Among the foods that have captivated the taste buds of Koreans, many originated from specific traditional Korean markets. These local foods that represent each region have gained national fame and have become franchise brands or proper nouns.
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| Kkwabaegi, which is made by kneading flour, stretching it long, twisting it into two strands, and frying it in oil, and sweet red bean donuts, which are made by rounding kneaded flour, filling it with red bean paste, and frying it, are the most common foods in traditional markets. ⓒ 셔터스톡(Shutterstock) |
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| Market food is cheaper and more diverse than regular restaurants. For this reason, traditional markets are the best place for office workers to have a drink and dinner on their way home from work to relieve their stress. (사진 맷 로저스, 언스플래시(Photo by Matt Rogers on Unsplash)) |
In addition to permanent Korean markets such as Namdaemun Market and Dongdaemun Market, there are temporary markets that open once every three or five days, which are usually called o-iljang (五日場). Oiljang, which flourished greatly after the mid-Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910), has continued its tradition to this day. On market days, local specialties and various foods fill the market. The market day is full of excitement as merchants who have brought and sold goods and people who have come to see the market gather together. The excitement of these market days isn't much different from that of permanent markets. Children who go to the market with their mother's hand often take a bundle of memories that they won't forget even when they grow up.
Whether it is o-iljang or a permanent market, the highlight of the traditional market is food. The rumors about the food that can only be eaten on market days or that can only be tasted at that market were passed from mouth to mouth. Thanks to cars and the Internet, the famous market foods that have left the specific market have established their foothold in the form of branches nationwide. Andong jjimdak from Andong old market, Jeonju bean sprout soup from Jeonju southern market, Naju gomtang from Naju oiljang, and mulhoe from Pohang northern market are among the many market foods that have entered Seoul and Busan and other major cities.
Jjimdak instead of fried whole chicken (통닭 대신 찜닭 )
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| Andong has been famous for steamed dishes since ancient times. The "Suun Japbang (需雲雜方)", compiled in the 16th century, is a cookbook that summarizes the native foods of the Andong region, and this book also features a chicken dish seasoned with soy sauce. Andong jjimdak, developed by the merchants of Andong old market, is also a food that is cooked with various ingredients in soy sauce. ⓒ 스튜디오 켄(Studio KENN) |
Andong, Gyeongsangbuk-do, is a city where seowon, a private educational institution of the Joseon Dynasty, and the old houses of the yangban, are still intact. Even now, many families hold Confucian rites, or jesa, dozens of times a year. For this reason, the food that represented Andong for a long time was jesa food, which had complicated cooking and many dishes.
But the food that symbolized this region changed from the early 2000s. It was since 'Andong jjimdak', which was born in Andong old market, became popular nationwide. Andong jjimdak is a food that is cooked with potatoes, carrots, cabbage, shiitake mushrooms, and glass noodles in seasoning after cutting the chicken into bite-sized pieces.
The key to the jjimdak recipe is the seasoning. The ingredients are one cup of soy sauce, half a cup of corn syrup, one tablespoon of sugar, two teaspoons of minced garlic, one teaspoon of ginger, and a small amount of pepper. Onions and green onions coated with flour also contribute to the taste. The sweetness that comes from various vegetables makes Andong jjimdak sweet and not too spicy. Above all, the diverse texture is the virtue of this food. The crispness of the vegetables, the chewiness of the chicken, and the softness of the potatoes and glass noodles blend together.
Originally, there were many fried chicken shops in Andong old market in the 1970s and 80s. According to various records, at that time, the merchants developed jjimdak as a self-help measure when fried chicken didn't sell well as seasoned chicken became popular. Now, tens of thousands of tourists visit this place to taste the original Andong jjimdak, and its reputation has risen.
Merchants' hangover soup (상인들의 해장국)
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| Along with bibimbap, bean sprout soup with rice is a specialty of Jeonju. It is a dish of cold rice and boiled bean sprouts with hot broth poured over and mixed. Bean sprout soup with rice from Jeonju Nambo Market comes with a soft-boiled egg as a kind of appetizer. The egg is scooped with some soup and mixed with seaweed powder. ⓒ 게티이미지코리아(gettyimagesKOREA) |
If Gyeongsangbuk-do has Andong braised chicken, Jeollabuk-do has Jeonju bean sprout soup with rice. Jeonju bean sprout soup with rice is made by boiling bean sprouts in water infused with anchovies. Rice, lightly boiled and seasoned with soy sauce, bean sprouts, and shrimp sauce are added to the soup and boiled. When the soup boils, stir-fried kimchi, sesame salt, red pepper powder, and other ingredients are added to finish.
The history of Jeonju bean sprout soup with rice dates back quite a long time. There is a record of it in the lifestyle magazine "Byeolgeonkon" published in 1926. But the reason why this soup became popular among the whole nation was the role of Jeonju Nambo Market. This Korean market, which had already taken shape in the 1800s, was renovated in the 1960s and has continued to this day. Jeonju was the commercial center of Jeolla-do in the past. For this reason, merchants from Gyeongsang-do, Chungcheong-do, and even Jeju-do gathered at Jeonju Nambo Market. The food they often looked for to satisfy their hunger was bean sprout soup with rice.
Especially, Jeonju Nambo Market bean sprout soup with rice came with suran (water egg). Suran is one of our traditional foods, which was considered a precious food because it was difficult to cook. It's a food that is cooked by breaking an egg into a ladle and putting it in boiling water so that it doesn't sink and only the egg white is cooked. Suran is rare except for Jeonju Nambo Market. It is a representative hangover soup because of its refreshing and bland taste and the sweat that forms after finishing a bowl.
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A tonic given by time (시간이 준 보양식)
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Naju gomtang has clear broth and plenty of meat. It is also characterized by the act of pouring hot broth and scooping it up while heating the rice. Naju, which was the central city of Jeolla-do in the past, was crowded with merchants from all over the country when the o-iljang market opened. ⓒ 뉴스뱅크(NewsBank) |
Gomtang is also a food that warms the hearts of Koreans. When we're less energetic than before or sick, we instinctively look for gomtang. We believe that 'we get strength' from a bowl of hot gomtang. That's understandable, because there is no food as nutritious as gomtang.
You can tell at a glance that it is a food full of sincerity just by looking at the cooking process. The beef that goes into the soup is pre-cooked with radish and seasoned. This is cut into appropriate sizes and boiled again with various vegetables such as green onions. The nutrients are naturally dissolved in the broth by boiling for more than 6 hours.
Gomtang is a native of Jeollanam-do Naju, where the oiljang market was first held in Korea. Merchants from all over the country who gathered on the market day knocked on the door of the gomtang house to fill their hungry stomachs. Gomtang had plenty of by-products of slaughtered cows, such as head meat and entrails, and the price was cheap. Naju area was a grain warehouse area, so many houses raised cattle for cultivation. Naturally, the livestock industry developed, and the remaining parts after slaughter became the ingredients for gomtang.
But if you go to Naju now, it's hard to find gomtang filled with by-products like before. Most of the Naju gomtang houses make broth with boiled bones as the base and add yangji head, shank, neck meat, etc. to make the broth again. If you put well-ripened kimchi on top of it, you won't envy any tonic. What does gomtang mean? The reason why this food is called gomtang is because of the cooking method. It comes from the word 'goda', which means 'to boil meat or bones in water until the juice runs out'. The time to boil and cook for a long time is the cook and secret of gomtang.
A simple meal for fishermen (어부의 소박한 한 끼)
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Mulhoe is a dish of raw fish with shredded pear and vegetables, mixed with various seasonings such as red pepper paste, garlic, sugar, sesame oil, etc., and then iced water is added and eaten. Pohang Bukbu Market is close to the sea, so you can taste fresh raw fish. Since the 1980s, the mulhoe here has been popular and people from all over the country have come to taste this delicacy. ⓒ 한국관광공사 |
The first place to commercialize the fisherman's simple meal was Yeongnam Mulhoe, which opened in the early 1960s. Since then, mulhoe has spread throughout the Pohang area, especially in the 1980s, it flourished in the northern market of Pohang. In these Korean markets, they put thickly sliced raw fish, generous rice, and thinly sliced cucumbers in a bowl and ate them with red pepper paste, and later poured cold water over them. In the 1990s, noodles were added instead of rice.
Some places also changed the ingredients from white-fleshed fish to red-fleshed fish such as mackerel, and some restaurants sprinkled savory bean powder on top of the food. In the 2000s, the cold water turned into a broth mixed with plum juice, sugar, pear or apple juice, vinegar, etc. Mulhoe, which has been constantly changing its taste, has become a summer delicacy loved by Koreans.
(Source / 박미향(Park Mee-hyang, 朴美香) 『한겨레신문』 기자 - Park Mee-hyang, reporter of Hankyoreh Newspaper)
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