Po (food)


Po is thin strips or sheets of dried meat and fish used in Korean cuisine. Po, which is made from meats including beef, pork, venison and poultry; and seafoods including whitefish, eel, squid, octopus, shrimp and crab; is eaten as snack food, banchan or anju. Po is prepared for traditional occasions such as pyebaek and jesa.

Name

The Sino-Korean word po can be written with the hanja, which in other East Asian languages and cuisines can also mean preserved fruit.

History

History of po is thought to date back to pre-historic hunter-gatherer societies.
According to Samguk sagi, an 1145 book written by Gim Bu-sik, in February 683 the King Sinmun of Silla sent 135 carts of rice, wine, oil, honey, jang, vinegar, and po to Gim Heum-un's house for his daughter's wedding.
Northern Song Chinese scholar Wu Ji described Goryeo Koreans seasoning nokpo with cinnamon.
In Joseon Korea, po made in governmental offices was called gwanpo. Among them, large pyeonpo that was made in Bongsangsi for jehang was called jopo. Geonpo used for jehyang was called jungpo. At Korean New Year, it was common for provincial officials to send pochok to their relatives and officials in the central government. Extravagant banquets were referred to as yuk-san-po-rim, literally meaning "po mountains, meat forests". Beef po was also often used to make upo-dasik, a kind of dasik. The 18th-century book Sasojeol, which was written by the Joseon scholar Yi Deok-mu, states; "Do not frequently smell fish or seafood po". Cheolli-po, made from meats marinated for a day in wine, vinegar, and salt, was prepared for long journeys.

Varieties

Meat or fish that is thinly sliced and dried is usually called geonpo, while meat that is pounded flat and dried is called pyeonpo. Dried meat in general can be referred to as poyuk, with the letter yuk refers to dried beef slices. Dried fish is called eopo meaning "fish".
When the meat is seasoned with salt and pepper, it is called yeompo, while the dried meats seasoned or marinated with soy sauce-based seasonings are called jangpo, pyeonpo, sanpo, or yakpo, according to the methods.

Meat

; By method
; Pressed
Po made from various meats, fish, and seafood are eaten as snack food, banchan or anju. Salted and dried meat po are eaten as po-jaban, a salty banchan. Crab and other seafood po are beaten, fluffled, seasoned with soy sauce and oil, and eaten as muchim. Fish po are seasoned with soy sauce or gochujang and are grilled as gui.
Po are one of the foods prepared for traditional occasions such as pyebaek and jesa. Po and sikhye used for jesa is called pohye. Often, po is put on the left side of the jesasang and sikhye is put on the right; this is referred to as jwa-po-u-hye, literally meaning "left po, right sikhye". Another related term is ju-gwa-po-hye, literally meaning "wine, fruit, po, sikhye", which refers to simple offerings for jesa.