What should we have for lunch?

If you’re an office worker, there’s one question that comes up every single day: ‘What should I eat for lunch today?’ When the morning shift ends, my colleagues and I head out for lunch together. We usually go to our regular spots out of habit, but today we decided to visit a hanjeongsik (traditional Korean set meal) restaurant we’d been to before. Now, when I say hanjeongsik, this isn’t one of those fancy places with an overwhelming array of side dishes. However, what makes this place special is that they change their main dish every day throughout the week. And as you might know, the side dishes feature plenty of seasonal ingredients.

What’s on Today’s Korean Menu?

After finally finding time to visit this hanjeongsik restaurant, we were greeted with their specialty: a traditional Korean meal set. Since lunch hours for office workers are always packed, we walked briskly to the restaurant. Today’s hanjeongsik features godari-jjim (braised half-dried pollock) as the main dish. Godari is young pollock that has been dried in the ocean breeze. This fish is then braised to perfection. The flavor leans toward soy sauce, though it can be prepared in either a soy-based or spicy style—most restaurants offer one or the other.

What Exactly Is Godari?

Godari is made from young pollock (myeongtae) that has been dried in the cold ocean wind, with about half of the fish’s moisture removed. This drying process typically happens during winter. When preparing godari-jjim, you don’t boil it in a lot of water—instead, you use minimal water and cook it down with a concentrated seasoning sauce. The texture of godari-jjim is quite unique: it’s chewy and firm, not soft at all. Because the fish has been dried in the sea breeze, the flesh has a somewhat dense, almost ‘gguddeok’ quality—a Korean word that describes that particular chewy-firm texture. It’s hard to translate precisely, but that’s the best way to describe it!

Godari-jjim: A Winter Favorite

The main ingredient in godari-jjim is young pollock, which is primarily dried during the winter months. When the cold winds of winter arrive, Koreans naturally think of daegu-tang (pollock stew). Pollock is abundantly caught during winter. In Korea, we enjoy various preparations of pollock during this season: dongtae-guk (soup made with frozen pollock—we call frozen pollock ‘dongtae’), and saengtae-guk (soup made with fresh, unfrozen pollock, which we call ‘saengtae’). Fish catches peak during winter. These days, pollock has become quite rare in Korean waters, so fishing vessels venture into international waters to catch them, of course following international fishing agreements and regulations between nations.

What’s Included in Today’s Hanjeongsik?

The price for hanjeongsik is around 10 dollars. We went to a restaurant near our office. The hanjeongsik costs 10,000 won (approximately $10), which is quite a standard price. The reason for the price difference between this and fancier hanjeongsik restaurants comes down to the variety and quality of the side dishes and main courses. However, the defining feature of hanjeongsik is that it always includes at least six or more side dishes—that’s the minimum you can expect.

Today’s Hanjeongsik Spread: 9 Side Dishes, 1 Soup, and Godari-jjim

The hanjeongsik my colleague and I enjoyed today included the following side dishes: doraji-muchim (seasoned bellflower root), sukju-namul (seasoned bean sprouts), blanched broccoli and seaweed (eaten with a vinegar-based dipping sauce called chojang), chonggak-mu (young radish kimchi), braised anchovies, gim (seaweed sheets), soy sauce (for dipping the seaweed), doenjang-guk (fermented soybean paste soup), and of course, the star of the meal—godari-jjim.

The Traditional Korean Table Setting

In Korean dining, the main dish is always placed in the center of the table, with all the side dishes arranged in a circle around it. Your bowl of rice comes with soup placed to its right. When I was growing up—and even now—soup has always been positioned to the right of the rice. This practice is rooted in both long-standing tradition and practical dining etiquette, primarily because most Koreans are right-handed. There’s also a deeper cultural interpretation: traditionally, in ceremonial table settings like those for ancestral rites (jesa), the east (right side) represents yang (positive energy) and the west (left side) represents eum (negative energy). Therefore, during meals, rice is placed on the west (left) and soup on the east (right). This custom also originates from Confucian culture, which has deeply influenced Korean society.

Easy Way to Identify Flavors in Hanjeongsik

You can tell a lot by looking at the colors of the side dishes. Red-colored banchan are usually somewhat spicy, because achieving that red color requires gochujang (red chili paste) or gochugaru (red chili powder).

If a side dish retains the natural color of the vegetables used, then gochujang or chili powder hasn’t been added. In these cases, the seasoning typically involves soy sauce, salt, perilla oil (deulgireum), sesame oil (chamgireum), or other seasonings depending on the chef’s preference. This means it won’t be spicy.

If a side dish has a darker color that’s not from the vegetables themselves, it’s usually been seasoned primarily with soy sauce. For example, dak-baeksuk (whole chicken soup) is whitish in color and not spicy at all—it’s seasoned with salt. Ganjang-bulgogi (soy sauce marinated beef) has a darker color because soy sauce is the primary flavoring. For vegetable dishes, since they maintain their natural colors, seasonings like salt, vinegar, soy sauce, sesame oil, and perilla oil are added. Of course, every restaurant has its own style of preparing banchan, so the seasonings vary from place to place. That’s why famous restaurants each have their distinct style and flavors. These days, I personally prefer side dishes and meals where I can taste the natural flavors of the ingredients rather than overpowering seasonings.

The meal comes with a bowl of rice and soup. Restaurants that excel at hanjeongsik often make their doenjang-guk using house-made fermented soybean paste. This homemade doenjang has a much deeper, richer flavor compared to the sweeter commercial doenjang you might find at Amazon or Korean grocery stores, and it feels much gentler on your stomach. To put it more simply: if you’re older, after eating hanjeongsik, you might not feel completely stuffed, but your stomach will feel comfortable and at ease. There’s very little digestive discomfort.

When I was raising my children, I tried my best to feed them organic and healthy ingredients, but in the end, as they progressed through elementary school, high school, and college, they inevitably ended up eating a lot of instant and processed foods.

Does Hanjeongsik Use Instant Ingredients?

Hanjeongsik restaurants avoid using instant or processed ingredients as much as possible, which is why the food is so healthy. After all, the less exposure you have to poor-quality ingredients, the better.

In today’s hanjeongsik, there were very few side dishes made with what we commonly call instant ingredients. If I had to point out one, it would be tangsuyuk (sweet and sour pork), because it involves frying with flour-based batter. As you can see in the photos, hanjeongsik typically doesn’t include many fried foods. These days, GMO (genetically modified organism) ingredients have become a global concern, but in the hanjeongsik we had today, all the ingredients were GMO-free.

Do Korean Side Dishes Use GMO Ingredients?

South Korea does not produce GMO food ingredients—it’s strictly prohibited by law. The side dishes in today’s lunch were made mostly from ingredients grown domestically in Korea. Koreans have been concerned about GMO products and their health impacts for quite some time now. Perhaps it’s because I’m getting older, but I can usually tell just by looking whether something contains GMO ingredients. This is partly because Korea has relatively strict and rigorous quarantine procedures for imported agricultural products. Additionally, most restaurant owners actively avoid using GMO ingredients.

Can You Get Refills on All These Side Dishes?

Don’t worry—at most hanjeongsik restaurants, you can get refills on the side dishes, and they don’t charge extra for it. However, there are some cases where they might charge for refills, particularly if the side dishes are made with expensive ingredients. Just remember this: side dishes can generally be refilled at any time.

How Much Does Hanjeongsik Near the Office Cost?

Restaurants serving hanjeongsik near office buildings can’t charge too much, considering the budget constraints of office workers. Instead, they keep prices reasonable by focusing on healthy vegetables and home-style menu compositions. Today’s lunch for two people cost 20,000 won. If you order the special lunch menu, it’s 15,000 won per person. The additional 5,000 won includes premium side dishes like gulbi (salted and dried yellow corvina) and dwaeji-bossam (boiled pork wraps). Of course, keep in mind that prices vary from restaurant to restaurant.

Conclusion

If you’re visiting Korea, I highly recommend trying jeongsik (traditional set meal). The side dishes change with each season, and I encourage you to experience the variety these seasonal banchan offer. While some dishes might be spicy, each restaurant has its own style, so don’t worry too much about it. I hope you have the opportunity to enjoy delicious Korean food today!

Refer to

• Official site – 한국관광공사 코다리
• Korean Tour – 한국관광공사
• Korea Confucianism – Link (need to translate english)