Types of Korean Food
Mushroom, zucchini, fish fillet, oyster, or green pepper with ground meat filling are thinly coated with flour, dipped in a beaten egg, and then pan-fried. There are also pancake-type jeon: mung bean powder, wheat flour or grated potato is used to make batter, and green onion, kimchi, or chopped pork are stirred in, then fried.
Jjim and Jorim
(simmered meat or fish)
Jjim and jorim are similar. Meat or fish are simmered over low heat in soy sauce flavored with other seasonings until tender and tasty. Jjim also refers to a steamed fish.
(broiled or barbecued dishes)
Bulgogi (thin-sliced marinated beef) and galbi (marinated beef ribs) are well-known examples of gui. Fish are often broiled, too.
Jjigae and Jeongol
(stew and casserole)
Less watery and containing more substance to chew than soup, these dishes can be the main part of a meal. Soybean paste stew is a very popular jjigae. Jeongol is usually cooked in a casserole dish on a fire at the dining table. Noodles, pine mushroom, octopus, tripe, and vegetables are favored substances to make jeongol.
Staple of the Korean diet. Barley, beans, chestnut, millet, or other grains are often added for special taste and further nutritional value.
Guk and Tang
The Korean table is never complete without soup. Vegetables, meat, fish and shellfish, seaweed, and even boiled cow bones are used to make guk and tang.
Sometimes a delicacy, sometimes a restorative. Pine nuts, red beans, pumpkin, abalone, ginseng, chicken, vegetables, mushrooms and bean sprouts are the most popular ingredients.
(seafood fermented in salt)
Fish, clams, shrimp, oysters, fish roe, or selected fish organs are popular for making jeotgal. Very salty. A pungent side dish in itself with boiled rice, it is sometimes added in making kimchi or used to season other foods.
(vegetable or wild green dishes)
The Korean diet includes hundreds of vegetable and wild green dishes called namul, and a visit to a Korean marketplace shows a huge variety of unusual greens. Namul is usually parboiled or stir-fried and seasoned with combinations of salt, soy sauce, sesame seeds, sesame oil, garlic and green onion.
Sliced raw fish is becoming popular around the world. Tuna, croaker, flatfish, oysters, skate, sea cucumber, abalone, sea urchin, and squid are popular in Korea -- and sometimes raw beef. Sesame leaves or lettuces are common garnishes, and choices of thin-sliced ginger, mustard or red pepper paste sauce provide pungency. Hoe is pronounced "hwey."