Korean cuisine guide
Where it comes from
Korean cooking is built on fermentation. Gochujang, doenjang and ganjang — chilli, soybean and soy sauce pastes — form the seasoning base, and kimchi is less a dish than a category with hundreds of regional and seasonal variants. Kimjang, the communal preparation of winter kimchi, is on UNESCO’s intangible heritage list.
The banchan structure matters to how a menu should read: small side dishes arrive together with the main and are refilled, which is not what a Western guest assumes from a list of items with prices.
Allergens and dietary needs
Soy and wheat are the allergens to watch, both usually in the fermented seasonings rather than in a named ingredient. Sesame oil and seeds finish a great many dishes. Fish sauce and salted shrimp sit inside most traditional kimchi, which makes it non-vegetarian by default.
That last point is worth stating explicitly on the menu — it is the single most common false assumption guests make about Korean food.
Naming it on an English-language menu
State plainly that traditional kimchi contains fish sauce or salted shrimp. It is the single most common false assumption guests make about Korean food, and it makes a dish unsuitable for people who thought it was safe.
Explain banchan on the menu rather than at the table — that the small dishes arrive with the meal and are refilled is not something a price list conveys.
Staple ingredients
- rice
- gochujang
- fermented vegetables
- sesame