The Korean saying, "Happy is the man who, laying prone, can caress his full stomach," gives people an idea of the important position food holds in Korean culture. Eating food is not merely ingesting nutrition, but is living a tradition.
Korean cuisine distinguishes itself by the use of varied food preparations and offerings, where fresh and preserved foods are kept in balance. Korean cuisine is highly nutritious and low in calories, owing in large part to the presence of many kinds of vegetables.
Typical flavorings are red peppers, shallots, soy sauce, soybean paste, ginger, and sesame oil. By tradition, all foods are placed on the table at the same time—even a soup—and are not served in different courses. No specific sequence to consuming what is offered exists. People help themselves according to their individual preferences.
When Koreans prepare cabbage, it becomes a salad; but if one lets the cabbage ferment, it becomes kimchi. The fermented product takes on a new characteristic and flavor. There is rarely a Korean meal without kimchi.
This specialty undergoes various preparations. The most typical way is to use salted Napa cabbage leaves which are layered into a crock with other items such as coarsely chopped green onions, radish, fresh ginger root, red pepper flakes, as well as garlic. Sometimes certain seafood is added, as well as chili powder and fish sauce; occasionally salted fish or oysters complete the mixture.
Fermentation preserves these foods, which over a period of a few days take on a characteristic pungent smell and flavor. During the warm months of the year, kimchi is prepared fresh weekly. During late fall, people prepare huge amounts of kimchi, called "winter kimchi," and store the supply in large, glazed earthen vessels for future consumption.
Standard Offerings in Korean Cuisine
Bab and Juk (steamed rice and gruel) Steamed rice is the main food in Korean cuisine, which is sometimes augmented by barley, millet, legumes (beans), chestnuts, and other grains for better flavor. Korean people have served gruel for centuries. Gruel is particularly a nourishing food for recuperating patients. Some consider it a delicacy, especially when such things as pine nuts, red beans, squash, ginseng, kelp, pieces of chicken, vegetables, mushrooms, or soybean sprouts are added—these are the favored add-ins.
Guk (soup)
No proper Korean meal is without soup, which might contain vegetables, meat, fish, shellfish, kelp, or boiled beef bones. Koreans prefer to use spoons for the soup and consume the solids with the aid of chopsticks.
Jjigae (one-dish meals)
These meals are thicker than soups and constitute the main offering at a meal; a favorite is that made from soybean paste.
Jjim and Jorim (meat or fish, slowly simmered)
These two are similar. Fish or meat are cooked over a low flame, either simmered or braised, until all ingredients are tender and the flavors have blended. Jjim also signifies a steamed dish.
Jeotgal (salt-cured seafood or fin fish)
Fin fish, mussels, clams, shrimp, oysters, fish roe, or select fish innards are the basis for a quite salty Jeotgal. This is served either as a highly flavored accompaniment to plain rice or as additional seasoning for kimchi or other foods.
Gui (roasted or grilled items)
Bulgogi (thin, marinated slices of beef) and Galbi (marinated beef ribs) are best known. Fish is also roasted or grilled. [Koreans in the Pacific Northwest of the United States are extremely fond of pork cooked in this manner].
Jeon (pan-fried foods)
Mushrooms, zucchini, oysters, and green onions are mixed with ground beef, breaded in flour, dipped into beaten eggs, and then pan-fried. People also enjoy pancake-like Jeon: Make a runny dough from mung bean flour, white flour, or grated potatoes; add in chopped green onions and minced pork; blend well and fry like pancakes in a hot frying pan.
Mandu (filled dough pockets, similar to ravioli)
Small pieces of thin dough are filled with meat and vegetables. They are either steamed, pan-fried, or shallow-fried; a tasty treat anytime of the day.
Feeds