나물 (Namul): The Seasoned Vegetable Tradition

Namul — the tradition of seasoned vegetables that forms the backbone of Korean banchan — is one of the most technically sophisticated vegetable preparation systems in the world. The namul tradition encompasses both raw preparations (saengchae — 생채) and cooked preparations (sukchae — 숙채), each with specific seasoning systems and textures. A Korean meal without at least two or three namul is considered incomplete.

The complete namul system — techniques and principles.

• Japanese ohitashi (same blanch-squeeze-season vegetable preparation — lighter seasoning), Chinese cold sesame noodles and vegetables (same sesame oil finish principle), Vietnamese gỏi (same lightly dr