Morkovcha (마르코프차)

Hello, dear lovely Maangchi! I have thought of a delicious side dish that I’m dreaming of watching you adapt.

Morkovcha can be explained as an exile Korean banchan. It was invented by the Koryo Saram, ergo Koreans born and raised in the Central Asian part of the former USSR (mainly Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, but also some parts of Russia). There were no place to grow napa cabbage, but they had lots of carrots and red chilis. So while they were missing their precious kimchi, they invented a new banchan called morkovcha, with wellknown ingredients in the Central Asian and Russian cuisine. It’s kind of a fusion dish! Morkov is btw the Russian word for carrot.

There are many kinds of morkovcha recipes, one of them right here: https://silkroadchef.com/2015/01/13/soviet-korean-carrot-salad-morkovcha/

I’ve noticed that you have many fans from Russian-speaking countries. Many of those fans might be Koryo Saram. I know Morkovcha unfortunately hasn’t come to the Korean Peninsula yet, but we can at least give an online introduction of this delicious carrot salad. I have a photo here with my own adaptation of morkovcha, as a part of my Dosirak that I had a week ago. Morkovcha is also perfect to add in Bibimbap.

Btw, I’m not Koryo Saram (nor am I Russian). My heritage is Tatar and part Uzbek (well, I’m Central Asian), but my nationality is Swedish. In my culture, morkovcha is really popular. I think it’s about time to honour our Koryo Saram brothers and sisters and make some morkovcha to enjoy. Whether we eat it together with Doenjang Jjigae, Galbi, Mandu, Jeon, Bokkeumbap, Dosirak, Bibimbap or anything else. :-)