14 Dishes That Define Korean Lunar New Year

While many might associate the Lunar New Year with being a Chinese tradition, this sacred holiday is actually widely celebrated across the entire continent of Asia. In Korea, the holiday is known as Seollal, and it is one of the more important celebrations as it pays homage to Korean traditions and ancestors.

The celebration lasts for three days, and as you might imagine, food is one of the most integral aspects of the holiday. Three days of delicious, traditional Korean dishes that include hearty soups and stews, dumplings, meats, and, of course, desserts. As with many cultures, Korean food is an expression of love, and has many other meanings.

Many of these dishes are not only delicious, but they each hold special significance in Korean households. If you've never tried Korean cooking, or want to familiarize yourself with some of the cuisine's most popular dishes, this is the perfect place to start.

Many cultures have a version of dumplings, and Korea's version is mandu — another staple that you'll find on the tables of families during a New Year celebration. These handheld creations are typically made by hand, which is the perfect family activity for New Year's Day. Mandu is said to be a symbol of good luck, but also goodwill for your loved ones.

Typical Korean mandu are filled with a mixture of vegetables and ground meat (commonly pork, or other ground meats). The vegetable portion is comprised of very finely chopped onions, cabbage, and mung bean sprouts. All of the goods are wrapped in a thin dumpling dough and can be pan-fried or steamed. It truly is a choose-your-own-adventure dish, with many families having different traditions and methods for making mandu.

While mandu can stand alone as an appetizer or side dish for any meal during the holiday, they can also be tossed into the tteokguk soup, transforming it into tteok mandu guk  — another very popular New Year dish, and a great way to combine two delicious specialties.

Putting the main dishes aside for a minute, Korean meals are distinct largely because of the army of side dishes that accompany them. One popular side dish is hobak jeon, or fried zucchini. Jeon is a category of pan-fried Korean cuisine utilizing different ingredients, so keep that in mind as this name appears in multiple dishes.

Hobak jeon is popularly known as a celebratory dish and is most commonly served on both New Year's Day and Korean Thanksgiving (a harvest-season event called Chuseok). As with many Korean dishes, the simplicity of this side is what makes it so great. Zucchini is cut into slices, breaded, and fried in oil. It's the perfect side for a richer dish, to help balance out the stronger flavors.

Hobak jeon can be enjoyed with a dipping sauce to elevate the vegetable flavor, but it's also delicious on its own. If you're in need of an easy dish at any time, this should be your go-to. 

Galbijjim is a well-known and loved Korean beef short rib stew that is commonly enjoyed in households and restaurants alike. Chef David Chang would rather eat galbijjim instead of turkey on Thanksgiving. However, most people do not know the royal roots that this dish can be traced back to. We're throwing it back to the 1700s, when beef was an absolute luxury in Korea. As such, beef dishes were considered a symbol of wealth and royalty.

Flashing forward to modern-day Lunar New Year celebrations, galbijjim is a popular dish that carries the weight of Korean history and is a quintessential piece of this meaningful holiday. These beef short ribs are the highest quality of meat that you can serve, cooked slowly in a mixture of tasty ingredients.

While this dish is certainly more on the laborious side, it is well worth the effort. The sauce is a blend of Asian pear (or sweet apples to substitute), sea kelp stock, brown sugar, and other seasonings, and this is the most distinguishable part of the dish. The meat gets coated in this marinade and simmered for a solid amount of time over a low temperature. It may take a while, but it certainly is nothing complicated. 

While there are many popular dishes associated with the Korean Lunar New Year, gujeolpan should be regarded as the centerpiece of the occasion. Gujeolpan can literally be translated into "a plate with nine sections," which more or less explains this dish. Served on a large platter are eight different side dishes, which surround a pile of thin, crepe-like pancakes.

Usually one of the more elaborate dishes, gujeolpan dates all the way back to the 14th century and follows an ancient thought that each element of the dish represents a distinct element that rules over our universe. Typically there are five elements, which are expressed in five different colors with varying side dishes of red, yellow, white, black, and blue or green. While the dish can vary in its components, all five colors should be represented.

Some typical sides that are included with this dish are mung bean sprouts, onions, assorted mushrooms, bell peppers, radishes, cucumbers, and many others. While it may seem simple in appearance, the complexity of this dish should not be underestimated, as each item may have a different preparation method. 

While Korean food is unique all on its own, there is nothing quite like the Korean sweet rice drink known as sikhye. This traditional beverage is a popular dessert drink that is served on many festive holidays like Lunar New Year. This fermented drink takes on a distinct and unique scent, and is very subtle in flavor — but delicious nonetheless. The most unique part about this drink is its floating rice grains that are often kept in to give it a bit of texture.

The body of this drink is made from four simple ingredients: water, barley flour, sugar, and rice. The fermented rice is a key piece of this drink, as it gives the rice its texture while also adding to the malty flavor of sikhye. While you can find this popular beverage in the canned goods section of many Korean grocery stores, making it at home is the best way to guarantee you're getting the most intense flavor possible.

If you know anything about Korean cuisine, you know that kimchi is an essential side dish that is served next to nearly every meal. This popular fermented vegetable can truly pair with anything and everything, and is delicious to snack on by itself as well. Nabak kimchi, also called water kimchi, is another variation of the popular side that is typically made specifically for festive occasions. For all of our plant-based eaters in the house, this dish is vegan-friendly.

The name of this kimchi type comes from the style of how the radish is cut into small squares. Nabak kimchi is the perfect thing to eat with classic tteukguk soup, adding a wave of freshness and a nice crunch to the otherwise warm, soft soup. While the preparation process is relatively easy and hands-off, the cabbage has to ferment in the liquid mixture for a minimum of two days.

Korean food, for all of its tastiness and creativity, should truly get an award for its variety in the fried-food category. This time the fried dish is called wanja jeon. Think of wanja jeon as a Korean meatball, which is served on traditional holidays like the Lunar New Year and Chuseok in Korea as part of the entire collection of fried sides.

While this dish is mainly thought of as a side, it can also be included in many of the traditional soups and other dishes served for the New Year. The filling includes ground pork or beef — or the two meats blended together — and tofu. Everything is packed together with a blend of vegetables, seasonings, and eggs. Once again, we're here to tell you that this side is as simple as it gets for a high-quality end result. Think of the process as nearly identical to preparing a regular meatball, but with the magic of years of tradition included.