Banchan

Banchan also spelled panchan, refers to small side dishes served along with cooked rice in Korean cuisine. This word is used both in the singular and plural. The most famous banchan is kimchi.

Banchan are set in the middle of the table to be shared. At the center of the table is the main course, such as galbi or bulgogi, and sometimes a shared pot of stew. A bowl of cooked rice and soup are set individually. Banchan are served in small portions, meant to be finished at each meal. They can be replenished during the meal as they are finished. Usually, more formal meals have more banchan. The Jeolla province is famous for serving many more kinds of banchan in a single meal.

Different banchan kinds

Kimchi

Kimchi is fermented vegetables, usually baechu (Napa cabbage), seasoned with chili peppers and salt. This is the essential banchan of a standard Korean meal. Some Koreans do not consider a meal complete without kimchi. Kimchi can be made with other vegetables as well, including spring onions, Brassica juncea (gat, 갓), and radishes (mu, 무).

Name	Korean name	Description
Nabak kimchi	나박김치	firmer and less spicy baechu and mu floating in pink watery brine
Dongchimi	동치미	various vegetables in white brine. Nabak kimchi and dongchimi are referred to as mul kimchi (물김치), literally "water kimchi."
Geotjeori	겉절이	freshly made kimchi to be eaten crisp without fermenting. Often made with baechu.
Ggakdugi	깍두기	mu cut into cubes and seasoned with red chili peppers
Oi sobaki	오이 소박이	cucumbers stuffed with chili and spring onions
Chonggak kimchi	총각김치	whole mu with chili pepper seasoning. It is made with dallangmu, about the same size as sausages.

Namul

Namul (나물) is steamed, marinated, or stir-fried vegetables usually seasoned with sesame oil, salt, vinegar, minced garlic, chopped green onions, dried chili peppers, and soy sauce.

Name	Korean name	Description
Kongnamul	콩나물	Cold boiled bean sprouts with sesame oil.
Sigeumchi namul	시금치나물	Lightly parboiled spinach dressed with sesame oil, garlic, and soy sauce
Miyeok muchim	미역무침	Miyeok (wakame, a seaweed) with sweet vinegar and salt.
Musaengchae/Muchae	무생채/무채	"Noodles" of white radish in a sweet vinegar sauce, sometimes with ground dried chili peppers.
Gosari namul	고사리나물	Prepared fern shoots that have been stir-fried
Chwinamul	취나물	Stir-fried and seasoned Aster scaber
Bireum namul	비름나물	Parboiled and seasoned amaranthus
Naengi namul	냉이나물	Parboiled and seasoned shepherd's purse
Dolnamul	돌나물	Raw Sedum with pepper sauce dressing
Gogumasun namul	고구마순나물	Boiled/seasoned sweet potato shoots
Gaji namul	가지나물	Boiled eggplant
Doraji namul	도라지나물	Boiled Chinese bellflower roots

Bokkeum

Bokkeum (볶음) is a dish stir-fried with a sauce

• Ojingeochae bokkeum (오징어채볶음) — made by stir-frying dried shredded squid seasoned with a mixture of gochujang (chili pepper paste), garlics, and mulyeot (syrup-like condiment). It is eaten as anju (food to eat while drinking), and as banchan.

Jorim

Jorim is a dish simmered in a seasoned broth.

• Dubu-jorim (두부조림) — tofu simmered in diluted soy sauce, a little bit of sesame oil, minced garlic, and chopped green onion.
• Jang-jorim (장조림) — beef (the heart is commonly used) simmered in soy sauce, optionally with hard-boiled eggs or hard-boiled quail eggs

Jjim

Jjim is a steamed dish.

• Gyeran-jjim (계란찜) — eggs that have been cracked, mixed, seasoned, and steamed in a container, eaten with a spoon

Jeon

Jeon denotes a variety of pan-fried dishes. Buchimgae is a near synonym. In Japan, buchimgae is called chijimi (チヂミ), after the Gyeongsang dialect word for buchimgae, jijimi.

• Pajeon (파전) — thin pancakes with green onion. Can also be made with just eggs and green onions.
• Kimchijeon (김치전) — thin pancakes with old (ripe) Kimchi.
• Gamjajeon (감자전) — Korean-style potato pancakes
• Saengseon jeon (생선전) — small portions of fish coated with eggs and pan-fried
• Donggeurang ttaeng (동그랑땡) — patty made with tofu and meat and vegetables, coated with eggs and pan-fried

Others

• Japchae (잡채) — A stand-alone dish in its own right, japchae can also be eaten as banchan. Japchae is translucent starch noodles accompanied with a variety of vegetable and beef in a slightly-sweet garlic sauce.
• Korean-style potato salad (감자 샐러드) with apples and carrots

See also

• List of Korea-related topics
• Korean cuisine

External links

• Introduction to Korean Food
• About Korean Cuisine
• The characteristics of Korean food