Banchan (, from Korean: ??; ??; banchan [pan.t??an]) is a collective name for small side dishes served along with cooked rice in Korean cuisine. As the Korean language does not distinguish between singular and plural grammatically, the word is used for both one such dish or all of them combined. The basic table setting for a meal called bansang (??) usually consists of bap (?, cooked rice), guk or tang (soup), gochujang or ganjang, jjigae, and kimchi. According to the number of banchan added, the table setting is called 3 cheop (??), 5 cheop (??), 7 cheop (??), 9 cheop (??), 12 cheop (???) bansang, with the 12 cheop used in Korean royal cuisine.
Banchan are set in the middle of the table to be shared. At the center of the table is the secondary main course, such as galbi or bulgogi, and a shared pot of jjigae. Bowls of cooked rice and guk (soup) are set individually. Banchan are served in small portions, meant to be finished at each meal and are replenished during the meal if not enough. Usually, the more formal the meals are, the more banchan there will be. Jeolla province is particularly famous for serving many different varieties of banchan in a single meal.
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History
Banchan is thought to be a result of Buddhist influence at around the mid-Three Kingdoms period and the subsequent proscription against eating meat by the monarchies of these kingdoms. Thus, with the ban on meat-containing dishes, vegetable-based dishes rose in prominence and became the centrepoint of Korean cuisine; court kitchens developed various methods for cooking, preparing and presenting these dishes, while less-affluent commoners produced smaller, simpler arrays of these vegetable-based dishes.
Although the Mongol invasions of Korea ended the ban on meat-containing dishes, as well as meat offerings for rituals such as jesa, approximately six centuries of vegetable-based cuisine in the form of banchan had imprinted itself into Korean cuisine.
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Varieties
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 scallions, gat (?), and radish (?; mu).
Namul
Namul (??) refers to steamed, marinated, or stir-fried vegetables usually seasoned with sesame oil, salt, vinegar, minced garlic, chopped green onions, dried chili peppers, and soy sauce.
Bokkeum
Bokkeum (??) is a dish stir-fried with sauce.
- Kimchi bokkeum (????) - Stir-fried kimchi, often with pork (similar to jeyook bokkeum).
- Jeyook bokkeum (????) - Stir-fried pork with gochujang (chili pepper paste) sauce and onions.
- Ojingeochae bokkeum (??????) -- Stir-fried dried shredded squid seasoned with a mixture of gochujang (chili pepper paste), garlic, and mullyeot (syrup-like condiment).
- Nakji bokkeum (????) - Stir-fried baby octopus in spicy gochujang sauce.
- Buseot bokkeum (????) - Stir-fried mushrooms such as pyogo, oyster mushrooms, pine mushrooms.
Jorim
Jorim is a dish simmered in a seasoned broth.
- Dubu-jorim (????) -- Tofu simmered in diluted soy sauce, a little bit of sesame oil, minced garlic, and chopped green onion.
- Jang-jorim (???) -- Beef simmered in soy sauce, optionally with hard-boiled eggs or hard-boiled quail eggs.
Jjim
Jjim is a steamed dish.
- Gyeran-jjim (???) -- Mixed and seasoned eggs steamed in a hot pot.
- Saengseon jjim (???)- Steamed fish.
Jeon
Jeon denotes a variety of pan-fried, pancake-like dishes. Buchimgae is a near synonym.
- Pajeon (??) -- Thin pancakes with scallions.
- Kimchijeon (???) -- Thin pancakes with old (ripe) Kimchi.
- Gamjajeon (???) -- Korean-style potato pancakes.
- Saengseon-jeon (???) -- Small portions of fish coated with eggs and pan-fried.
- Donggeurang ttaeng (????) -- Patty made with tofu, meat and vegetables, coated with eggs and pan-fried.
Others
- Danmuji (???) -- A pickled radish marinated in a natural yellow dye made from gardenia fruit.
- Gyeran-mari (????) -- A rolled omelette, served in slices.
- Japchae (??) -- A stand-alone dish in its own right, japchae can also be eaten as banchan. Japchae is glass noodles accompanied with a variety of vegetables and beef in a slightly-sweet garlic sauce.
- Korean-style potato salad (?? ???) with apples and carrots.
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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