Jeolla

Jeolla, in the southwest of the peninsula, has a reputation within Korea as the region where people eat best. That reputation rests on geography — wide rice plains, two seas and rich mountains — and on a long tradition of generous, elaborate home cooking.

Geography and climate

The Encyclopedia of Korean Culture describes Jeolla as wrapped by the Yellow Sea to the west and the South Sea to the south, with the fertile Honam plain providing abundant rice and well-known mountains supplying prized wild foods. The region's mild climate also makes it important for winter vegetables: the Korean Culture and Information Service reports that Haenam, at the southwestern tip, grows the majority of Korea's winter napa cabbage.

Character of the cuisine

The same encyclopedia ranks Jeolla's cooking alongside that of Gaeseong for its luxury, attributing this to wealthy landed families who passed down fine cooking over generations. Tables traditionally carried a large number of dishes, which often surprises visitors.

On seasoning, the encyclopedia is explicit: because of the warm climate, Jeolla's salted seafood is very strongly salted, and kimchi is made with plenty of chili powder, a salty edge and little liquid — in sharp contrast to the watery kimchi of the north. This matches the broader pattern the encyclopedia describes, in which food becomes saltier and spicier, with more seasoning and jeotgal, the farther south one goes.

Signature dishes and banchan

• Jeonju bibimbap: rice topped with bean sprouts, mung bean jelly colored yellow (hwangpo-muk), beef, gochujang, sesame oil and egg, among other vegetables. The encyclopedia notes it is also called bean-sprout bibimbap and is known nationwide.
• Kongnamul-gukbap: bean-sprout soup with rice, another Jeonju dish that has spread across the country. The encyclopedia notes that Jeolla had a distinctive way of growing soybean sprouts.
• Hongeo (skate): raw or fermented skate is closely tied to Jeolla celebrations; the encyclopedia describes hongeo-hoe as indispensable at weddings and sixtieth-birthday feasts.
• Porridges: a wide range of juk, from sesame to clam, valued as restorative food.
• Banchan: the encyclopedia's list includes many kinds of salted seafood, wild mountain greens, mustard-dressed japchae (compare japchae), hijiki and seaweed salads, and crisp fried bugak made from greens and seaweed.

Kimchi styles

Jeolla is especially known for leafy kimchi beyond napa cabbage. The Encyclopedia of Korean Culture names bitter godeulppaegi kimchi, whole-cabbage kimchi (baechu-kimchi), oyster kkakdugi and banji, a white kimchi. The Korea Herald adds gat-kimchi made with mustard greens and describes the region's kimchi as rich in chili powder and seasoned with salted anchovy or similar fish.

The Korean Culture and Information Service notes a difference in salted-fish preference: Jeolla cooks favor salted hairtail, while the Seoul area more often uses anchovy or sand lance. Buan's Gomso port, on the region's west coast, is known for its salted seafood.

Local specialties

• Rice cakes and sweets: as the country's leading rice region, Jeolla has a long list of rice cakes, many made with persimmon or pumpkin, and sweets such as yugwa and candied ginger and lotus root (see lotus-root).
• Citron: citron punch and dried-persimmon sujeonggwa are listed among local drinks.
• Dried and salted fish: dried croaker (gulbi) and dried fish fillets appear frequently on the Jeolla table.