Food & drink of South Korea · The Larder Journal

Rice, soup and many small side dishes (banchan) with fermentation at the core: kimchi, soy and chilli pastes.

Fermented spicy cabbage; Korea's national side dish. Kimjang, the making of winter kimchi, is UNESCO heritage.

'Mixed rice' topped with vegetables and egg; dolsot version sizzles in a stone bowl.

Meat grilled at the table, wrapped in lettuce with garlic and ssamjang.

Chewy rice cakes in sweet-spicy red sauce, Seoul street food.

Milky, lightly fizzy, sweet-sour Korean rice wine; Korea's oldest alcoholic drink.

Equal parts instant coffee, sugar and hot water whipped into foam and spooned over milk. Indians had long made beaten coffee the same way.

Sweet rice punch with floating grains, served as dessert.

Korea's everyday spirit. Modern green-bottle soju is diluted and slightly sweet; traditional distilled soju from Andong is much stronger.