IM MART Korean grocery store recommended 10 Traditional and Classic Korean Dishes !

IM MART Korean grocery store recommended 10 Traditional and Classic Korean Dishes

1. Samgyeopsal - There are numerous options for BBQ in Korea, with different cuts of meat, but the definitive experience comes from eating samgyeopsal (literally – three layered pork). It’s thick, juicy, cheap, and you can find it everywhere. I have to admit, this is my favourite traditional Korean food. It’s different from a British or American BBQ, but certainly gives you the same fix and will leave you feeling stuffed.

Wrap it in a lettuce leaf with kimchi, garlic, and whatever else you want, then pop it in your mouth. You will be provided a wide range of side dishes with this meal. You can even order all-you-can-eat options in some places.

2. Gimbap - Gimbap (also spelt kimbap) is extremely versatile and can be bought as a snack from a convenience store, or the main part of a meal in a traditional Korean restaurant.This simple dish is actually one of the most popular traditional Korean dishes. I personally love gimbap as it is light, healthy, and comes in a range of mouth-watering fillings, such as cream cheese, bulgogi (fried beef), lobster, and lots more.This is a great meal option for those who want to cut their costs while travelling to Korea. It’s also great when you want to go hiking and need to pack a filling snack for the journey.

3. Kimchi Jjigae - Kimchi jjigae is a delightful mix of cabbage kimchi, tofu, cellophane noodles, pork or tuna, and vegetables, served with a portion of rice.If you’re visiting Korea during the winter time, then any jjigae (stew) is the perfect way to recover from the cold, harsh winter weather.When the kimchi is sauteed, it becomes softer and releases all its flavour into the stew, creating a hearty broth. You can even add more kimchi as it comes as a side dish, too.The best way to eat it is to put a bit of rice on your spoon, dip it in the broth, then top it with the other ingredients.

4. Chuncheon Dakgalbi - Chuncheon dakgalbi is another of those traditional Korean dishes for those people who love fried meat. This dish combines marinated chicken with vegetables, rice cake (tteok 떡 ), chilli paste sauce, and other spices. You can also add noodles and cheese.These ingredients are chucked in a large pan and stir fried at your table. A waiter will come every few minutes and mix it all up for you. This makes it a great food to experience, not just eat.Although dakgalbi has spread throughout Korea, it first started in Chuncheon and this is the best place to try it. Visit Chuncheon Myeongdong Dakgalbi Street for the finest examples of one of Korea’s best traditional Korean dishes.

5. Tteokbokki - Tteokbokki is a blend of steamed and sliced rice cakes (tteok 떡), fish cakes (odeng 오뎅), and scallions in a sweet and spicy sauce with plenty of chilli paste. If you’re eating in a restaurant, then add in some cheese and noodles for a filling meal. This is one of the traditional Korean dishes that you shouldn’t pass up if you’re exploring traditional markets in Korea. Best eaten fresh from the market vendors, this spicy, salty mishmash of classic Korean ingredients is perfect as a snack or meal. As you can tell from the red colour, it’s going to be spicy! Spiciness and the ingredients in the sauce can vary between vendors – everyone has their own secret recipe. Try it more than once and see which is the best.

6. Bibimbap - Literally meaning ‘mixed rice’, bibimbap is a fun, healthy jumble of vegetables, rice, chilli paste, and is topped off with a fried egg. Take all the ingredients and mash it together yourself. Add as much gochujang 고추장 (chilli paste) as you can handle.Bibimbap is served either cold, in a metal bowl, or heated in a hot stone bowl (dolsot bibimbap 돌솥비빔밥). The hot version is the best version in my opinion as the egg and rice stick together and cook on the hot stone.

7. Samgyetang - Samgyetang, a meal in a bowl, contains a whole small chicken packed with rice, garlic, jujube, and ginseng. The thick soup absorbs all of this whilst cooking, leaving a soft, tender chicken and an aromatic, hearty broth. Perfect!

Ironically, this hot, healthy, and delicious ginseng chicken soup is most popular during summer. Koreans have a saying that you should fight heat with heat, meaning that you should eat hot food when it’s hot outside. As strange as it sounds, it actually works.As with most traditional Korean dishes, you’ll find the best samgyetang in a traditional Korean restaurant. You can sit on the floor at a long table and indulge in the soup with a wide range of side dishes.

8. Pajeon - Pajeon (Korean savoury pancakes) come with a variety of fillings, including kimchi, potato, beef, pork, and shellfish. The most popular of these is haemul pajeon 해물 파전 (seafood with spring onions) and is a great treat when you’re tired and hungry. If you’re hiking in Korea, you’ll find a lot of restaurants selling pajeon. You’ll know them by the chefs frying them on a hot plate outside the restaurant. They’re served fresh to hungry hikers who are craving something filling after a long trek.Dip the pajeon in spicy soy sauce and wash it down with another mountain-based speciality – makgeolli 막걸리. Makgeolli is a creamy rice wine that comes in some interesting flavours, such as chestnut, corn, and even banana.

9. Naengmyeon - Naengmyeon is simple dish of cold buckwheat noodles. There are two main varieties – mul naengmyeon 물냉면 (ice-water cold noodles) and bibim naengmyeon 비빔냉면 (spicy cold noodles), both of which are perfect for summer. I prefer the mul naengmyeon (pictured above) as the noodles are drowned in icy-cold water and become so refreshing. It’s topped with thin pieces of radish, cucumbers, and a boiled egg and seasoned with vinegar and mustard. Bibim naengymeon is mostly the same but instead of icy-cold water, the noodles are splashed with spicy chilli paste and form an often deadly bowl of spicy noodles. This dish can be deceptively spicy, so be careful.

10. Budae Jjigae - Budae jjigae was created by adding various items from American army bases into a regular jjigae (stew). This included Spam, sausages, baked beans, American cheese, as well as some local items, such as instant noodles and tteok (rice cakes).If you’re wondering how such an obviously foreign food item made it into a traditional Korean dish, the answer goes back to the Korean War. Meat was hard to come by then and the American soldiers provided the locals with food aid.This unique fusion of American and Korean foods created one of the best dishes in Korea to eat on a cold day. The bright red stew is packed full of rather unhealthy foods, which makes it taste great and gives you lots of energy!