|
SPECIALTIES :
With more mountains and hills than in the south, dry-field farming of miscellaneous cereals is well developed in the northern region. In contrast, rice farming is the mainstay of agriculture in the west coast and south regions. That is the reason people in the northern region eat less rice and more miscellaneous cereals, while people in the southern region mostly eat rice or rice with barley.
Everyday side dishes are mainly made of vegetables. Preservation foods such as Kimch, pickles, salt-fermented seafoods, and soybean-based sauces are widely used.
In the past, it was difficult to get fresh meat or fish in the mountainous interior areas. Therefore, recipes for salted fish, dried fish or seaweeds, and mountain-greens are well developed in those regions. In the coastal areas or islands, fish, shellfish, or seaweeds fresh from the sea are the main ingredients for side dishes.
For summer is short and winter is long in northern provinces, the taste of foods is less salty and less spicy compared to the southern provinces. On the other hand, the taste of foods gets more salty and and spicy as you go down to the southern provinces. They tend to use more seasonings and salt-fermented seafoods in the south.
| Seoul |
|
Seoul itself does not produce many kinds of food resources. However, various cooking ingredients were available to get in Seoul since it had been the capital of the nation and the center of commerce.
In fact, Seoul cuisine is renowned for its elegance and variety. Seoul, Gaeseong, and Jeonju are the three top cities in Korea known for their exquisite cuisine. Being the capital of the country for over 500 years since the early Joseon dynasty, the cooking style of the dynasty still remains on cusines of Seoul.
In general, Seoul foods are seasoned moderately.Therefore, they are not too salty or spicy. Many of the royals and the nobility lived here during the Joseon dynasty, and the tradition of the noble class is persistent in Seoul cuisine. Compared to those of other regions, Seoul foods tend to be fancier and their presentation shows more formality.
Seasonings were used as finely diced. Foods from the northern provinces are large in quantity and simple in display. As compared with that foods from Seoul consider their polish style than quantity in large. The court cuisine was spread to noble households, and Seoul foods still show the traces of the court cuisine. For example, banga, the noble class, has its own cooking style as a part of Seoul cusine.
|
| |
| Gyeonggi-do |
|
In Gyeonggi province, both rice farming and dry-field farming are actively done. With plenty of seafoods from the west coast and mountain greens from the eastern mountain area, a variety of food products are easily available here.
Except for Gaeseong, whose food is renowned for its elaborate elegance, Gyeonggi's foods in general are simple in appearance and large in quantity. Similar to that of Seoul, the taste is either not too strong or mild. Also, seasonings are not used much. Because this province is bordered by Gangwon-do, Chungcheong-do, and Hwanghae-do, there are common features and many dishes share the same name. In the countryside, tasty beombeok (thick mixed-grain porridge), pulttegi (thick gruel of grain flour), and sujebi (soup with dough flakes) are made with pumpkin (or zucchini), corns, flour, and red beans.
People enjoy steamed rice with five grains and steamed glutinous rice. For noodles, there are some with thick and tasty broth such as kalguksu (hand-made noodles) and buckwheat kalssakdugi (hand-made noodles whose strips are wider) boiled with its own water instead of clear broth.
Naengkongguk (cold soybean soup), which is also frequently made in Chungcheong-do and Hwanghae-do, is one of the favorites in the region. Because Gaeseong was the capital during the Goryeo era, there still remain traces of cuisine from that time. Gaeseong is known for its variety of luxurious foods in the country along with Seoul and Jeonju. Authentic Gaeseong cuisine is as elaborate as that of court cuisine.
|
|
| Chungcheong-do |
|
In Chungcheong province, major items of agriculture are grains(rice and barley) and vegetables (radishes, cabbages, sweet potatoes, etc.) A variety of seafoods are produced in the coastal area, while mountain greens and mushrooms are produced in the mountainous area. The region belonged to the old Baekje territory, and rice has been produced since the old times.
Barley here is the second most important grain after rice. Many kinds of gruels, noodles, sujebi (homemade wheat flacked soup) and beombeok (thick mixed-grain porridge) are favorite alternatives to steamed rice. Especially, winter squash (old pumpkin) is widely used in making gruel, honeypot beombeok, and tteok. Tteokguk or hand-made thick noodle is boiled with broth made from oyster or clam meats. During wintertime, cheonggukjang (bean paste soup) is enjoyed.
Foods from Chungcheong province do not use many seasonings and are not fancy in appearance. For stock or broth, chicken, oyster or clams are used instead of beef, and for seasonings, soybean paste is widely used. Chungcheong's foods are neither as spicy as foods from Gyeongsang province, nor as subtle as foods from Jeolla province. Nor, they are elaborately displayed as those from Seoul are. They have their own appealing taste in the simple appearance. As if to show the well-known big heart of Chungcheong people, foods generally are served in large portions.
|
| |
| Gyeongsang-do |
|
With its good fishing grounds in the east and south coasts, Gyeongsang province produces plenty of seafoods. Also, the fertile land along the Nakdonggang river that runs through the northern and southern provinces of Gyeongsang-do produces grains and vegetables.
Here, people eat fish so much and raw fish strips and other seafood are considered the best food. The foods are not fancy, but simple. They are savory in their own right.
Grilled sea fish that was salted and dried is one of the favorite items of side dish. Recipes of fish soups are also well developed. Noodles are widely enjoyed, and among them the thin-sliced kalguksu made of flour mixed with raw bean powder is most popular.
The broth is usually made with anchovy or clams, and also from the liquid of noodle or water. Compared to other regions, tastes of foods are more salty and spicy in general. |
|
|
| Jeolla-do |
|
From the old times, Jeolla province was well known for its vast variety of produce and foods. Grains from the fertile Honam field, seafoods from the coast, all kinds of mountain greens, and the people's love for good foods all contributed to the development of the exquisite Jeolla cuisine.
Historically, Jeonju was the ancestral home of the royal Lee family of the Joseon dynasty. Rich Lee families have lived here for generations in such neighboring villages as Gwangju or Haenam. They handed down their refined cooking style generation to generation.
Against this historical backdrop, the Jeolla cuisine, along with that of Gaesong, boasts to be the finest one in Korea both in terms of taste and style. There are so many side dishes displayed on the traditional Jeolla table setting. People are quite surprised with it for the first time . Raw or salt-fermented Seafoods are well developed. Bean sprouts, prepared in uniquely Jeolla style, and hot pepper soybean paste are widely used in a variety of recipes. |
| |
| Gangwon-do |
|
The 1,000 m-high Taebaeksanmaek mountain ranges lie from the north to the south of Gangwon-do province. With the range as a watershed, the eastern part of Gangwon-do province is called Yeongdong or Gwandong region, and the western part Yeongseo region. Yeongdong and Yeongseo regions are connected through mountain passes such as Daegwallyeong pass, Jinburyeong pass, and Hangyeryeong pass.
The two regions are different in climate and geographical features,therefore they are different in the dietary life as well. In Yeongdong coastal region, a variety of seafood dishes are well developed. Hoe (raw fish strips), steamed dish, grilled dish, stew, stir-fried dish, and salt-fermented foods, all using fish and shellfish, are frequently eaten here. Along with these, ssam(wraped rice of lettuce), fried kelp, or seasoned dishes using seaweeds form another important part of seafood-based diet.
Fish is widely used, from making basic side dishes to making foods for longer storage. These days, the cattle raising is prevalent in Hoenggye area near Daegwallyeong pass and such vegetables as radish, Chinese cabbage, carrot, celery, or seed potatoes are produced in the high-altitude, cool temperature areas.
In Yeongseo region, which mainly consists of high mountains and deep valleys, dry farming products such as potatoes, corns, wheat, and barley are widely used as staple food items. There are many dishes using potatoes and corns, and buckwheat dishes such as noodles, dumplings, and tteok (rice cake). Also, japgokbap (steamed rice with varous other grains) using potatoes, corns, millets, and sweet potatoes forms distinctive food items from Ganwon-do.
|
| |
| Jeju |
|
The people of Jeju have evolved various lifestyles, depending on whether they live in fishing villages, farm villages, or mountain villages. Life in the farm villages was centered on farming, as it did around fishing or diving fishery in fishing villages, and did around dry-field farming or mushroom/mountain-green gathering in the moutain areas. As for agriculture, the production of rice is little. Instead, beans, barley, millets, buckwheat, and dry-field(upland) rice are the major items.
The most well known fruit is the mandarin orange. It has been grown here as early as the era of the Three Kingdoms. Mandarin orange, were offered as presents to kings along with abalone as special products of Jeju.
Foods from Jeju mainly made with saltwater fish, vegetables, and seaweed, and are usually seasoned with soybean paste. Salt water fish is used to make soups and gruels, and pork and chicken are used to make pyeonyuk (sliced boiled meat). The number of dishes set on a table is small. And few seasoings are used. And usually, small numbers of ingredients are required to make dishes native to Jeju.
The key to making Jeju-style foods is to keep the ingredient's natural flavor. The taste of the food is generally a bit salty, probably because foods are easily spoiled due to the warm temperature. In Jeju, there is no need to prepare Kimchi for the winter. It is quite warm during the winter and Chinese cabbages are left in the field. When they do prepare Kimchi for the winter, they tend to make few kinds and small amounts.
|
|
