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Gujeolpan
Korean food served with beef, vegetables, pancakes |
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[Main ingredients]
100g beef, 1 cucumber, 100g carrot, 4 dried shitake mushrooms,
100g seoki mushrooms (or black-colored mushroom),
150g bamboo shoots, 2-3 eggs, salt, olive oil
[Miljeonbyeong(wheat pancake)]
1 cup flour, 1/2 Tsp salt, 1&1/4 cups water, pine nuts
[Beef & mushroom seasoning]
2 Tbsp soy sauce, 1 Tbsp Sugar, 2 Tbsp chopped leek,
2 Tsp ground garlic, 1 Tbsp sesame oil, pepper,
powdered sesame mixed with 1/2 Tsp salt
[Mustard spice]
2 Tbsp mustard, soy sauce, 1 Tbsp vinegar, 1/2 Tbsp sugar, lemon juice, cooking wine (or white wine)
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All about Gujeolpan
1. What is gujeolpan?
Gujeolpan is a traditional Korean dish, literally nine-sectioned plate. It was usually associated with royalty. It is served at special occasions such as weddings and special parties. This is a very elaborate, colorful and health dish that consists of many kinds of food material.
Different vegetables, mushrooms, and meats are served with wheat pancakes (miljeonbyeong) on an octagonal platter. The octagonal platter is divided into nine sections: eight side sections and one center section. In Korean culture number 9 is believed as a lucky number. And also it is regarded as ‘everything and abundance’. So it suggests ‘harmony’ to eat one wrapped thing whole. Meats and vegetables are served on the outer sections and pancakes like thin paper are served in the center. So we can combine tastes that we want in any wrap by putting the various meats and vegetables on a pancake and wrapping it.
Gujeolpan can also mean a food platter. It can be made of wood, bone-china, or plastic, especially lacquerware inlaid with mother-of-pearl (najeonchilgi). It can include elaborate carvings and detailed drawings. A traditional wooden platter is black or dark chocolate but modern one has various colors and patterns.
2. Features of gujeolpan
Gujeolpan is a harmony of colors and nutritional balance.
Gujeolpan has various colors: red, green, yellow, black, and white. The colors of the nine foods are different but in perfect harmony with one another. The harmony of colors fascinates and stimulates the appetite.
We can cook this dish by using a number of ingredients such as beef, mushrooms, vegetables, and eggs. These combinations can enhance the flavor of food and balance its nutrition.
There is an interesting anecdote with gujeolpan. When Pearl S. Buck came to Korea, she had an opportunity to eat Korean traditional food. When she opened a lid with its flower lock, she was so surprised at the beauty of contrast between the jet black platter and gorgeous colors that she couldn’t talk for a while. Then she said “I don’t want to destroy such a beautiful work by eating it.” In the end she didn’t eat it.
3. How to make gujeolpan
Gujeolpan is an ideal appetizer stimulating the appetite in a sense of its gorgeous colors, various tastes, and plain and light flavors.
(1) Put the mixture of flour, salt, water through a sifter. Prepare the flour mixture in advance, and it will be more glutinous.
(2) Soak dried p’yogo mushrooms in warm water.
(3) Divide eggs into yolks and whites. Blend the 3 yolks with salt and the 2 whites with salt separately. Fry them separately in a frying pan, which is wiped with a coating of oil, very thinly like a sheet at low heat. Roll the fried egg sheets and slice them into 4cm long strips.
(4) After rubbing a cucumber with salty water, peel it into 4cm strips. Then squeeze the salted cucumber slices. Let dry then fry them with olive oil and sesame oil.
(5) Cut a carrot and bamboo shoots into 4cm long strips and fry them in cooking oil and sesame oil, sprinkling salt.
(Tip : You can substitute green-bean sprouts, bell-shaped mushrooms, or roots of broad bellflowers for bamboo shoots. Be free to try various applications. The freedom of a taster’s choice is a big merit of this dish. )
(6) Apply cooking oil to a frying pan and then wipe it out for clean miljeonbyeong and a less oily flavor. At low heat, spill 1 tablespoonful of flour paste and spread it in circle 8cm in diameter. Once one side becomes transparent, turn it. Now, miljeonbyeong, the wheat pancake like thin paper, is completed. After cooling down miljeonbyeong, sprinkle them pine nut powder and lay one upon the other. Pine nuts not only make miljeonbyeong tastier and more appetizing but also keep them from sticking.
(7) Rub and wash seoki mushrooms then squeeze them. Roll up the mushrooms then slice them into 4cm strips. After frying without any oil, season them with beef and mushroom seasoning.
(8) Mix the beef mushroom with beef seasoning. Mix soaked p’yogo mushroom with mushroom seasoning. Roast it in cooking oil, sesame, and liquor for cooking.
(9) For mustard spice, mix soy sauce, vinegar, cooking liquor, sugar, lemon juice, and mustard.
(10) Wow! This is the last stage.
First put miljeonbyeong in the center section of the platter and then sprinkle the pine nut powder on them. Next, put the beef and various vegetables in the other eight sections. Serve gujeolpan with the mustard spice on the side. Now, it’s time to enjoy your gorgeous dish!
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Preparation Time: 50 minutes |
Serves: 4 |
| Recipe Origin: Korea |
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Submitted by: |
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Scarlet & Yuri
Korea |
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| This recipe has been viewed 5960 times. |
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