Korean Food Series

I am back today with a post for Viridian´s Blog (to see other posts plaese click on the link you find left Sunday Stamps), with food on stamps. I kind of love this theme, it has became one of my favorites. It´s a different way of learning about a country´s culture. As they say: you are what you eat, isn´t it?

So we have in our menu for today Korean food, as follows: neobiani (broiled beef), bindaetteok (pan-fried ground mung bean), jeongol (casserole), and hwajeon (pan-fried rice cake with flower petals). These traditional food plates demonstrate the cooking skills and unique flavors of Korean ancestors.

Neobiani a favorite dish of royal families in Korea, is the boiled lean meat of short ribs or sirloin, which is considered one of the most delicious and tender cuts of beef. The thinly sliced meat is marinated in a mixture of soybean sauce, powdered sesame, salt, sesame oil, Welsh onion, garlic and other seasonings. The name neobiani is derived from the word neobut, which describes how the beef is sliced into large, thin pieces. Maejeok is a similar food that records reveal existed in ancient times.

Bindaetteok first appeared as bin jatteok in Eumsikdimibang (a cooking encyclopedia) written in the 1670s by Mrs.Jang, the wife of a public officer. The dish was originally prepared by frying a mixture of water-soaked and ground mung bean, pork, bracken, mung bean sprouts, and cabbage kimchi on a cauldron lid. Bindaetteok is among the foods usually served during traditional holidays and on other special occasions.

Jeongol is prepared by pouring beef stock into a casserole pan and arranging vegetables and meat in it. It is boiled in a casserole on top of a burner in the middle of the table, and eaten by those sitting around it. Similar to sinseollo, jeongol is easy to cook and is favored by common people. Jeongol is made in a pot resembling a helmet because the dish dates back to ancient times when soldiers supposedly boiled fish or meat in their own helms during combat because they didn`t have any cookware.

Hwajeon is prepared by kneading glutinous rice flour with hot water, then mixing in flowers or arranging them on top before they are pan-fried. Azaleas are used in spring, on the third day of the third lunar month, yellow roses in summer, and chrysanthemums in autumn, on the ninth day of the ninth lunar month. Since flowers are rare during the winter, other ingredients such as jujube are used instead, incorporating different flavors for the different seasonings.

Title: Korean Food Series (5th)
Date of Issue: 15 June 2005
Country: Korea
Denominations: 4 x 220 won
Source: http://www.koreastamp.go.kr/