What is Banchan?
{{Infobox Korean name |img=Korean cuisine-Banchan-11.jpg |caption=Various banchan served at a table |hangul=반찬 |hanja=[[wikt:飯|飯]][[wikt:饌|饌]] |rr=banchan |mr=panch'an |}} '''''Banchan''''' (also known as '''''panch'an'''''), is a word for small [[dish]]es of [[food]]. They are served with cooked [[rice]] in [[Korean cuisine]]. The main dishes that are eaten are ''bap'' (밥, cooked rice), ''[[guk]]'', or ''tang'' ([[soup]]), ''[[gochujang]]'' or [[soy sauce|''ganjang'']], ''[[jjigae]]'', and ''[[kimchi]]''. The table setting is called ''3 cheop'' (삼첩), ''5 cheop'' (오첩), ''7 cheop'' (칠첩), ''9 cheop'' (구첩), ''12 cheop'' (십이첩) ''bansang''. This depends on the number of ''banchan'' there is. In Korean royal cuisine, the table setting is ''12 cheop''.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://100.naver.com/100.nhn?docid=726745 |title=네이버 백과사전 |work=naver.com |access-date=28 August 2010 |archive-date=25 May 2012 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120525153306/http://100.naver.com/100.nhn?docid=726745 |url-status=dead }}</ref> ''Banchan'' are put on the middle of the table and usually shared, though ''guk'' (soup) is not shared. Banchan are served little by little. They are meant to be finished at each meal, and more is added if there is not enough. Often, the more [[wikt:formal|formal]] the meals are, the more ''banchan'' there will be. [[Jeolla]] province is quite famous for serving many different kinds of ''banchan'' in a single meal.<ref>[http://kin.naver.com/open100/detail.nhn?d1id=4&dirId=4&docId=247806&qb=7KCE652864+E7ZWc7KCV7Iud7Jyg656Y&enc=utf8&section=kin&rank=2&sort=0&spq=0 ''Hanjeongsik''] from Naver open dictionary, food columnist Lee JinRang (이진랑), 2005-07-17</ref> == References == {{reflist}} == Other websites == * {{commonscat-inline}} * {{cite web |url= http://www.1stopkorea.com/index.htm?cooking.htm~mainframe |title=1stopKorea.com - your source for Korea and all things Korean! |work=1stopkorea.com |access-date=28 August 2010}} [[Category:Korean food]] {{food-stub}}