Korean cuisine has evolved through centuries of social and political change. Originating from ancient agricultural and nomadic traditions in Korea and southern Manchuria, Korean cuisine reflects a complex interaction of the natural environment and different cultural trends.
Malay cuisine is the traditional food of the ethnic Malays of Southeast Asia, residing in modern-day Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Brunei, Southern Thailand and the Philippines as well as Cocos Islands, Christmas Island, Sri Lanka and South Africa.
Bulgogi is a gui made of thin, marinated slices of meat, most commonly beef, grilled on a barbecue or on a stove-top griddle. It is also often stir-fried in a pan in home cooking. Sirloin and rib eye are frequently used cuts of beef for the dish. Bulgogi is a very popular dish in South Korea, where it can be found anywhere from upscale restaurants to local supermarkets as pan-ready kits.
Bibimbap, sometimes romanized as bi bim bap or bi bim bop, is a Korean rice dish.
Korean royal court cuisine was the style of cookery within Korean cuisine traditionally consumed at the court of the Joseon Dynasty, which ruled Korea from 1392 to 1897. There has been a revival of this cookery style in the 21st century. It is said that twelve dishes should be served along with rice and soup, with most dishes served in bangjja (bronzeware).
Banchan are small side dishes served along with cooked rice in Korean cuisine. Banchan are often set in the middle of the table to be shared. At the center of the table is the secondary main course, such as galbi or bulgogi, and a shared pot of jjigae. Bowls of cooked rice and guk (soup) are set individually. Banchan are served in small portions, meant to be finished at each meal and replenished during the meal if not enough. Usually, the more formal the meals are, the more banchan there will be. Jeolla province is particularly famous for serving many different varieties of banchan in a single meal.
Namul refers to either a variety of edible grass or leaves or seasoned herbal dishes made of them. Wild greens are called san-namul, and spring vegetables are called bom-namul. On the day of Daeboreum, the first full moon of the year, Koreans eat boreum-namul with five-grain rice. It is believed that boreum namuls eaten in winter help one to withstand the heat of the summer to come.
Haejang-guk or hangover soup refers to every kind of guk or soup eaten as a hangover cure in Korean cuisine. It means "soup to chase a hangover" and is also called sulguk (술국). It usually consists of dried napa cabbage, vegetables and meat in a hearty beef broth. One type of haejangguk, seonjiguk, includes sliced congealed ox blood and another type, sundaeguk, includes a kind of blood sausage made with intestine stuffed with pig's blood and other ingredients.
Jjim is a Korean cuisine term referring to dishes made by steaming or boiling meat, chicken, fish, or shellfish which have been marinated in a sauce or soup. The cooking technique originally referred to dishes cooked in a siru by steaming. However, the name jjim has now come to imply a finished dish with a steamed appearance. The cooking method for most jjim dishes nowadays has changed to boiling the ingredients in broth and reducing the liquid. Pressure cookers are popular for making jjim as well.
Mung bean sprouts are a culinary vegetable grown by sprouting mung beans. They can be grown by placing and watering the sprouted beans in the shade until the hypocotyls grow long. Mung bean sprouts are extensively cultivated and consumed in East and Southeast Asia and are very easy to grow, requiring minimal care other than a steady supply of water. They are often used in school science projects.
Guk (국), also sometimes known as tang, is a class of soup-like dishes in Korean cuisine. Guk and tang are commonly grouped together and regarded as the same type of dish, although tang can sometimes be less watery than guk. It is one of the most basic components in a Korean meal, along with bap, and banchan. In Korean table setting, guk is served on the right side of bap (rice), and left side of sujeo.
Agwi-jjim (아귀찜) or agu-jjim (아구찜) is a Korean jjim dish made with blackmouth angler, the fish known as agwi in Korean. The name of the dish is usually translated as "braised spicy angler".
Gukbap is a Korean dish made by putting cooked rice into hot soup or boiling rice in soup. It is commonly served in a ttukbaegi. Whereas soup and rice is generally eaten separately in Korea, in gukbap, rice is expected to be mixed into the soup.
A ttukbaegi (Korean: 뚝배기) is a type of oji-gureut, which is an onggi coated with brown-tone ash glaze. The small, black to brown earthenware vessel is a cookware/serveware used for various jjigae (stew), gukbap, or other boiled dishes in Korean cuisine. As a ttukbaegi retains heat and does not cool off as soon as removed from the stove, stews and soups in ttukbaegi usually arrive at the table at a bubbling boil.
Korean regional cuisines are characterized by local specialties and distinctive styles within Korean cuisine. The divisions reflected historical boundaries of the provinces where these food and culinary traditions were preserved until modern times.
Bap is a Korean name for cooked rice prepared by boiling rice or other grains, such as black rice, barley, sorghum, various millets, and beans, until the water has cooked away. Special ingredients such as vegetables, seafood, and meat can also be added to create different kinds of bap. In the past, except for the socially wealthy class, people used to eat mixed grain rice together with beans and barley rather than only rice.
Mu or Korean radish is a variety of white radish with a firm crunchy texture.
Kongnamul-bulgogi, sometimes abbreviated as kongbul (콩불), is a modern Korean dish. It is a combination of bulgogi, bean sprouts, rice cake, vegetables, noodles, sausages, and spicy sauce. The ingredients are roasted in a large pan. The dish has become increasingly popular in South Korea, especially among teenagers, due to its low price and appealing flavour.
