Korean cuisine is one of the famous cuisines all over the world. It attracts for different kinds of meals, side dishes, sweet desserts and drinks. I am going to tell you about some of the best Korean dishes you should try.
Bibimbap
Classic Korean Bibimbap (๋น๋น๋ฐฅ) is one of the best well-known Korean cuisine among travelers. The name of food consists of two terms bibim, which means โmixing different ingredientsโ, and noun bap refers to rice. Bibimbap is a bowl of steamed rice covered with seasoned vegetables and Korean chili pepper paste. Koreans eat bibimbap with top fried egg or beef. Before eating all ingredients it should be mixed very well. This food is so famous that you can find it at Korean restaurants all over the world.
Samgyetang
Samgyetang (์ผ๊ณํ) is a Korean traditional soup, means sam โ ginseng, gye โ chicken, tang โ soup. Koreans usually eat hot samgyetang more often in summer days in order to promote health. They call this idea as โfight heat with heatโ, when hottest days of summer met with hot chicken soup, so that you can rebalance your hot and cold energy and restore strength. The whole young chicken fills with some ingredients, such as ginseng, jujube, garlic and rice. Some restaurants offer this dish with bottle of ginseng wine. It is super delicious.
Pajeon
Pajeon (ํ์ ) is a green onion pancake. The main ingredients for cooking pajeon are rice flour, wheat flour, eggs and green onions. Some people put seafood or kimchi, that is why there are another varieties of jeon, such as haemul pajeon (seafood pajeon) and kimchijeon. The most famous kind is Dongrae pajeon. The Dongrae was a fortress in Joseon Dynasty during Imjin War, and according to the legend people of Dongrae threw green onions during the fighting with Japanese soldiers, after that the Dongrae pajeon was made in honor of the victory under the Japanese invading. Also Koreans tend to eat that kind of pancake and drink rice wine Makgeolli (๋ง๊ฑธ๋ฆฌ), when it rains.
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Doenjang-jjigae
Doenjang-jjigae (๋์ฅ์ฐ๊ฐ) is a soybean paste stew. The main ingredient for cooking is soybean paste and additional ingredients tofu, onions, potato, dried anchovies, white radish and zucchini. Locals usually eat it with bowl of rice and some side dishes.
The flavor of food is very deep and rich, because the paste is made during several months of fermentation. Many Koreans cook Doenjang-jjigae at home as an everyday home-cooked meal. Today the soybean paste is available for buying at Korean markets, so if you want to cook at home it would not be very difficult.
Andong Jjimdak
Andong Jjimdak (์ฐ๋ญ) is braised chicken with vegetables in spicy soy sauce. The dish was originated in Andong city, Gyeongsangbuk-do Province during the Joseon period. Jjimdak is a dish with high content of protein and various vitamins from the vegetables, such as carrot, potato, mushroom, onion, paprika and others. Koreans also add noodles. If you will visit South Korea, you should definitely try Jjimdak.
Dakgalbi
Dakgalbi (๋ญ๊ฐ๋น) is stir-fried chicken, means dak – chicken, galbi โ rib. It is very popular Korean dish. Locals cook it by marinated chicken and green onions, perilla leaves, sweet potatoes, cabbage and tteok (rice cake). The amazing Korean cuisine was originated in Chuncheon in the 1960s, so it is often referred to as Chuncheon Dakgalbi and, what is more, there is an annual dakgalbi festival in Chuncheon with a large number of restaurants that offer dakgalbi
Janchi-guksu
Janchi-guksu (์์น๊ตญ์) is a warm noodle soup, means janchi – feast, guksu โ noodles. Noodle is a symbol of long life, that is why janchi-guksu is served at large feasts, weddings, birthday parties. Actually, it is very simple food and very popular in South Korea. Koreans made it using wheat flour noodles, anchovy broth and some additional ingredients. Usually janchi-guksu includes roasted kim (dried seaweed), eomuk (fish cake), zucchini and kimchi.
Yangnyeom chicken
Yangnyeom chicken (์๋ ์นํจ) is double fried chicken that is coated with spicy and sweet sauce. The taste is amazing and wonderful. Koreans eat Yangnyeom chicken and drink beer, so it can be a kind of anju (food that eaten with alcohol drinks). Many Korean restaurants offer chicken with pickled radishes (๋ฌด). By style, there are Tongtak chicken (whole chicken) and Sunsal chicken (boneless chicken). Tongtak chicken is a 1970-s style whole chicken.
Gyeran-jjim
Gyeran-jjim (๊ณ๋์ฐ) is one kind of jjim, means gyeran – egg, jjim – steamed dish. It usually includes scallions and sesame seeds as side dish. The gyeran-jjim is light and fluffy. Some restaurants include some optional ingredients, peas, mushrooms, onions, carrots, zucchini and other vegetables. This popular side dish goes well with any Korean food. Try it at Korean restaurant.
I hope this post about Korean cuisine was informative. Donโt forget to comment if you have any more recommendations or tips related to this post. Thanks for reading and have a nice trip!
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