The Korea Times
amn_close.png
amn_bl.png
National
  • Politics
  • Foreign Affairs
  • Multicultural Community
  • Defense
  • Environment & Animals
  • Law & Crime
  • Society
  • Health & Science
amn_bl.png
Business
  • Tech
  • Bio
  • Companies
  • World Expo 2030
amn_bl.png
Finance
  • Companies
  • Economy
  • Markets
  • Cryptocurrency
amn_bl.png
Opinion
  • Editorial
  • Columns
  • Thoughts of the Times
  • Cartoon
  • Today in History
  • Blogs
  • Tribune Service
  • Blondie & Garfield
  • Letter to the Editor
amn_bl.png
Lifestyle
  • Travel & Food
  • Trends
  • People & Events
  • Books
  • Around Town
  • Fortune Telling
amn_bl.png
Entertainment & Arts
  • K-pop
  • Films
  • Shows & Dramas
  • Music
  • Theater & Others
amn_bl.png
Sports
  • Hangzhou Asian Games
amn_bl.png
World
  • SCMP
  • Asia
amn_bl.png
Video
  • Korean Storytellers
  • POPKORN
  • Culture
  • People
  • News
amn_bl.png
Photos
  • Photo News
  • Darkroom
amn_NK.png amn_DR.png amn_LK.png amn_LE.png
  • bt_fb_on_2022.svgbt_fb_over_2022.svg
  • bt_twitter_on_2022.svgbt_twitter_over_2022.svg
  • bt_youtube_on_2022.svgbt_youtube_over_2022.svg
  • bt_instagram_on_2022.svgbt_instagram_over_2022.svg
The Korea Times
amn_close.png
amn_bl.png
National
  • Politics
  • Foreign Affairs
  • Multicultural Community
  • Defense
  • Environment & Animals
  • Law & Crime
  • Society
  • Health & Science
amn_bl.png
Business
  • Tech
  • Bio
  • Companies
  • World Expo 2030
amn_bl.png
Finance
  • Companies
  • Economy
  • Markets
  • Cryptocurrency
amn_bl.png
Opinion
  • Editorial
  • Columns
  • Thoughts of the Times
  • Cartoon
  • Today in History
  • Blogs
  • Tribune Service
  • Blondie & Garfield
  • Letter to the Editor
amn_bl.png
Lifestyle
  • Travel & Food
  • Trends
  • People & Events
  • Books
  • Around Town
  • Fortune Telling
amn_bl.png
Entertainment & Arts
  • K-pop
  • Films
  • Shows & Dramas
  • Music
  • Theater & Others
amn_bl.png
Sports
  • Hangzhou Asian Games
amn_bl.png
World
  • SCMP
  • Asia
amn_bl.png
Video
  • Korean Storytellers
  • POPKORN
  • Culture
  • People
  • News
amn_bl.png
Photos
  • Photo News
  • Darkroom
amn_NK.png amn_DR.png amn_LK.png amn_LE.png
  • bt_fb_on_2022.svgbt_fb_over_2022.svg
  • bt_twitter_on_2022.svgbt_twitter_over_2022.svg
  • bt_youtube_on_2022.svgbt_youtube_over_2022.svg
  • bt_instagram_on_2022.svgbt_instagram_over_2022.svg
  • Login
  • Register
  • Login
  • Register
  • The Korea Times
  • search
  • all menu
  • Login
  • Subscribe
  • Photos
  • Video
  • World
  • Sports
  • Opinion
  • Entertainment & Art
  • Lifestyle
  • Finance
  • Business
  • National
  • North Korea
  • 1

    INTERVIEWAhn Hyo-seop wanted to share dedicated love with 'A Time Called You'

  • 3

    SHINee launches first Japan tour in 5 years

  • 5

    Korea makes last-ditch bid to host World Expo 2030 in Busan

  • 7

    Heavy traffic jams mostly eased on 5th day of holiday

  • 9

    Consumers to face higher prices for daily necessities after Chuseok

  • 11

    Samsung chief visits Middle East to explore new businesses

  • 13

    Korea picks up 2 medals in table tennis as gold drought continues

  • 15

    Ruling party vows to investigate China's alleged influence operations

  • 17

    Shin-Hanul No. 2 nuclear reactor begins testing for full operation next year

  • 19

    4 injured in rockfall at tourist attraction on eastern island of Ulleung

  • 2

    Korea's Coast Guard apprehends 22 Chinese after illegal entry attempt

  • 4

    Distraught roller skater apologizes for costly premature celebration

  • 6

    S. Korea wins 1st table tennis gold in 21 yrs

  • 8

    Public transit fares to increase in Seoul and Busan this week

  • 10

    LA-based photographer captures Koreatown unfazed by pandemic

  • 12

    No regrets for roller skaters after taking silver in relay

  • 14

    National Assembly speeds up efforts to outlaw dog meat consumption in Korea

  • 16

    'Dr. Cheon and Lost Talisman' tops Chuseok holiday box office

  • 18

    Internet-only banks outperform legacy lenders in labor productivity

  • 20

    Genesis GV80 Coupe looks to compete with Mercedes-Benz, BMW

Close scrollclosebutton

Close for 24 hours

Open
  • The Korea Times
  • search
  • all menu
  • Login
  • Subscribe
  • Photos
  • Video
  • World
  • Sports
  • Opinion
  • Entertainment & Art
  • Lifestyle
  • Finance
  • Business
  • National
  • North Korea
Opinion
  • Yun Byung-se
  • Kim Won-soo
  • Ahn Ho-young
  • Kim Sang-woo
  • Lee Kyung-hwa
  • Mitch Shin
  • Peter S. Kim
  • Daniel Shin
  • Jeon Su-mi
  • Jang Daul
  • Song Kyung-jin
  • Park Jung-won
  • Cho Hee-kyoung
  • Park Chong-hoon
  • Kim Sung-woo
  • Donald Kirk
  • John Burton
  • Robert D. Atkinson
  • Mark Peterson
  • Eugene Lee
  • Rushan Ziatdinov
  • Lee Jong-eun
  • Chyung Eun-ju and Joel Cho
  • Bernhard J. Seliger
  • Imran Khalid
  • Troy Stangarone
  • Jason Lim
  • Casey Lartigue, Jr.
  • Bernard Rowan
  • Steven L. Shields
  • Deauwand Myers
  • John J. Metzler
  • Andrew Hammond
  • Sandip Kumar Mishra
Wed, October 4, 2023 | 19:35
Bernard Rowan
Banchan - Korean eating paradise
Posted : 2019-03-26 17:29
Updated : 2019-03-26 17:29
Print PreviewPrint Preview
Font Size UpFont Size Up
Font Size DownFont Size Down
  • facebook
  • twitter
  • kakaolink
  • whatsapp
  • reddit
  • mailto
  • link

By Bernard Rowan

I'm writing about Korean side dishes or banchan. These wonderful and varied fruits of land and sea make a beautiful accompaniment to any meal. They also may serve as a meal, with delicious Korean sticky rice, enriched with beans. Banchan represents healthy eating in a time of obsession with meat. They remind us of simplicity, balance, and good taste. Let's learn a bit about the eating paradise of Korean side dishes ― a taste of Korean side dishes, as it were.

Banchan deserves an entire chapter in any Korean cookbook or encyclopedia of Korean cuisine. Some come in the form of cooked, seasoned, pickled or decorated vegetables and roots. Others arise from delicious cooked and seasoned seafood. Varied types of kimchi appear as side dishes. Still others feature peanuts, lotus root, eggs, tofu, or sweet potato noodles with vegetables and meat. Don't be finicky! Expand your palate's experience and enjoy some distinct and delicious tastes with Korean side dishes.

I like side dishes made from treated stems sprouts and roots: bellflower, ferns, aster, burdock, watercress, mung bean, spinach or bean sprouts are some examples. Often the texture makes the side dish as appealing as the taste. I enjoy stuffed cucumbers (oi sobagi), napa cabbage (baechu kimchi), cubed radish (kkakdugi), and spicy cucumbers (oi kimchi). Steamed and seasoned eggplant (gaji namul), soy sauce potatoes (gamja jorim) and pickled garlic (manul changachi) taste good. Steamed tofu with chili (soondubu yangnum), fried and seasoned tofu with green onions (dubu buchim) and mildly simmered tofu (dubu jorim) are wonderful. So is dubu gyeran jjim, tofu and egg pudding.

I'm not fond of kimchi made from mint (perilla) leaves (kkaenip jjim). I have trouble working mung bean jelly (cheonpomuk) with my poor chopstick skills. It's a bland dish but cooling. Seaweed is a cultivated taste. It's served as a side dish or ingredient of salad (miyeok muchim), or dried, seasoned sheets (kim), or raw.

For heartier accompaniments, try beef in soy (jangjorim). Skewers of vegetables with meats (sanjeok) are wonderful. Also, enjoy dried squid in sauce (ojingeochae muchim or bokkeum) and dried anchovies (myeolchi bokkeum). Try fish cake (eomuk bokkeum) and Korean pancakes (jeon) with vegetables and seafood. I'm fond of japchae or Korean stir-fried glass noodles. Other sides include fried fish and shrimp (saengsun and saewoo) and lightly fried fish (bugeo gui). As with many side dishes, there's enough versatility to convert them into a main dish, for a lighter meal or snack eaten during a break.

Some of the main sauces and spices featured in Korean banchan are delicious sesame oil, chili flakes, doenjang (bean paste), and red pepper paste (gochujang).

Some of the best websites to view and learn more about Korean cuisine through English are the "Side Dish Archives" at Korean Bapsang (www.koreanbapsang.com) and Crazy Korean Cooking's "Side Dish" pages (www.crazykoreancooking.com). Many others showcase Korean side dishes too.

From this brief introduction, one can see the variety of side dishes as an easy way to reference a Korean meal. Regional, village, and family specialties vary and add further ingredients, style, and tastes. Buddhism influences the Korean table. Rice comes at the meal's end. Side dishes belong to eating rice.

A fancy way to eat banchan is as a meal. This elaborate service is hanjeongsik damyang or "table d'hote". I've enjoyed this once or twice. The best place to enjoy is at a countryside retreat or a rural restaurant.

When I was young, there were four children. We'd share a chicken with western side dishes and couldn't exactly "pig out" at the table. Imagine my liberation with Korean side dishes! Of course, Korean dining centers on politeness. Yet there were so many side dishes, and for each person! It was heaven! And it remains so whenever I find a restaurant that features banchan. Enjoy the paradise of Korean eating. Korean side dishes are a wonderful way to experience Korea's bounty, variety, and delicious, healthy eating.


Bernard Rowan (browan10@yahoo.com) is associate provost for contract administration and professor of political science at Chicago State University. He is a past fellow of the Korea Foundation and former visiting professor at Hanyang University.


 
wooribank
LG
Top 10 Stories
1Public transit fares to increase in Seoul and Busan this week Public transit fares to increase in Seoul and Busan this week
2Ruling party vows to investigate China's alleged influence operations Ruling party vows to investigate China's alleged influence operations
3Genesis GV80 Coupe looks to compete with Mercedes-Benz, BMW Genesis GV80 Coupe looks to compete with Mercedes-Benz, BMW
4Korean steelmakers on alert over initiation of EU carbon border tariff Korean steelmakers on alert over initiation of EU carbon border tariff
5Korean shipbuilders seek lead over Chinese rivals in selling LNG carriers to Qatar Korean shipbuilders seek lead over Chinese rivals in selling LNG carriers to Qatar
630 out of 74 major financial companies lack female board member 30 out of 74 major financial companies lack female board member
7Hyundai, Kia to extend earnings rally on strengthening dollar, solid sales Hyundai, Kia to extend earnings rally on strengthening dollar, solid sales
8Lawmakers want chairmen of financial firms held accountable over misconduct Lawmakers want chairmen of financial firms held accountable over misconduct
9Dong-A Socio Group’s honorary chairman passes away at 96Dong-A Socio Group’s honorary chairman passes away at 96
10Returning home from Chuseok holiday Returning home from Chuseok holiday
Top 5 Entertainment News
1TREASURE takes flak for excluding Dokdo from its Japan tour map TREASURE takes flak for excluding Dokdo from its Japan tour map
2Two artists' windows to light and serenity Two artists' windows to light and serenity
3Crime thriller, romance series set to roll out in October Crime thriller, romance series set to roll out in October
4Korean literature featured as animation works at Incheon Airport Korean literature featured as animation works at Incheon Airport
5[PHOTOS] Kep1er returns with 'Magic Hour' to mesmerize fans PHOTOSKep1er returns with 'Magic Hour' to mesmerize fans
DARKROOM
  • Turkey-Syria earthquake

    Turkey-Syria earthquake

  • Nepal plane crash

    Nepal plane crash

  • Brazil capital uprising

    Brazil capital uprising

  • Happy New Year 2023

    Happy New Year 2023

  • World Cup 2022 Final - Argentina vs France

    World Cup 2022 Final - Argentina vs France

CEO & Publisher : Oh Young-jin
Digital News Email : webmaster@koreatimes.co.kr
Tel : 02-724-2114
Online newspaper registration No : 서울,아52844
Date of registration : 2020.02.05
Masthead : The Korea Times
Copyright © koreatimes.co.kr. All rights reserved.
  • About Us
  • Introduction
  • History
  • Contact Us
  • Products & Services
  • Subscribe
  • E-paper
  • RSS Service
  • Content Sales
  • Site Map
  • Policy
  • Code of Ethics
  • Ombudsman
  • Privacy Statement
  • Terms of Service
  • Copyright Policy
  • Family Site
  • Hankook Ilbo
  • Dongwha Group