Banchan facts for kids

Banchan
Various banchan served at a table
Quick facts for kids Korean name
Hangul	반찬
Hanja	飯饌
Revised Romanization	banchan
McCune–Reischauer	panch'an

Banchan (also known as panch'an), is a word for small dishes 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 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.

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 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.

Images for kids

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  Dongchimi (동치미)

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  Various namul

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  Various banchan served at a table

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  Table setting in Jeolla province with many banchan

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  Ojingeochae bokkeum (오징어채볶음)

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  Yeongeun jorim (연근조림)

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  Gyeran jjim (계란찜) in a hot pot

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  Samsaek jeon (삼색전); any three different colored jeon are referred to as such

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  Japchae

See also

In Spanish: Banchan para niños