Dishes

See also: List of Korean dishes and List of North Korean dishes

Korean foods can be largely categorized into groups of "main staple foods" (??),
"subsidiary dishes" (??), and "dessert" (??). The main dishes are made from grains
such as bap (a bowl of rice), juk (porridge), and guksu (noodles).

Many Korean banchan 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").
Soups and stews
See also: List of Korean dishes � Soups and stews
Tteokguk, soup made with tteok, rice cake

Soups are a common part of any Korean meal. Unlike other cultures, in Korean
culture, soup is served as part of the main course rather than at the beginning or
the end of the meal, as an accompaniment to rice along with other banchan. Soups
known as guk are often made with meats, shellfish and vegetables. Soups can be made
into more formal soups known as tang, often served as the main dish of the meal.
Jjigae are a thicker, heavier seasoned soups or stews.[44]

Some popular types of soups are:

Malgeunguk (???), are flavored with ganjang. Small amounts of long boiled meat
may be added to the soup, or seafood both fresh and dried may be added, or
vegetables may be the main component for the clear soup.
Tojangguk (???) are seasoned with doenjang. Common ingredients for tojang guk
include seafood such as clams, dried anchovies, and shrimp. For a spicier soup,
gochujang is added.[45]
Gomguk (??) or gomtang (??), and they are made from boiling beef bones or
cartilage. Originating as a peasant dish, all parts of beef are used, including
tail, leg and rib bones with or without meat attached; these are boiled in water to
extract fat, marrow, and gelatin to create a rich soup. Some versions of this soup
may also use the beef head and intestines. The only seasoning generally used in the
soup is salt.

Naengguk (??), which are cold soups generally eaten during the summer months to
cool the diner. A light hand is usually used in the seasoning of these soups
usually using ganjang and sesame oil.[46]
Shin-Son-Ro (or Koo-Ja Tang), the name of it came from its special cook pot
with chimney for burning charcoal. The meaning is a hearth or furnace or a pot for
fire or incense burning that always contains nineteen fillings. The nineteen
fillings were including beef, fish, eggs, carrot, mushrooms, and onion.[47]

Stews are referred to as jjigae, and are often a shared side dish. Jjigae is often
both cooked and served in the glazed earthenware pot (ttukbaegi) in which it is
cooked. The most common version of this stew is doenjang jjigae, which is a stew of
soybean paste, with many variations; common ingredients include vegetables,
saltwater or freshwater fish, and tofu. The stew often changes with the seasons and
which ingredients are available. Other common varieties of jjigae contain kimchi
(kimchi jjigae) or tofu (sundubu jjigae).[48]
Kimchi
Main article: Kimchi
Baek-kimchi

Kimchi refers to often fermented vegetable dishes usually made with napa cabbage,
Korean radish, or sometimes cucumber. There have 4 types of raw materials that is
major raw materials, spices, seasonings, and other additional materials. Red and
black pepper, cinnamon, garlic, ginger, onion, and mustard are the example of
spices.[49][50][51] There are endless varieties with regional variations, and it is
served as a side dish or cooked into soups and rice dishes. In the late 15th
century, it depicted Korean's custom that Korean ancestors buried kimchi jars in
the ground for storage for the entire winter season, as fermented foods can keep
for several years.[52] These were stored in traditional Korean mud pots known as
jangdokdae, although with the advent of refrigerators, special kimchi freezers and
commercially produced kimchi, this practice has become less common. Kimchi is a
vegetable-based food which includes low calorie, low fat, and no cholesterol. Also,
it is a rich source of various vitamins and minerals. It contains vitamins such as
vitamin A, vitamin B, vitamin C, and vitamin K and minerals which are calcium,
iron, phosphorus, and selenium.[53] South Koreans eat an average of 40 pounds of
kimchi each year.[54]
Noodles
Japchae, a kind of Korean noodle dish made with marinated beef and vegetables in
soy sauce and sesame oil.
Main article: Korean noodles

Noodles or noodle dishes in Korean cuisine are collectively referred to as guksu in

native Korean or myeon in hanja. While noodles were eaten in Korea from ancient
times, productions of wheat was less than other crops, so wheat noodles did not
become a daily food until 1945.[55][56] Wheat noodles (milguksu) were specialty
foods for birthdays, weddings or auspicious occasions because the long and
continued shape were thought to be associated with the bliss for longevity and
long-lasting marriage.[55]

In Korean traditional noodle dishes are onmyeon or guksu jangguk (noodles with a
hot clear broth), naengmyeon (cold buckwheat noodles), bibim guksu (cold noodle
dish mixed with vegetables), kalguksu (knife-cut noodles), kongguksu (noodles with
a cold soybean broth), japchae (cellophane noodles made from sweet potato with
various vegetables) and others. In royal court, baekmyeon (literally "white
noodles") consisting of buckwheat noodles and pheasant broth, was regarded as the
top quality noodle dish. Naengmyeon with a cold soup mixed with dongchimi (watery
radish kimchi) and beef brisket broth was eaten in court during summer.[55]

Jajangmyeon, a staple Koreanized Chinese noodle dish, is extremely popular in

Korea as fast, take-out food. It is made with a black bean sauce usually fried with
diced pork or seafood and a variety of vegetables, including zucchini and potatoes.
It is popularly ordered and delivered, like Chinese take-out food in other parts of
the world.
Ramyeon refers to Korean instant noodles similar to ramen.

Banchan

Banchan is a term referring collectively to side dishes in Korean cuisine. Soups

and stews are not considered banchan.
Bulgogi, a grilled Korean dish; the meat and vegetables shown here have not yet
been grilled.

Gui are grilled dishes, which most commonly have meat or fish as their primary
ingredient, but may in some cases also comprise grilled vegetables or other
vegetable ingredients. 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, thinly sliced garlic, ssamjang (a mixture of gochujang
and dwenjang), and other seasonings. The suffix gui is often omitted in the names
of meat-based gui such as galbi, the name of which was originally galbi gui.
 List of grilled dishes commonly found in Korean cuisine

Jjim and seon (steamed dishes) are generic terms referring to steamed or boiled
dishes in Korean cuisine. However, the former is made with meat or seafood-based
ingredients marinated in gochujang or ganjang while seon is made with vegetable
stuffed with fillings.

List of steamed dishes commonly found in Korean cuisine

Hoe (raw dishes): although the term originally referred to any kind of raw dish, it
is generally used to refer to saengseonhweh (???, raw fish dishes). It is dipped in
gochujang, or soy sauce with wasabi, and served with lettuce or perilla leaves.

list of raw dishes commonly found in Korean cuisine

Bindaeddeok

Jeon (or buchimgae) are savory pancakes made from various ingredients. Chopped
kimchi or seafood is mixed into a wheat flour-based batter, and then pan fried.
This dish tastes best when it is dipped in a mixture of soy sauce, vinegar, and red
pepper powder.

List of jeon dishes commonly found in Korean cuisine

Namul

Namul may be used to refer to either saengchae (??, literally "fresh vegetables")
or sukchae (??, literally "heated vegetables"), although the term generally
indicates the latter. Saengchae is mostly seasoned with vinegar, chili pepper
powder and salt to give a tangy and refreshing taste. On the other hand, sukchae
(??) is blanched and seasoned with soy sauce, sesame oil, chopped garlic, or
sometimes chili pepper powder.

List of namul dishes commonly found in Korean cuisine

Anju (side dishes accompanying alcoholic beverages)

Jokbal : pig's feet, a type of Anju.

Anju is a general term for a Korean side dish consumed with alcohol. It matches
well with Korean traditional alcohol such as Soju or Makgeolli and helps people to
enjoy their drinking more. Some examples of anju include steamed squid with
gochujang, assorted fruit, dubu kimchi (tofu with kimchi), peanuts, odeng/ohmuk,
sora (??) (a kind of shellfish popular in street food tents), and nakji (small
octopus) and Jokbal (pig's leg served with salted shrimp sauce). Most Korean foods
can be considered as 'anju', as the food consumed alongside the alcohol depends on
the diner's taste and preferences.