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Korean cuisine is the traditional food of Korea. From the complex Korean royal court cuisine to regional specialties to modern fusion cuisine, the ingredients and preparation are richly varied, and many dishes are becoming internationally popular.

It is based largely on rice, vegetables, meats and tofu (dubu in Korean). Traditional Korean meals are notable for the number of side dishes (banchan) that accompany the ubiquitous steam-cooked short-grain rice, soup, and kimchi (fermented, spicy vegetable banchan, most commonly cabbage, radish or cucumber). Every meal is accompanied by numerous banchan.

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 Italy and Southeast Asia.

The cuisine varies seasonally, and especially during winter, traditionally relies much on kimchi and other pickled vegetables preserved in big ceramic containers stored underground in the outdoor courtyard. Preparation of Korean food is generally very labor-intensive.

Korean royal cuisine, once only enjoyed by the royal court and the yangban aristocrats of the Joseon period, take hours and days to prepare. It must harmonize warm and cold, hot and mild, rough and soft, solid and liquid, and a balance of presentation colors. It is often served on hand-forged bronzeware. 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 US$250 per person excluding drinks, include serving by exclusive waiters and can be found at high-end restaurants in select locations within the city of Seoul. Imperial cuisine has received a recent boost in popularity, due to Dae Jang Geum, a Korean television drama very popular in many parts of Asia, about a humble girl becoming the royal head chef during the Joseon period.

There is also a Korean tea ceremony.

Korean table settings

Koreans traditionally ate (and many still do eat) seated on cushions at low tables with their legs crossed in a modified lotus position. Some traditional restaurants provide floorchairs with backs.

Meals are eaten with a set of silver chopsticks called jeotgarak and a long-handled shallow spoon called sutgarak (similar to the Western spoon, unlike the Chinese soup spoon); the two are together known as sujeo (a contraction of sutgarak and jeotgarak). Unlike other chopstick cultures, Koreans have used spoons since at least the 5th century.

Koreans generally do not pick up their rice or soup bowls, but leave both on the table and eat from them with spoons. Banchan are eaten with chopsticks.

A typical table setting consists of:

• steamed rice for each person, in a deep stainless steel or ceramic bowl, usually with a cover (near left of the diner)
• hot soup for each person, in a small shallower bowl (to the right of the rice), or sometimes a large, shared pot of soup in the center of the table
• a set of silver (traditional) or stainless steel spoon for rice and soup, and chopsticks for banchan (to the right of the soup)
• various small bowls of shared bite-sized banchan side dishes

Traditional Korean table etiquette

Although there is no prescribed order for eating the many dishes served at a traditional Korean meal, many Koreans start with a small portion of soup before eating the other dishes in any order they wish.

Koreans generally do not pick up their rice or soup bowls, but leave both on the table and eat from them with spoons. Side dishes are eaten with chopsticks.

Bad manners include blowing one's nose at the table, picking up chopstick or spoon before the oldest person starts the meal, chewing with an open mouth, talking with food in one's mouth, sticking chopsticks or spoon straight up in a dish, stabbing foods with chopsticks, and picking up food with one's hands (with certain exceptions). In informal situations, these rules are often broken.

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. Banchan dishes are intended to be finished at each meal, so are presented in small portions and replenished as they are emptied. It is acceptable to ask for refills of any of the side dishes.

Korean foods and dishes

Many Korean banchan rely on fermentations for flavor and preservation, resulting in 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 (compare Chicago-style pizza).

Romanization of Korean words may vary widely.

Basics

• Doenjang (or Dwenjang, 된장): fermented soybean paste, more pungent than Japanese miso.
• Gochujang (고추장): hot chilli pepper paste.
• Kimchi (or Gimchi or Kimchee, 김치): vegetables (usually cabbage, white radish, or cucumber) commonly fermented in a brine of ginger, garlic, green onion and chilli pepper. There are infinite varieties (at least as many as there are households), which are served as side dishes. Koreans traditionally made enough kimchi to last for the entire winter season, although refrigerators and commercial bottled kimchi made this practice less common.

Light dishes

These light dishes are often sold by street cart vendors and are generally considered to be snacks rather than a complete meal. Many street carts are open late and even serve alcoholic beverages with the food. Bingsu is a refreshing iced treat popular in the summer, whereas warm soup, gimbap, hottteok, and bugeo-ppang are more popular in the fall and winter.

• Gimbap (or Kimbap, 김밥, "seaweed rice"): rice and strips of vegetables, egg, and meat, rolled in seaweed and sliced into bite-sized pieces. Unlike Japanese maki sushi, ingredients are cooked and seasoned, and rice is seasoned with salt and sesame seed oil.
• Mandu (만두): A dumpling typically filled with pork or beef, vegetables, special noodles, tofu and kimchi. These can be prepared boiled, pan-fried, or steamed.
• Pajeon (파전): pancake made mostly of eggs and flour, with green onion, oysters, or fresh baby clams cooked on frying pans.
• Bindaetteok (빈대떡): pancake made of ground mung beans, with green onions, kimchi, or peppers cooked on frying pans.
• Tteok (떡): a chewy cake made from either pounded short-grained rice (메떡, metteok), pounded glutious rice (찰떡, chaltteok), or glutinous rice left whole, without pounding (약식,yaksik). They are served either cold (filled or covered with sweetened mung bean paste, red-bean paste, raisins, a sweetened filling made with sesame seeds, mashed red beans, sweet pumpkin, beans, dates, pinenuts and/or honey), usually served as dessert or snack. Sometimes cooked with thinly-sliced beef, onions, oyster mushrooms, etc. to be served as a light meal.
• Soondae: Korean sausage made of chitterlings stuffed with a mixture of tofu, vegetables, vermicelli, etc.

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 seasoning.

• Bulgogi (불고기): thinly sliced beef marinated in soy sauce, sesame seed oil, garlic, sugar, green onions, black pepper and chili pepper, cooked on a grill at the table. Bulgogi literally means "fire meat". Variations include pork (Dweji bulgogi), chicken (Dak bulgogi), or squid (Ojingeo bulgogi).
• Galbi (갈비): pork or beef ribs, cooked on a metal plate over charcoal in the centre of the table. The meat is sliced thicker than bulgogi. It is often called "Korean BBQ." A variation using chicken is called (Dakgalbi).

• Samgyeopsal (삼겹살): Unseasoned pork bacon cut from the belly, served in the same fashion as galbi. Sometimes cooked on a grill with kimchee troughs at either side. Commonly grilled with garlic and onions, dipped in ssamjjang and wrapped in lettuce leaves.
• Hoe \hweh\ (회): raw seafood dish dipped in gochujang or soy sauce, served with lettuce or sesame leaves.
• Makchang (막창): Grilled pork intestines prepared like samgyeopsal and galbi. Often served with a light bean paste sauce and chopped green onions. Very popular in Daegu and the surrounding Gyeongsang region.

Royal dishes

• Gujeolpan (구절판): literally "nine-sectioned plate," this very elaborate dish consists of a number of different vegetables and meats served with thin pancakes. It is served only at special occasions such as weddings, and is associated with royalty.
• Sinseollo: Korean style meat and vegetable lasagna.

Soups and stews

• Budae jjigae (부대찌개, "army base stew"): Soon after the Korean War, meat was scarce in Seoul. Some people made use of surplus foods from US Army bases such as hot dogs and canned ham (such as Spam) and incorporated it into a traditional spicy soup. This budae jjigae is still popular in South Korea, and the dish often incorporates such more modern ingredients as instant ramen noodles.
• Doenjang jjigae (된장찌개): spicy soybean paste soup, served as the main course or served alongside a meat course. It contains a variety of vegetables and shellfish, including small mussels, shrimp and/or large anchovies.
• Cheonggukjang jjigae (청국장찌개): soup made from strong-smelling thick soybean paste
• Gamjatang (감자탕, "potato stew"): a spicy soup with pork spine, vegetables (especially potatoes) and hot peppers. The vertebrae are usually separated. This is often a late night snack but is also served for a lunch or dinner.

• Haejangguk (해장국): a favorite hangover cure consisting usually of meaty pork spine, dried cabbage, coagulated ox blood (similar to blood pudding), and vegetables in a hearty beef broth. Legend has it that soon after World War II, a restaurant that invented this stew was the only place open in the Jongno district when the curfew at the time lifted at 4 a.m.
• Jeongol : a traditional spicy Korean stew, consisting of various types of seafood and vegetables. It is generally cooked over a low fire.
• Kimchi jjigae (김치찌개): Kimchi with spicy soybean paste in a soup, common lunch meal or accompanimant to a meat course. It is normally served in a stone pot, still boiling when it arrives at the table.
• Mae-un tang (매운탕): a refreshing hot & spicy fish soup.
• Samgyetang (삼계탕): a soup made with Cornish Game Hens that are stuffed with sweet rice, jujubes, garlic, and chestnuts. The broth is flavored with ginseng roots. The soup is traditionally eaten in the summer.
• Seolleongtang (설렁탕): ox bones and meat, simmered for several hours until the soup is milky-white.
• Sundubu jjigae (순두부 찌개): a thick spicy stew made with soft tofu. Traditionally, the diner cracks a raw egg in it while it's still boiling.

Mixed rice

• Bibimbap (비빔밥, "mixed rice"): rice topped with vegetables, beef and egg, and served with a dollop of chili pepper paste. A variation of this dish, dolsot bibimbap (돌솥 비빔밥), is served in a heated stone bowl, in which a raw egg is cooked against the sides of the bowl. Yukhoe (육회) is a popular version, comprising raw beef strips with raw egg and a dash of soy sauce mixed with Asian pear and gochujang. Everything (seasonings, rice and vegetables) is stirred together in one large bowl and eaten with a spoon.
• Hoedeopbap \hweh-dup-bahp\ (회덥밥): cubed raw fish mixed with fresh vegetables and rice and gochujang.

Noodles

• Naengmyeon (냉면, (N: 랭면, Raengmyŏn), "cold noodles"): this summer dish consists of several varieties of thin, hand-made buckwheat noodles, and is served in a large bowl with a tangy iced broth, raw julienned vegetables and fruit, and often a boiled egg and cold cooked beef. This is also called Mul ("water") Naengmyeon, to distinguish Bibim Naengmyeon, which has no broth and is mixed with gochujang.
• Japchae (잡채): dangmyeon, or cellophane noodles, stir fried with garlic, vegetables, and meat. Like jajangmyeon, it is found in Korean-Chinese restaurants, and although derived from a Chinese dish, has been substantially modified.
• Jajangmyeon (자장면): A variation on a Chinese noodle dish that is extremely popular in Korea. It is made with a black bean sauce, usually with some sort of meat and a variety of vegetables including zucchini and potatoes.
• Kalguksu (칼국수): boiled flat noodles, usually in a broth made of anchovies and sliced zucchini.
• Ramyeon (라면): spicy variation of Japanese Ramen, usually cooked with vegetables and meats.

Banchan

• Congnamul (콩나물): Soy bean sprouts, usually eaten in boiled and seasoned banchan. Soybean sprouts are also the main ingredient in Kongnamul-bap (sprouts over rice), Kongnamul-guk (sprout soup), and, of course, Kongnamul-gukbap (rice in sprout soup).

Tteok

For more about tteok, see Mochi.

• Songpyeon (송편): chewy stuffed rice cake served at Chuseok (Mid-Autumn Festival) decorated with sesame seeds, soybeans, and chestnuts. Honey or another soft, sweet material is found inside.

Korean snacks

Snacks play an important social role in Korean culture. In Korea, snack food may be purchased from street carts during the day, and at night many streets are filled with small tents that sell inexpensive food, drinks, and alcohol. At the street carts, customers may eat standing beside the cart or have your food wrapped-up to take home. Most Korean people consider the food sold here as a snack and is not usually eaten as the main meal. Seasons also have unique specialties: bingsu is a refreshing iced treat in the summer, whereas warm soup, gimbap, hottteok, and bugeo-ppang are enjoyed in thefall and winter.

Gimbap

Gimbap is a very popular snack in Korea because it is believed to be very delicious and nutritious. Moreover, it is easy to eat and carry to go on a picnic. It consists of cooked rice, sesame oil, salt, and sesame seeds, to which a small amount of vinegar and sugar are often added as seasonings. Then it is placed on a sheet of dried laver. The seasoned rice is spread on the laver, and the fried egg, carrot, strips of ham, seasoned ground beef or seasoned fish cakes, pickled radish, seasoned spinach, and seasoned gobo and cucumber are then placed close together on the rice, then rolled in the manner of Japanese sushi.

Buchimgae/Jeon

Fermented kimchi or seafood is mixed into flour, and then fried in an oiled pan. This dish tastes the best when it is hot dipped in soy sauce, vinegar, and red pepper powder.

Hotteok

This is similar to pancakes. Melted brown sugar, honey, and broken pieces of peanut and cinnamon are important fillings. Vegetables are sometimes added to the batter.

Bungeo-ppang/Gukwa-Ppang/Gyeran-ppang

Bungeo-ppang is fish-shaped. A bungeo-ppang is filled with sweet red bean paste and then baked in a mould the shape of a fish. It is very chewy-crispy on 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 is shaped like shells. One difference is that it is filled with egg instead of red bean paste.

Korean beverages

Non-alcoholic beverages

• Insam cha (인삼차): Korean ginseng tea
• Bori cha (보리차): roasted barley tea
• Oksusu cha (옥수수차): roasted corn tea
• Sungnyung (숭늉): roasted rice tea
• Sujeonggwa (수정과): persimmon punch
• Sikhye (식혜): sweet rice beverage
• Yujacha (유자차): citron tea
• Yulmucha (율무차): Job's tears tea

Alcoholic beverages

Main article: Korean wine

While soju (소주), a vodka-like liquor with high potency, and often flavoured similarly, is the best known liquor; and Majuang wine (a blended wine of Korean grapes with French or American wines) the most popular, there are well over 100 different wines and liquors available in Korea.

The top-selling domestic beers are lagers, similar to others found in Europe and Asia. These include:

• Cass
• Hite, Hite Prime
• Cafri
• OB lager beer which adds rice to the grain base, and is also available as a dry beer.
• Taedonggang is a North Korean beer which is now sold bottled in some bars in South Korea.

There are also several microbrewery beers:

• Praha (in Gangnam)
• Platinum (in Agpujeong and Gangnam)
• Jung-ang Micro Brewery (in Ansan)
• German Brauhaus (in Ansan)
• Three Dragons (in Sinchon)
• Rosenbräu (in Ilsan)

Soju is a clear spirit which was originally made from grain, and is now also made from sweet potatoes. Soju made from grain is considered superior (as is also the case with grain vs. potato vodka). Soju is around 22% ABV and is a favorite beverage of hard-up college students, hard-drinking businessmen, and blue-collar workers.

Yakju is a refined pure liquor fermented from rice, with the best known being cheongju. Takju is a thick unrefined liquor made from grains, with the best known being makkoli (막걸리), a white, milky rice wine traditionally drunk by farmers.

Korean wines are generally divided into fruit wines, and herbal wines. Acacia, maesil plum, Chinese quince, cherry, pine fruits, and pomegranate are most popular; and ginseng based medicinal wines, called insamju, are often diluted and sold to the west as energy drinks equivalent to Red Bull.

Juansang - Alcoholic drinks (ju) and accompanying side dishes (an) are set on the table. The dishes vary depending on the kinds of liquor or wine.

Gyojasang is a large table prepared for banquets. Alcohol beverages and a large variety of side dishes, rice cakes, confectionaries, and fruit punch are all placed on the table. After the liquor is finished, noodle soup is served.

Contemporary innovations

Fusion food is also rapidly becoming popular. There are many Chinese, northern Italian, French, and Indian fusion restaurants all over South Korea.

Vegetarian restaurants, which were sidelined with the decline of Buddhism and advance of missionary Christianity, have had a small resurgence, and can usually be found in every city.

Consumption of dog meat

In Korea (as well as in parts of China, and some areas of Southeast Asia), dog meat is sometimes regarded as a particularly stamina-enhancing food. This practice is becoming less common, and most Koreans regard dogs as pets. The average Korean usually does not consume dog meat, as it is generally considered a medicinal dish (either to promote male virility or to combat the heat in summer). Bosintang (spicy stew with a particular breed of dog meat) is sought out by some diners (usually men, both Korean and foreign) as a special summer dish available at specialty restaurants.

See also

• Korean wines
• List of Korea-related topics
• Cooking

External links

• Korean Cuisine by Ji Young Park

• Korean Cooking by Evil Jungle Prince blog
• TriFood | Your Guide to Korean Cuisines & Restaurants
• KoreanKitchen.com
• Official site of Korea National Tourism List of Korean Food
• ZenKimchi Korean Food Journal

• Korean cuisine