Korean traditional dishes have developed in the course of a long history and they are widely-known to the world for their original flavor, aroma, appearance and colour and for their diversity in kind.
Korean traditional dishes have several good qualities.
First of all, Korean traditional dishes taste exceptionally good.
The original taste of each dish is guaranteed by several sorts of seasonings including soy, bean paste, peppered bean paste, sesame oil, garlic, spring onion and ginger harmoniously mixed with main ingredients ― various kinds of cereals, vegetables, fish, edible herbs, fruit, etc. that are grown in our country. For example, vinegared soy is used for oily dishes while vinegared hot pepper paste or mustard paste is used for slices of raw fish. Minced raw beef is mixed with sesame oil.
Secondly, Korean traditional dishes are wonderful in harmony of colour and delicious-looking.
Fruit of Schizandra chinensis or red pepper is used to make dishes red, and pine pollen or yolk of an egg is added for yellow colour. Green is made by wormwood or green soybeans, and black is made by black sesame or boletus. Fruit like ginkgo nuts or pine nuts are used to decorate dishes. Korean traditional dishes such as sinsollo, yakbap (sweet rice dish mixed with sugar, dates, chestnuts, pine nuts, sesame oil, etc.) and Pyongyang raengmyon (cold noodle) bring water to mouths for their natural colour and beautiful and good-tasting appearance.
Thirdly, diverse and scientific ways of cooking and cultural and hygienic ways of table setting are another feature of Korean traditional dishes.
Fermenting and aging like making kimchi, fermented rice cake and fermented fish together with boiling, baking, frying and stewing are the major ways of cooking, which not only make dishes delicious but also improve people’s health and prevent or cure diseases. As for table setting, cold and pungent dishes are served on small plates while those that are not pungent are put in large bowls. Besides, every food container has their lids for preserving the warmth and aroma of the contents and preventing them from going bad.
The last feature is the diversity.
The Korean people have lived on rice from olden times and the rice alone is made into many kinds including boiled white rice, bean-mixed rice, rice cooked with red-beans, bibimbap (mixed with spices, vegetables, meat, etc.), boiled millet, etc. They have made many kinds of rice cake as special dishes ― glutinous rice cake, rice cake steamed on a layer of pine needles, rice cake with flower patterns imprinted, cake made of rice flour and wormwood paste, steamed rice cake, etc. to name a few. Kimchi, which is original and widely known to the world, is diverse in its kind: whole cabbage kimchi, pickled sliced radishes, watery kimchi made of sliced radish, radish pickles with wild garlic, pickled mustard leaves and stems, etc. The number of Korean dishes is beyond enumeration ― dishes cooked in different seasons, those for traditional holidays and those cooked in different parts and so on.
Korean national dishes with a long history and tradition are still being developed and enriched in conformity with the aesthetic senses of the times and the demands of the people.
Pak Sung Gil, researcher at the Academy of Social Sciences
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