning. The flavor of mustard can be changed using vinegar, sugar and salt. Then it can be used with gyoejachae and hwe.
Oil 기름
Ground sesame mixed with salt 깨소금
Ground sesame mixed with salt is made by washing sesame seeds and boiling them. Before the seeds cool down, some salt is added and half of the seeds are ground in a mortar and used as seasoning. The boiled sesame seeds can also be used without grinding them. The white part of the sesame, after the inner layer of the skin is rubbed off, is called sil ggae.
Toppings 고명
Egg Garnish 알고명
Eggrolls Stuffed with Chopped Meat 알쌈
Water Parsley on a Stick 미나리 초대
Bongori (Meatballs Fried in Egg Batter) 봉오리(완자)
Water Parsley 미나리
Water parsley is washed and the leaves removed. The roots are cut to about 4cm and seasoned with salt, boiled lightly and fried in a frying pan. It is used as a green garnish. You can also fry small green onions, as well as the green parts of cucumbers and pumpkins.
Hwang hwachae (Yellow Fruit Salad) 황화채
Red Pepper 고추
Shredded red pepper is used for namul and jorim. Dried red pepper and whole red pepper can be used as a garnish if sliced thick. Dried red pepper is commonly used in kimchi, but in the summer, whole red pepper and dried red pepper is used for kimchi by soaking them in water and grinding them.
Pine Nuts 잣
Pine nuts are commonly called jat, but other names include baekja, silbaekja, and haesongja. First the outer layer is peeled off and the roots of the nut are removed. The nuts are placed on paper on a dry cutting board and chopped. The powder from pine nuts can clog easily because of the oil that comes out. Thus, paper must be spread so that the oil can come out smoothly. Once the oil is removed, the powder will be soft and ready to use. In the royal palace, pine nut powder was used in chojang, as well as a garnish for yuk hwe and abalone cho. It was also used on danja (rice cake with honey), jooak (another type of rice cake), yakgwa (a cookie made with flour, sesame oil, honey, rice wine, cinnamon and ginger juice) and many other rice cakes and cookies. The whole pine nut was used in jjim and jeongol, as well as tteok and yaksik (sweet rice with nuts). It was also used in beverages such as tea, and in hwachae (fruit salad).
Mushrooms 버섯
Walnuts, Ginkgo Nuts 호두, 은행
Walnuts are cracked so that their insides are not broken. They are first boiled in hot water, and then the outer layer is peeled off. Ginkgo nuts have a rough outer layer that can be peeled off by frying with oil. The outer layer is removed by rubbing them with a dry dishcloth or paper. Ginkgo nuts and walnuts are used as a garnish in jjims, sinsello, jeongol, and other food.