Fit for a king: 5 must-try royal dishes in South Korea

Korea’s original take on royal dining might seem like a ballet of manners that occasionally breaks out into a meal, but it is a product of its setting. Royal cuisine reached its peak during the rule of the Joseon dynasty (1392–1910), when dining became enshrined in custom. Maids learnt strict protocol from a young age and prepared and passed down their recipes. Times may have changed but it is still a regal affair.

Back then, special royal occasions called for complex meals. Preparations began months in advance and were meticulously recorded. During big events, servants piled rice cakes (tteok), sweets (hangwa) and fruit 60cm high on tables to signify the health and prosperity of the king, though this was solely for display and not for eating.

Ordinarily, court maids served the king five meals a day. The main spread (surasang) consisted of a banquet of a dozen dishes accompanied by stews, hot pots, kimchi and sauces. Governors from the provinces provided ingredients to the chefs and flavours were kept simple. It was a far cry from the spicier food of modern Korea; that came later.

With the fall of the Korean Empire in 1910 and food increasingly scarce after the war (1950-53), local cuisine moved on. Were it not for the work of Hwang Hye-seong, who wrote the first royal cookbook in 1957 from interviews with the last Joseon court maid and founded the Institute of Korean Royal Cuisine, many dishes might have been lost.

Today, the best place to try a royal meal is in Seoul. Korea House doubles as a cultural centre and restaurant; you should also try Philkyungjae, set within a hanok (traditional building), and Jihwaja, which was originally opened by Hwang Hye-seong. Wherever you go, bring an appetite.

Chimchae (Alamy Stock Photo)

Chimchae is a blanket term that refers to the different types of kimchi, a pickled vegetable served before meals as a side dish (banchan) or alongside the main course. The most recognisable type of kimchi today consists of chili powder, garlic, spring onion, Korean radish ginger, fish sauce, and other ingredients, like fresh seafood. There were three types of kimchi commonly served to the royal family: diced radish kimchi (songsongi), standard cabbage kimchi and radish water kimchi (dongchimi). You can find a variety of chimchae in nearly all Korean restaurants throughout Seoul.

Jochi (Alamy Stock Photo)

Stews were at the forefront of Korean royal cuisine, with both soybean paste stew (tojangjochi) and salted seafood stew (jeotgukjochi) popular among Joseon-era royalty. Koreans now enjoy a modern take (doenjang-jjigae) on the former, eaten as an appetiser with rice while the main-course meat sizzles away on a hot plate. A version is often served at

Pyeonyuk (Shutterstock)

Pyeonyuk is a dish of boiled beef or pork served as a protein alongside noodles or stews. In the past, pyeonyuk was a product of the huge vats of broth boiled for banquet dishes. Most diners now eat it with cold noodles (naengmyeon) or ox bone soup (seolleongtang). Seoul’s college neighborhood of Hyehwa is home to multiple cold-noodle eateries that serve pyeonyuk as a topping.

Deoungui (Alamy Stock Photo)

The royal family savoured this dish of hot barbecued meat on rice. Master chefs cooked beef over an open flame and offered dipping sauces made of salted shrimp, soy sauce or fermented soybeans. Today, people enjoy barbecuing their own meat either with a portable grill at home or while camping. It is also common to grill your own meat at restaurants where tables come with a built-in cooking plate. Try this in Seoul’s bustling Jonggak neighborhood.

Jeongol (Shutterstock)

A Korean-style hotpot that mixes vegetables and meat inside a bath of boiling broth. According to documents found from the Joseon era, this dish originated in ancient times, from when soldiers used to cook their meals inside their helmets. When presenting jeongol to the king, there was a display of seasonal vegetables and meats tastefully arranged inside the hotpot bowl with a small amount of broth. Seoul’s Jihwaja has a great reputation for its steaming bowls of veg, meat and broth.

Kimchi has been a staple in Korean homes for 3,000 years. The spicy, tangy flavours cleanse the palate between servings and are said to boast health benefits (it is reputed to be a good probiotic). To make it, you pull apart cabbage heads and saturate each leaf with paste made from red peppers. Traditionally, households kept clay containers below ground, where the cabbage fermented away from sunlight and heat