Dishes of the Pyongyang Area
Pyongyang, a hub of political, economic and cultural development in the time-honoured history of Korea, played a significant role in the development of traditional dishes.
Thanks to its favourable geographical conditions, such as fertile plains, hill-girt fields and thick forests, the Pyongyang area abounds with cereals, meats and edible herbs. It also boasts rich resources of freshwater fish, especially mullet from the Taedong River, one of the five longest rivers in Korea. As a result, food culture developed rapidly in the area, featured by a large number of dishes and their high qualities.
There are many dishes, including onban (boiled rice served in meat soup), fish porridge, cold noodles, mung-bean pancake, Taedong River mullet soup, tongchimi (radish pickled in salt water), paekkimchi (white kimchi), Sunan pulgogi (meat cooked over an open fire), meat-garnished cold noodles in tray, and nochi (a kind of rice cake).
Among them, Pyongyang cold noodles, onban, mullet soup and mung-bean pancake are widely known as four typical dishes of Pyongyang as well as masterpieces of the Korean dishes.
Pyongyang cold noodles, a specialty of Pyongyang together with weeping willows, are renowned for the characteristics of their material, stock, seasoning and garnishing, vessels in which they are served and the way they are prepared.
Its main material is buckwheat, which has been called a longevity cereal for its health-friendly nutrients. The strips of noodles made of buckwheat are not too tough but slippery, and the peculiar taste of buckwheat promotes flavour and taste of noodles.
What makes Pyongyang cold noodles stand out among other noodles is the particularly refreshing, sweet and savoury stock made of meat stock and tongchimi juice, and a large brass vessel in which a coil of noodle strips and tempting garnishing are served.
The foodstuff is praised as a masterpiece of Korean noodles, as a representative national foodstuff, and has become a tempting dish regardless of seasons.
Pyongyang onban, another special dish of the Pyongyang area, is a dish of boiled rice in a large bowl, served in the soup of chicken boiled with salt in it and garnished with chicken slices and mung-bean pancake.
Mung-bean pancake is made of ground mung-bean batter fried with vegetables and hog fat pieces in it. For its excellent taste, mung-bean pancake was a must on the table for a wedding ceremony.
Pyongyang mullet soup is prepared with fresh mullet caught in the Taedong River by scaling, cutting into chops and cooking in a pot with pepper grains in it. It was famous across the country as another specialty of Pyongyang, so it was the custom for Pyongyangites to entertain their guests with the dish.
Besides, there were other special dishes in the area, including cold noodles served in a tray, dumpling soup, nochi, meat-garnished cold noodles, Sunan pulgogi, fish porridge, steamed carp of Juam, Pyongyang paekkimchi and tongchimi.
Dishes of the Pyongyang area were diverse in kind, high in quality and agreeable to everybody’s taste. Hence they won national popularity as common dishes and developed into traditional dishes of Korea.
Thanks to its favourable geographical conditions, such as fertile plains, hill-girt fields and thick forests, the Pyongyang area abounds with cereals, meats and edible herbs. It also boasts rich resources of freshwater fish, especially mullet from the Taedong River, one of the five longest rivers in Korea. As a result, food culture developed rapidly in the area, featured by a large number of dishes and their high qualities.
There are many dishes, including onban (boiled rice served in meat soup), fish porridge, cold noodles, mung-bean pancake, Taedong River mullet soup, tongchimi (radish pickled in salt water), paekkimchi (white kimchi), Sunan pulgogi (meat cooked over an open fire), meat-garnished cold noodles in tray, and nochi (a kind of rice cake).
Among them, Pyongyang cold noodles, onban, mullet soup and mung-bean pancake are widely known as four typical dishes of Pyongyang as well as masterpieces of the Korean dishes.
Pyongyang cold noodles, a specialty of Pyongyang together with weeping willows, are renowned for the characteristics of their material, stock, seasoning and garnishing, vessels in which they are served and the way they are prepared.
Its main material is buckwheat, which has been called a longevity cereal for its health-friendly nutrients. The strips of noodles made of buckwheat are not too tough but slippery, and the peculiar taste of buckwheat promotes flavour and taste of noodles.
What makes Pyongyang cold noodles stand out among other noodles is the particularly refreshing, sweet and savoury stock made of meat stock and tongchimi juice, and a large brass vessel in which a coil of noodle strips and tempting garnishing are served.
The foodstuff is praised as a masterpiece of Korean noodles, as a representative national foodstuff, and has become a tempting dish regardless of seasons.
Pyongyang onban, another special dish of the Pyongyang area, is a dish of boiled rice in a large bowl, served in the soup of chicken boiled with salt in it and garnished with chicken slices and mung-bean pancake.
Mung-bean pancake is made of ground mung-bean batter fried with vegetables and hog fat pieces in it. For its excellent taste, mung-bean pancake was a must on the table for a wedding ceremony.
Pyongyang mullet soup is prepared with fresh mullet caught in the Taedong River by scaling, cutting into chops and cooking in a pot with pepper grains in it. It was famous across the country as another specialty of Pyongyang, so it was the custom for Pyongyangites to entertain their guests with the dish.
Besides, there were other special dishes in the area, including cold noodles served in a tray, dumpling soup, nochi, meat-garnished cold noodles, Sunan pulgogi, fish porridge, steamed carp of Juam, Pyongyang paekkimchi and tongchimi.
Dishes of the Pyongyang area were diverse in kind, high in quality and agreeable to everybody’s taste. Hence they won national popularity as common dishes and developed into traditional dishes of Korea.