Fermented (9 ingredients)
Korean cuisine has a long history of using fermented ingredients as a way to enhance, season, and preserve dishes.
Also: Fish sauce | Hot pepper paste | Salted fermented shrimp | Soy sauce | Soybean paste | Yellow pickled radish | See all FermentedNoodles & Rice Cakes (8 ingredients)
Korean noodles and rice cakes are made from some form of dough, but the cakes are not baked like you might expect. When used in other dishes, rice cakes can also be called "rice noodles."
Also: Rice cake for patbingsu | Sliced rice cake | Starch noodles | Thin wheat flour noodles | Tube-shaped rice cake | See all Noodles & Rice CakesPastes (3 ingredients)
Pastes are much thicker than sauces, and are used heavily in Korean cooking.
Grains (7 ingredients)
Korean cuisine has relied on rice for thousands of years, but also makes extensive use of barley and other cereals.
Also: Frozen short grain rice flour | Short grain rice | Sweet rice | Sweet rice flour | See all GrainsMilled (16 ingredients)
Milled ingredients have been ground, crushed, soaked, pulverized, liquified or somehow processed in a mill. Most Korean neighborhoods have a local mill where these tasks can be easily carried out and these ingredients are very common in Korean cooking.
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Acorn jelly powder
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Barley malt powder
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Fermented soybean powder
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Frozen short grain rice flour
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Green tea powder
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Hot pepper flakes
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Hot pepper powder
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Mugwort powder
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Mung bean jelly starch powder
Fruits & Vegetables (35 ingredients)
Vegetables are eaten at every Korean meal, and fruits are used as natural sweeteners and marinades.
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Asian chives
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Bamboo shoots
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Butternut squash
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Chrysanthemum greens
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Daikon radish
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Dill cucumber
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Dried aster scaber
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Eggplant
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Garlic stems
Mountain Vegetables (5 ingredients)
Korea is a mountainous country, and has a long history of foraging herbs, plants, and vegetables that traditionally grow naturally in the mountains.
Also: Mugwort | Mugwort powder | See all Mountain VegetablesMushrooms (5 ingredients)
Koreans love mushrooms, which are often foraged in the wild and can be used as a meat substitute in many Korean dishes.
Also: White mushrooms | Wood ear mushrooms | See all MushroomsRadishes (6 ingredients)
Many Korean dishes feature edible root vegetables, which are easy to grow in almost any climate.
Also: Radish sprouts | Yellow pickled radish | Young summer radish | See all RadishesRoots (3 ingredients)
The part of a plant that's underground, including rhizomes.
Meats & Bones (5 ingredients)
Korean cuisine uses meat in moderation, and always with vegetables.
Also: Ox bones | Pork belly | See all Meats & BonesSeafoods (21 ingredients)
Korea is a peninsula and surrounded by water, so Korean cuisine uses a lot of seafood: fish, cephalopods, shellfish, and sea vegetables.
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Abalone
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Artificial crab meat
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Canned saury
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Canned whelks
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Clams
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Dried anchovies
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Dried coarse seaweed
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Dried edible seaweed
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Dried seaweed sheets
Seasonings & Condiments (7 ingredients)
Seasonings improve flavour by adding salt, and condiments are used to complement dishes. Both can be added at the table by the diner, or used in cooking by the chef.
Also: Salted fermented shrimp | Sea salt | Soy sauce | Soybean paste | See all Seasonings & CondimentsSeeds & Nuts & Dried Fruit (12 ingredients)
Korean cuisine uses these liberally, often combining them together.
Also: Perilla seeds powder | Pine nuts | Pumpkin seeds | Shredded red pepper | Toasted sesame seeds | Walnuts | See all Seeds & Nuts & Dried FruitSpices (7 ingredients)
Many Korean dishes are well-known for their spiciness, which almost always comes from some form of chili pepper.
Also: Hot pepper powder | Red chili peppers | Shredded red pepper | Wasabi powder | See all SpicesSweeteners (3 ingredients)
Sweeteners traditionally came from fruits and syrups, rather than granulated sugar.
Tofu (3 ingredients)
Tofu is bean curd pressed into soft white blocks. It's been used in Korean cooking for more than a thousand years.
Dairy (1 ingredients)
Using dairy products as ingredients is a relatively recent technique in Korean cuisine.
Yeasts (1 ingredients)
Technically a Fungi, in Korean cuisine yeasts are traditionally used in baking, cooking, and making alcohol.