Koreans make clear distinctions between staple (main) food (jusik 주식) and subsidiary food (busik 부식). Main food in this case refers to rice, while subsidiary food refers to gimchi (김치), vegetables prepared in various forms (yachae muchim 야채무침), spicy pot stews (jjigae 찌개), broths (tang 탕), meat (gogi 고기), and fish (saengseon 생선). These subsidiary foods are usually called banchan (반찬) in everyday speech. A spoon (sutgarak 숟가락) is used to eat rice, and chopsticks (jeotgarak 젓가락) are used to eat banchan. These days, however, younger people also eat steak, pizza, and other Western foods.
Among the subsidiary foods on the Korean table, gimchi deserves special attention. Gimchi is recognized internationally for its nutritional benefits and taste. It is fermented food, made from vegetables such as white cabbage, radish, and green onion combined with seasonings made from ground hot pepper, garlic, and pickled items. There are many varieties of gimchi, including white cabbage gimchi (baechu gimchi 배추김치), “radish cube” gimchi (kkakdugi 깍두기), “bachelor” gimchi (chonggak gimchi 총각김치), and others. Gimchi is made year round, but it is made in large quantities prior to winter, so that there is enough to last the whole season. The process is called gimjang (김장), and methods of storing gimchi are highly developed. People used to store gimchi in large jars and bury them in their yards, so as to keep the taste from altering. Now many people use a special gimchi refrigerator (gimchi naengjanggo 김치냉장고), which allows one to maintain the desired taste while still storing gimchi indoors. It has become increasingly difficult to see someone in the gimjang process, as more and more families are choosing to live in apartments and some people opt to buy their gimchi commercially.
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