14 Classic Korean Recipes For Beginners (2024)

FAQs

What is the best Korean dish for first time? ›

The Korean food culture is RICH.

Some of the best dishes for new eaters to try out are Kimchi Stew, Soft Tofu Stew, Spicy Rice Cake, Mixed Rice Bowl, Seafood Pancake, and Cold Noodles.

A typical Korean meal consists of a bowl of rice, a bowl of soup or stew, and some side dishes as accompaniments. But within that basic structure, there is a deliciously wide variation of dishes for every season and palate.

Kimchi is one of the most important staples of Korean cuisine. The Korean term "Kimchi" refers to fermented vegetables, and encompasses salt and seasoned vegetables. It is mainly served as a side dish with every meal, but also can be served as a main dish.

One of the most famous and iconic foods in Korea is kimchi. Kimchi is a traditional Korean side dish made from fermented vegetables, most commonly Napa cabbage and Korean radishes, seasoned with various spices, including chili pepper, garlic, ginger, and fish sauce.

Most Simple Korean Meals: Rice + Soup or Stew + Noodles (dry or soup) + Kimchi Rice + Main Meat or Seafood Dish + Kimchi. Bibimbap or Rice Bowls + Kimchi. One dish meals (Kimchi fried rice , Curry rice, Kongnamul bap ) + soup (optional) + Kimchi and/or pickled radish (Danmuji)

Kimchi, soup, stew, & sidedishes. With rice almost always comes kimchi and a soup or a stew (and sometimes both). These three things are essential to Korean homestyle meals, which are usually rounded out with the sidedishes, aka banchan.

Bibimbap is a Korean rice dish topped with an assortment of fresh and seasonal vegetables, fried eggs, minced beef, and other ingredients. Along with kimchi and bulgogi, it is one of the three most popular Korean foods outside of Korea.

Porridge: Juk or jook, a rice porridge, is a popular breakfast dish, often served with savory or sweet toppings. Gyeran-mari: This is a rolled omelet with vegetables and sometimes meat. Bread and Pastries: In modern times, you can also find bread, toast, and pastries like red bean buns.

What are Korean starter dishes called? ›

Banchan are served in small portions, meant to be finished at each meal and 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.

All the dishes might be spread across the table, but in Korean food culture, you must start with the soup. You can serve yourself some soup using the serving spoon in the communal bowl. In traditional Korean food culture, you don't lift the bowl off the table in a formal setting.

According to the survey, Korean-style chicken (29.4%) was the most frequently consumed Korean food by foreigners in the past year, followed by kimchi (28.6%) and Korean ramen (26.9%). In terms of preference, Korean-style chicken (16.5%), ramen (11.1%), and kimchi (9.8%) were the top choices.

1. Bibimbap. Probably the best-known Korean dish, bibimbap originated on the eve of Lunar New Year when it was traditional to use up all the vegetables and side-dishes in the house. A hot stone bowl is filled with cooked rice and topped with vegetables, pickled Chinese radish, carrot and mushrooms.

Banchan is typically served first, before the main dishes arrive, so they're often mistaken for appetizers.