GLOSSARY

BAECHU
Napa cabbage.

BAEK KIMCHI
Also referred to as white kimchi, baek kimchi is fermented without dried chili flakes. Cabbage is fermented in a brine infused with seaweed, alliums, pear, and ginger. The liquid is meant to be sipped as a refreshing condiment.

BANCHAN
Small side dishes that accompany a typical Korean meal. 

BIBIMBAP
A rice dish that consists of various namul. Namul is a term applied to a variety of wild and cultivated plants that are prepared by steaming or lightly sauteing, often seasoned with sesame oil. Usually served with a sauce made from gochujang.

BIBIMJANG
A gochujang-based sauce served alongside rice or noodle dishes. 

BINGSU
A Korean dessert traditionally made from shaved ice with various sweet toppings.

BINGTTEOK
Bingtteok is a traditional local food from Jeju Island. Thin buckwheat crepes cooked with lard are wrapped around braised daikon. Jeju is famous for its daikon as well as its buckwheat preparations, as rice was never grown there. Our version includes a filling made of pork and shrimp. 

BUDAE PAJEON
A griddled pancake (jeon) that's inspired by budae jjigae, or “army stew," a dish named for the ingredients that came from US military bases after the Korean War. Our budae pajeon includes sausage, kimchi, cheese, baked beans, cabbage and fried noodles.

BUGAK
A crispy chip made from seaweed or vegetables that are dried, covered in a glutinous rice coating and then fried. 

BULGOGI
Bul means "fire" and gogi means "meat." A dish of marinated, thinly sliced meat–most commonly pork or beef – cooked quickly over high heat. We marinate our bulgogi in pear juice, alliums, soy sauce, rice wine and sesame seeds.

CHOJANG
Cho (초) means “vinegar” and jang is an abbreviation of gochujang (고추장), a fermented chili paste. Ours is made with apple juice, gochujang, garlic, and white vinegar. 

CHONGGAK
A kimchi that gets its name from the elongated radishes that have the shape of a ponytail. Chonggak (총각) means “bachelor” and refers to the ponytails worn by young men in the old days. Ours is made with ponytail radish and seasoned with chili, anchovy, salted shrimp, alliums, and ginger. 

CHUNJANG
A fermented black bean paste made from soybeans and wheat.  

DONGCHIMI
A variety of kimchi fermented in a brine that is meant to be sipped. It is made with radish, cabbage, alliums, fresh chili, ginger, and pear.

DOTORI
Korean for “acorn.” Korean cuisine is one of the few that still uses it as a common ingredient. In our Dotori Choux, we top a choux pastry with candied shortcrust made from acorn and fill it with chocolate pudding naturally stabilized and thickened with ground acorn (rather than modified starch used in commercial pudding). 

DOENJANG
Korean fermented soybean paste; made entirely of soybean and brine. It is a byproduct of making Korean soy sauce and is one of the most commonly used ingredients in Korean cooking. 

DURU-CHEESE
Duru-cheese is an original SAN HO WON dish of crispy tofu, cheese, and fried rice baked together in “durichigi,” a preparation of pork and kimchi cooked in broth. 

EOLGARI KIMCHI
Eolgari Kimchi is a seasonal delicacy made from cabbage grown between winter and spring. The semi-frozen soil produces smaller but more densely flavored and tender cabbage.

GALBI
Beef “short rib” in Korean. Galbi is one of the most popular Korean BBQ cuts and is served both marinated and fresh.

GALBITANG
A clear soup made by slowly simmering beef short ribs with radish. The broth is then seasoned with scallion, garlic, seaweed and soy sauce. 

GAMASOT
A traditional Korean cast iron pot. 

GAMJATANG
A rustic stew made from pork back bones. There are many variations, but they usually include potatoes, dried radish leaves, and sesame leaves.

GANGJUNG
A traditional rice cake made from glutinous rice flour and fried to achieve a crispy, airy texture. It’s usually served on holidays and special occasions. More broadly, the term is used to describe the technique of battering with starch and frying.

GEOTJEORI
Fresh kimchi that is made to be eaten quickly. Prepared by lightly salting and seasoning the vegetables without any fermentation.

GOSUJANG
House cilantro and grilled scallion sauce. Similar to a salsa verde.

GUNGJUNG
Gungjung means “royal court.” Gungjung Tteokboki is a dish that includes beef, mushrooms and soy sauce stir-fried with rice cakes. The red and spicy variation of this dish is widely sold in markets and street stalls throughout Korea but is a more recent invention that came along with the mechanization of rice production and the use of wheat flour.

GWANGYANG
A city in one of Korea's southern provinces that is well-known for bulgogi- thinly sliced and marinated beef. Unlike most versions that are cooked in a pan by simmering, Gwangyang-style bulgogi is grilled over charcoal.

HAEPARI
“Jellyfish” in Korean. 

HWE MUCHIM
A salad-like dish of raw fish and assorted vegetables usually dressed with a spicy sauce made from gochujang. 

JANGAJJI
A pickle served as a condiment or side dish. Jangajji is not preserved through fermentation but by storing in some kind of jang — soy sauce, soybean paste, or fermented chili paste.

JEBI CHURI
A small cut of meat that stretches from the upper rib to the neck. When viewed from the top down, it resembles a swallow (jebi) in flight. This cut of the meat is lean and tender with a rich beefy flavor.

JEON
A preparation that involves a wide range of ingredients being dredged in flour, washed with egg, and pan-fried.  Although eaten all year 
round, jeon is almost always a part of the meal during Jesa (a memorial), Chuseok (harvest festival), and New Year’s Day.

JEONGOL
Jeongol refers to a wide category of Korean-style hot pots consisting of assorted meat, seafood and vegetables. The name is derived from the shape of the cooking vessel which resembles the iron helmets worn by soldiers of the Joseon era.

JEOTGAL
Seafood that is cured in salt, originally developed as a way to preserve in the absence of refrigeration. Jeotgal has evolved into a large category of food that is salted, flavored with various seasonings, and aged to develop intense flavor. It can be used as a condiment or dip for barbequed meats or even plain rice.

JJIGAE
A Korean stew. They can contain a variety of meat, seafood, and vegetables. The two most classic examples are kimchi jjigae and doenjang jjigae.  

JOOK
Rice porridge.

JORIM
A cooking method of braising various ingredients in a stock flavored with soy sauce and other seasonings. The liquid is simmered until it has intensified and also becomes the sauce that the ingredient is then stored in.

KOCHI
Refers to food that is skewered and grilled.

MAKGEOLLI
Unfiltered Korean rice wine. It is off-white with a milky viscosity and tastes mildly sweet and astringent.

MANDU
Korean for “dumpling.”

MINARI
A plant grown in shady, wet areas. Also known as water celery, water dropwort, or Japanese parsley. It has a bright, peppery flavor.

MUCHIM
A kind of salad that is usually vegetable-based and served as a condiment or side dish. It is most often dressed with a spicy and/or vinegary sauce. 

MUGUNJI
Kimchi made using the whole head of cabbage intact, then aged for intensity and matureness. It is commonly used for cooked preparations like stews and braises rather than as a condiment. 

NABAK KIMCHI
A style of water kimchi sipped as a refreshing side dish or condiment. Nabak, which means "cut into squares," describes the cabbage used in this preparation. Nabak kimchi is typically made in the spring and summer with fresh radishes, onion, and sometimes fruit. Ours is made with apples. It can either be fermented or eaten fresh. We ferment this kimchi for 24 hours to impart a subtle tanginess. 

NAMUL
A term applied to a variety of wild and cultivated plants that are prepared by steaming or lightly sautéing, often seasoned with sesame oil.

NURUNGJI
A toasty scorched layer of rice on the bottom of the rice pot often Gamasot (traditional Korean cast-iron pan). It is commonly made into a Sungnyung – a tea made from this layer of rice, or into a porridge.

OI-SOBAGI
Stuffed cucumber kimchi. Cucumbers are first salted and brined then stuffed with various seasonings that usually include garlic chives and dried chili flake. Oi-Sobagi can be eaten briefly marinated or lightly fermented.

O-SAM
O-Sam is a portmanteau of the two main ingredients – “O”jingeo (squid) and “Sam”gyeopsal (pork belly) that are typically marinated in a blend of spicy seasoning and stir-fried. Ours is prepared by marinating and cooking it over our lychee charcoal.

PAJEON
Pa (파) means "green onion" and jeon is a type of dish that involves an ingredient being dredged in flour, washed with egg and pan-fried. Jeon can include a wide range of ingredients from seafood to vegetables.

SAENGCHAE
A kind of salad that’s usually vegetable-based and served as a condiment or side dish.

SAMGYE
Sam (삼) means “ginseng,” and gye (계) means “chicken.”

SANMA
Korean for mountain yam.

SONG-YI
Pine Mushroom.

SOONDAE
A Korean blood sausage typically made with pork and rice.

SOONDUBU
"Soon" means to be pure or mild, "Dubu" means tofu in Korean and combined "Soondubu" refers to silken tofu. Soondubu is used in a variety of dishes in Korea but the most popular dish is Soondubu Jjigae (spicy silken tofu stew) and ours is made with pork broth and our house kimchi.

SSAM
“Wrap” in Korean. It refers to eating a dish, such as grilled meats, wrapped in various leafy greens like lettuce, cabbage, or sesame leaf. These wraps are generally eaten with ssamjang and various other condiments. 

SSAMJANG
A kind of Korean barbecue sauce made for food wrapped in a leaf or vegetable. In Korean, ssam means “wrap” and jang refers to soy sauce (ganjang). Jang can be applied to products that are derived from soy sauce, like doenjang (soybean paste) or gochujang. This ssamjang is made from Benu’s homemade soy sauce and beans that are fermented for 5 years, flavored with garlic and chili, and sweetened with tomato jam. 

TTEOK
Korean rice cakes. There are over 200 variations of tteok ranging from sweet to savory, glutinous and non-glutinous, and sometimes mixed with flours milled from other grains. Some have special meanings and are specific to a certain occasion. 

TTEOKBOKKI
Stir-fried rice cakes that are often served with a spicy gochujang-based sauce and widely sold in markets and street stalls throughout Korea. 

TTEOKGALBI
Meat, most commonly beef short rib, is chopped, marinated, and then formed into patties to grill. Tteokgalbi originated from royal court cuisine. Now popularized, there are different variations in different regions of Korea.

YUKHWE
Beef tartare, usually served with raw egg yolk and pears.