Explore Ingredients
Ingredient list
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.
Kkotge (Korean Blue Crab)
If you have ever watched a Korean food show pause reverently over a glistening, soy-glazed crab leg being pulled from a heavy stoneware pot, you have already met kkotge (꽃게) — Korea’s beloved blue crab and the centerpiece of one of the country’s most distinctive seafood traditions. Pronounced "kkot-geh," this swimming crab is the foundation of Korean blue crab dishes and traditional preservation methods, most famously the family of recipes known collectively as gejang (게장) — raw crab aged in seasoned brines that transform briny shellfish into something layered, custardy, and almost wine-like.
For coastal Korean families, kkotge is not just an ingredient. It is a season, a celebration, and a quiet act of preservation passed down across generations. This guide walks through what makes Korea’s blue crab so distinctive, when to seek it out, how to prepare its signature dishes, and why the gejang tradition stands as one of the most refined expressions of Korean fermentation culture.
Korean beef
Few ingredients carry as much cultural weight in Korean cuisine as sogoegi (소고기) — Korean beef. Long before it became the star of sizzling Korean barbecue restaurants around the world, beef occupied a near-sacred status on the Korean table. Historically reserved for ceremonial feasts and royal banquets, it was a protein so prized that ordinary farmers were forbidden from slaughtering their oxen, which were needed to plow the fields. That legacy of reverence is still woven into the way Koreans cook with beef today: every cut is chosen with intention, every preparation technique refined over centuries. Whether you’re trying to understand the difference between bulgogi and galbi, curious about Korea’s legendary Hanwoo cattle, or looking for the best cuts to use in a rich bone broth, this guide covers everything you need to know about Korean beef.
Tofu
If kimchi is the soul of the Korean table, Dubu (두부) — Korean tofu — is its quiet backbone. From the silken pillows that float in a fiery pot of Sundubu Jjigae (순두부찌개) to the burnished, soy-glossed planks of dubu jorim tucked into a child’s lunchbox, this humble soybean curd carries roughly 80 percent of Korean home cooking on its shoulders. And yet, outside Korea, dubu remains one of the most underestimated ingredients in any pantry — pressed too little, seared not at all, dismissed as bland.
This guide will change that. In the next few minutes you will learn how serious Korean cooks treat dubu as an expressive ingredient: which type to buy for which dish, why moisture removal and high-heat searing matter at a molecular level, and how a single block of properly handled tofu becomes the difference between a forgettable meal and one you remember.
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.
Korean Mango
Korean mango may be a relative newcomer to the peninsula, but it has earned a permanent seat at the table of modern Korean dessert culture. The star vehicle is mango bingsu, a fluffy shaved-ice creation that defines summer in Seoul. From humble café cups to artistic hotel showpieces, mango in Korea is as much about experience and status as it is about flavor.
Korean Melon (Chamoe)
Korean melon (chamoe) is a small oval muskmelon with bright yellow skin and white ridges, grown mainly in Korea. Its pale flesh is mildly sweet and crisp — somewhere between honeydew and cucumber — and the soft seed core is the sweetest part. It is eaten chilled as Korea’s signature summer fruit.
Udoonsal : Korea’s Leanest Beef Cut for Yukhoe
If there is one Korean beef cut that professional butchers and seasoned home cooks quietly revere above all others, it is Udoonsal (우둔살) — Korean beef top round. Cut from the inner thigh and rump, this lean, densely muscled beef is the unspoken backbone of Korea’s most refined meat preparations: the raw luxury of silky Yukhoe, the centuries-old tradition of Yukhoe Bibimbap from the city of Jinju, and the deeply savory comfort of slow-braised Jangjorim. Understanding Udoonsal means unlocking a dimension of Korean beef cookery that goes far beyond the barbecue grill — one built on precision, technique, and a remarkably clean nutritional profile.
