In Korean cuisine, banchan is a small side dish served along with rice as part of an everyday meal. No Korean meal is complete without at least 2 to 3 banchan.
If you are one of my followers or subscribers then you know that my guilty pleasure is watching Korean dramas. Not only are they entertaining but they are educational and the food they eat always looks so mouth-watering. Watching them makes me hungry. I always wish I could be right there with them enjoying the food! LOL.
Netflix is doing well these days helping me satisfy my appetite for K-dramas. This streaming platform has quite a selection of movies and TV series, historical period or modern, sci-fi, fantasy, horror, and more! Crash Course in Romance is a Korean series that was released on Netflix in January 2023. This series introduced me to “banchan”. One of the main characters was Nam Haeng-seon (played by Jeon Do-yeon), a lady who owned and operated a shop called “Nation’s Best Banchan”. Customers could come into the store and pick whatever banchan dishes they wanted for lunch or dinner.
Not being very familiar with Korean cuisine, my first question was: What is banchan? My second question was: What is the best banchan? I did a little research and am sharing my notes below.
NOTE 1: “Banchan means side dish in Korean, but in reality, it’s a bunch of small dishes filled to the brim with pickles and the like that scatter the table at lunch or dinner.” (REF: Hills, S. W. (2022, January 13). The Funky, Flavorful Side Dishes to Complete Any Korean Meal. Food52. food52.com/blog/17598-the-funky-flavorful-sides-a-korean-meal-wouldn-t-be-complete-without)
NOTE 2: “There are generally three main types of banchan — fresh vegetable banchan like namul or muchim; braised or soy sauce-based banchan called jorim; and well-preserved mit banchan like kimchi or jeotgal, that’s usually on hand in large batches.” (REF: Yoo, Irene. “How to Cook a Bunch of Banchan.” Food Network, Food Network, 6 May 2021, www.foodnetwork.com/how-to/packages/food-network-essentials/how-to-cook-banchan-side-dishes-crowd. Accessed 7 Mar. 2023.)
NOTE 3: What are some popular banchan dishes? (REF: TasteAtlas. “46 Types of Banchan Sorted by Popularity.” Tasteatlas.com, TasteAtlas, 20 Nov. 2020, www.tasteatlas.com/most-popular-types-of-banchan-in-the-world. Accessed 7 Mar. 2023.)
NOTE 4: “Banchan dates back to the mid-Three Kingdom period, around 300s AD at a time when Buddhism was a heavy influence and meat consumption was highly discouraged. As a restyle, seasonal vegetable-based dishes became the focal point of Korean cuisine.” (REF: Angela, and admin. “Banchan History: All about Korea’s Famous Side Dishes.” FOODICLES, 2 June 2021, foodicles.com/banchan-history/. Accessed 7 Mar. 2023.)
NOTE 5: Everything you need to know about the history, etiquette, and ingredients behind banchan. (REF: Spalding, Lavinia, and Mae Hamilton. “How to Eat Korean Banchan — and a Guide to the Most Iconic Dishes.” AFAR Media, AFAR Media, 30 Aug. 2021, www.afar.com/magazine/how-to-eat-korean-banchan-and-a-guide-to-the-most-iconic-dishes. Accessed 7 Mar. 2023.)
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