foodha for thought – menuism blog

So you have an adventurous spirit when it comes to food and you especially have an interest in trying out Ethnic Cuisines; however, there are those times when you walk into a restaurant, sit down and read menu that literally is in a foreign language. Yikes, what do you do?

Well, the first thing that usually helps is to do a little bit of research beforehand so that you don’t go in blind. Remember. The Internet is your friend, but then so am I. Today, you’re getting a jump start on Korean Cuisine because below, I’ll be giving you a list of some common dishes you may find on a Korean restaurant menu.

A couple things I want to note. First, I’m not Korean, so the “translations” I got below actually came from a post on a discussion board I read a long time ago, but I always kept the info handy so that I could share it with others. Second, I also found out that in Korean, the same letter serves two (or three) sounds — so rice could be “bap” or “pap”, and boneless beef could be any combination of bul-/pul-, -go-/-ko-, and -gi/-ki. The letter combinations are b/p, g/k, j/ch, r/l, and d/t. So are you ready to increase your foodie vocabulary?

Korean Food Primer

Banchan (or Panchan): multiple side dishes served before and with the meal and can include anything from kimchi to seaweed to bean sprouts, etc.

Bap: cooked rice, which is considered the main course.

Bibim: means mixed, so bibimbap is mixed rice, or rice with various toppings — you’re supposed to “bibim” the toppings with the “bap”. Same for bibim naengmyun, except it’s cold noodles.

Bulgogi: thinly sliced beef, marinated in a mixture of soy sauce, sugar, sesame seed oil, garlic, and green onion primarily. Daeji bulgogi is the same, but with pork and usually some hot pepper paste in the marinade.

Chigae: stew. whatever is in it will preceed this word (eg soon dubu chigae)

Daenjang Jigae: fermented bean paste stew

Gooksoo: noodles

Guk (pronounced “gook”): soup. Guk, tang, jjigae and jjim are all types of soups or stews. Generally tang and guk are soupier, while jjigae and jjim are thicker, but there also exceptions to the rule.

Japchae: yam noodles, almost always served cold and in a sticky sauce.

Kalbi: Short rib that’s often cut flanken-style, also called “LA Kalbi”-style. When it just says “kalbi” on the menu, it means grilled. If it says kalbi-jim (jim means braised/steamed), it’s braised short ribs. If it says kalbi-tang, short rib soup.

Kimchi: fermented napa cabbage but there are many varieties (cucumber, various types of leafy vegetables)

Kimchi Jigae: kimchi stew, as you can probably gather from the good info posted above.

Mandoo: Korean dumplings filled with beef, chives, etc. Can be served boiled to be dipped in soy sauce, or as part of a guk.

Miyuk Guk: seaweed stew

Mul (sometimes mwul): means water, so mul naengmyun means the cold noodles and toppings are drowned in soup. Mul kimch’i means the kimchi is floating in water.

Naeng (“cold”) myun (“noodles”): buckwheat noodles served in a cold beef broth, topped with sliced beef, cucumbers and hard boiled egg.

Sam Gyup Sal: thinly sliced grilled pork belly

Seul Long Tang: boiled beef bone stew. A milky white soup with beef, vermicelli japchae noodles and chopped scallions served with rice.

The Meats: the default meat is beef, which means that if it doesn’t specify the meat, it’s probably beef. Daeji is pork; dak is chicken; haemul (do you see the “mul” in there?) is mixed seafood.

Hopefully, I was able to shed a little light on Korean food. Some of my favorite things to order are the Bulgogi and Kalbi. Most Korean restaurants will serve these already cooked, but for something different, check out a Korean BBQ restaurant where you can cook your own meats at a tableside grill. When the weather is hot, the Naena Myun Noodles is quite refreshing and don’t be afraid to try out the banchan. After all, they’re complimentary and the majority of the time, you can get re-fills.

So the next time, you walk into a Korean restaurant, you can order with some confidence, especially if you print this blog entry out and take it with you as a cheat sheet. We’re always happy to help!

By Abby C. Abanes
Menuism Community Manager