Explore Ingredients
Ingredient list
Dangmyeon
Dangmyeon (당면) — Korean sweet potato glass noodles — are the translucent, bouncy strands at the heart of japchae and countless Korean comfort dishes. Made entirely from sweet potato starch, these gluten-free noodles transform from a brittle, grayish bundle into glossy, flavor-soaking ribbons once boiled. This guide covers what dangmyeon is, how it tastes, the three dishes that show it off best, and exactly how to cook, store, and substitute it.
Buchu (Korean garlic chives)
Buchu (Korean garlic chives) is an aromatic flat-leafed herb essential to Korean cuisine, used in kimchi, pancakes, and soups, offering mild garlic flavor and rich vitamins A and C for authentic Korean cooking.
Korean Squid (Ojingeo)
Few ingredients capture the flavor of Korea’s coastline like ojingeo (오징어) — Korean squid. From sizzling red-sauced stir-fries at street stalls to chewy strips of dried squid passed around with cold beer, this cephalopod is woven into everyday Korean eating. This guide covers what ojingeo tastes like, how Korean cooks use it, how to store and substitute it, and why its nutritional profile stands out.
Korean Perilla Oil: The Golden Secret of Authentic Korean Cooking
Few ingredients in the Korean pantry reward curiosity as richly as perilla oil. One small drizzle of **들기름 (deulgireum)** over a bowl of seasoned vegetables can stop you mid-bite — that deep, roasted, almost herbal nuttiness is unlike anything in Western cooking. Yet for all its quiet power, Korean perilla oil remains largely unknown outside Korean kitchens. If you’ve been cooking your way into Korean cuisine, this is the oil you’ve been missing. In this guide, you’ll learn exactly what perilla oil is, how it’s made, which dishes it belongs in, how it compares to sesame oil, and how to store it properly so none of that precious flavor goes to waste.
Scallion
A mild, aromatic vegetable with long green stalks and small white bulbs, widely used in Korean cooking for its fresh flavor. Common in pancakes, soups, and stir-fries.
Chicken (Dak)
In Korean cuisine, Korean chicken dishes span nearly every cooking method, from gentle simmering to high-heat frying. Dak (닭) — Korean for chicken — is prized for how readily it absorbs the marinades, ferments, and aromatics at the heart of Korean poultry cooking. Whether tucked whole into a clay pot or stir-fried at the table, chicken is one of the most approachable entry points into Korean food for newcomers.
Omija
There is a Korean berry so philosophically dense that no single word, in any language, can describe its taste. It is sweet at the tip of the tongue, sour as it travels back, salty along the edges, bitter at the throat, and — somewhere in the long pause that follows — faintly, unmistakably pungent. This is Omija (오미자), the Schisandra berry, and learning to brew it properly is one of the quiet rites of passage in Korean tea culture.
Where Western palates often pursue clarity — a single, declarative flavor — Korean tradition prefers harmony. Omija, the five-flavor berry, is the most eloquent argument that competing tastes can coexist within a single ruby drupe. This guide is a masterclass on understanding, sourcing, and cold-brewing Omija the way it has been done for centuries, from the misty foothills of Mungyeong to the modern Seoul café.
lemon
There’s a moment that surprises many home cooks experimenting with Korean food for the first time: the realization that a squeeze of lemon can transform a dish more fundamentally than any gochugaru adjustment or extra spoonful of fish sauce. For a long time, lemon (레몬, pronounced re-mon) was considered a Western ingredient — a guest in Korean kitchens, not a resident. That time is over.
Watermelon
When Korea’s brutal summer humidity descends and the cicadas begin their afternoon chorus, one fruit appears in nearly every household refrigerator: Korean watermelon, or 수박 (Subak). More than a sweet treat, Subak is Korea’s most cherished summer cooling fruit (여름철 보양 과일) — a seasonal essential rooted in centuries of tradition, regional pride, and a remarkably sophisticated understanding of how food helps the body endure heat. From the iconic subak hwachae punch shared at family gatherings to thrifty pickled watermelon rind banchan, Korean watermelon shapes the rhythm of Korean summer in ways that may surprise newcomers to Korean cuisine.
This guide explores why Korean watermelon holds such cultural weight, how Koreans have traditionally prepared every part of the fruit (yes, even the rind and seeds), what makes Korean-grown watermelon distinctive, and how to choose, store, and enjoy a perfectly ripe Subak at home.
Korean Black Garlic: Taste, Uses, and How It’s Aged
Black garlic — heukmaneul (흑마늘) — is ordinary garlic held for weeks in controlled heat and humidity until the cloves turn jet black, soft, and molasses-sweet. It is not a variety but a change of state, and the allicin that makes raw garlic sharp falls away with it.
Yeolmu Kimchi: Korea’s Refreshing Summer Kimchi
When summer arrives in Korea, one kimchi quietly takes over the table. Yeolmu kimchi (열무김치) — young summer radish kimchi — is the crisp, cooling counterpart to heavier winter kimchi, and for many families the taste that signals summer has arrived.
Yuzu vs Lemon: What Makes Korean Yuja Different
Yuja (유자), sold in English as yuzu, is a knobby yellow citrus grown along Korea’s southern coast. It is mostly rind and seed, so Korean cooks work the peel rather than squeezing it — and that is where it parts ways with a lemon.
Melon: 5 Amazing Health Benefits of Korea’s Best Fruit
Melon bingsu has become one of the most photographed desserts in Korean cafe culture, and understanding melon itself is the key to appreciating why. This guide covers what melon is, how it’s used in Korean kitchens and cafes, and how to store, buy, and substitute it at home.
Maesil (매실): Korea’s Green Plum
Ask a Korean home cook which ingredient does the most invisible work in their kitchen, and there is a fair chance the answer is maesil — a fruit that almost never reaches the table, yet hides in the kimchi, the pork marinade, and the glass of water poured after a heavy meal.
Korean Fish Sauce & Salted Shrimp: Umami Boosters
Behind almost every memorable Korean dish sits an ingredient most diners never see on the plate. Korean umami boosters — the family of fermented seafood seasonings known as aekjeot (fish sauces) and jeotgal (salted seafood) — are what give kimchi its funky depth, soups their savory pull, and side dishes their moreish "one more bite" quality. This guide breaks down the four you’ll actually reach for, how they differ, and how to use, store, and substitute them.
Barley (bori)
Barley is a healthy whole grain staple that has nourished the Korean peninsula for thousands of years, long before it became a modern symbol of wholesome eating. This guide covers what barley is, how it tastes, how Koreans cook it, and how to store it.
Korean Pine Nuts
Few ingredients capture the quiet elegance of Korean cuisine quite like pine nuts. Known in Korean as jat (잣), these small ivory seeds appear at the table’s most meaningful moments — floating atop a New Year’s bowl of tteokguk, scattered over a chilled cinnamon punch, or simmered into a silky porridge for someone recovering their strength.
Arugula (Rucola)
Arugula has quietly become one of the most fashionable greens in modern Korean kitchens. Though it isn’t a traditional Korean ingredient, this peppery Mediterranean leaf — known in Korea as 루꼴라 (rukkola, also written 루콜라) — now appears on brunch menus, fusion pizzas, and gourmet home plates across Seoul. Its bold flavor and "sophisticated" reputation have made it the go-to green for cooks who want to elevate a simple meal.
