Korean Cooking with Friends: Restaurant Fare

My Korean friends took me to a Korean restaurant in Austin called Shilla. We sat at a traditional Korean table, which was near the ground. It did have sort of a well under the table so that you could sit comfortably, and a grill was built into the table.


On the right you can see bulgogi cooking on the grill. Recall that bulgogi is "fire meat" which is because it is often prepared on a grill. The chefs marinated the beef pieces, then brought them to the table to cook.

On the left you can see me (in the back) with Kyung at Shilla. The large plate on the table is seafood pancake. I believe the Korean name is buchujeon. 




Notice all of the small dishes behind and beside the large plate. These are called banchan and traditional table settings are based on 3,5,7,9, and 12 banchan. Notice that on this table there are nine.


Banchan can include 

• kimchi which is fermented vegetables, 
• namul which are steamed, marinated, or stir-fried vegetables,
• bokkeum which are stir-fried dishes with a sauce,
• jorim which are dishes simmered in a seasoned broth,
• jjim which are steamed dishes, and 
• jeon which are pan-fried dishes.

In Korea, spoons generally accompany chop sticks at place settings. For this reason, the rice bowl is not raised from the table for eating as it is in Japan and China. 


Some close-ups of banchan are shown below.