About Jeonnam Foods
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Wando - Abalone
Jeollanam-do abalone is a superfood that is grown from sea mustard and kelp in Wando’s clear ocean waters, and accounts for 70% of the nation’s entire production of total abalone manufacturing. Grown by eating only seaweed, Wando abalone received its name from the island of Wando, which is rich in tidal flats and fresh seaweed. In Wando, there are more than 2,000 fish farms that produce abalone, and the farms produce abalone worth millions of dollars in exports to the U.S. Its iridescent, rainbow shell has been used for a millennia to inlay intricate designs on Korean lacquerware such as in furniture and jewelry boxes. Although Wando abalone is considered a premium, expensive delicacy even in Seoul, it is a commonplace mainstay when dining in Jeollanam-do.
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Wando Abalone is known to be extremely nutritious and packed with vitamins and minerals such as taurine, arginine and sulfur. These ingredients in abalone give you energy and stamina, and it is a wonderful health food proven to prevent obesity and liver cirrhosis. Taurine can lower cholesterol and even prevent certain cancers in middle-aged women and men. The Wando abalone is also used in a variety of dishes that is recommended by locals of Wando Island. The abalone is used in a variety of dishes including seafood stews, abalone pastas, raw abalone, and even chicken stews. The flavor of braised Wando Abalone, the most common dish, is known to be tender, juicy and rich.
Damyang - Bamboo Rice
A food experience that is not very well known to foreigners is the bamboo rice in Damyang. You can try bamboo shoot or “juksun” cuisines such as steamed rice in a bamboo stem (“daetong-bap”) at the Damyang Bamboo Shoot Food Village. The Juksun Food Village in Juknokwon (Bamboo Garden) is an alley filled with restaurants who sell Juksun and daetong-bap.
The Bamboo Festival takes place annually during the month of May to celebrate the tradition and beauty of Damyang’s natural bamboo forest. During the festival, visitors can experience riding a bamboo raft, fishing with a bamboo basket, tasting delicious dishes made of bamboo shoots, and tasting Korean alcohol brewed in bamboo stalks. Visitors are also given the opportunity to partake in activities such as bamboo art and other crafts and art experiences such as the bamboo musical instrument performance contest.
Haenam - Sweet Potato
Haenam Sweet Potato is grown in Haenam-gun (or Haenam County), which is the southernmost tip of Jeollanam-do and the Korean peninsula. Sweet potatoes from Haenam-gun are renowned, known for being grown in freshwater and red soil of Haenam. In Haenam, you can also try the best honey sweet potatoes without any added sugars or additional processed ingredients. The sweet potatoes are sweet-tasting and packed with a box for easy storage. You can eat them steamed, roasted, or candied as a sweet potato snack.
Haenam has also been the main center for cabbage and potato crops. The cabbage is specially produced during wintertime and Haenam produces 70% of the country's cabbages. Haenam is the main center of exports for sweet potatoes from Korea to European markets, including England and the Netherlands. The Hallabong is also grown in Haenam-gun, which is a fruit that looks similar to the tangerine that is native to Jeju Island.
Gwangyang -
Maesil and Persimmon
Gwangyang Cheong Maesil Farm offers a perfect location for visitors to enjoy delicious Maesil fruit while enjoying the beautiful landscape. Maesil is a green plum that is grown in Baegunsan Mountain. The mountain is 1,217.8 m above sea level where it meets the Seomjingang River. The Gwangyang Maehwa Village is a small village where plum trees bloom once a year during the spring season. Plums are known to have healing properties and are used in many traditional Korean medicines as a natural remedy for illnesses. Cheong Maesil is a green plum extract that can be used in a variety of dishes to enhance the sweetness.
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Gwangyang Maehwa Village has about 10,000 plum trees today and the Gwangyang Maehwa Village Festival takes place for 2 weeks every April. The village has many restaurants that sell a variety of Maesil specialty foods and beverages such as Maesil makgeolli, a traditional Korean milky rice wine made with Gwangyang plums. Try Maesil ice cream, Maesil pastries, and Maesil tea, which are sold at a cafe at the top of the hill. The plums are preserved in large jars and are turned into many different forms of food. Visitors can also enjoy Maesil picking and making Maesil gangjeong (sweet rice puffs).
Gwangyang is also famous for dried persimmon, which is produced in Baegunsan Mountain and sun-dried. The persimmon was enjoyed by the king as it was often given to him as a gift during the Joseon Dynasty. The history of persimmons dates back to ancient China. Dried persimmon is sweet, orange in color, and has a soft texture when chewed. The Gwangyang Daebong Gam is famous because the sugar content is very high due to the natural environment and fertile soil.
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Persimmons are full of vitamins, minerals, and fiber, and are beneficial to heart health, healthy vision, and your digestive system. They are the perfect autumn and winter fruit with a dense yet custard-like texture. They do not have to be dried and can be eaten raw with a spoon. Some dishes you can make with the persimmon are Gotgamssam, which is a Korean walnut dessert wrapped in persimmons. Another delicacy is the Sujeonggwa, which is a traditional cinnamon punch that is reddish brown in color and made from dried persimmon, cinnamon, sugar, pine nuts, water and ginger. The Sujeonggwa is known to have been a beverage prepared by palace women on New Year’s Day since the Goryeo era.
Boseong - Green Tea
The Boseong Green Tea Fields are one of the most beautiful places in Jeollanam-do to visit. The best time to visit is in the spring, when new leaves on the tea bushes form or from May to August when the tea leaves are at their peak. The green, lush-lined rows of tea fields between mountains and cedar trees are breathtaking and wonderful for photo opportunities. Green tea was introduced to Korea from China during the Silla Dynasty and dates back to 600 A.D. Green tea has nutritional benefits such as improved brain function, fat loss, cancer prevention, and lowering the risk of heart disease. Green tea is packed with vitamins and antioxidants that have many healthy bioactive compounds. Green tea flavored foods abound, with even the pigs here raised with a diet of tea leaves. Boseong green tea has no bitterness and a remarkably velvety taste.
Visiting the Boseong Green Tea includes a mini hike up to the top of the mountain, where you can go up through Cedar Road. You can spend the day here making green tea from harvest to teacup, learning the rituals of tea production and consumption. There are beautiful teahouses and souvenir shops along the way as well plenty of restaurants and cafes. The Cherry Blossom Trail is one of the most beautiful features of the trip. Here, you can also go up to the Juniper Forest and the Green Tea Farm Observatory, which is an amazing viewpoint.
Naju - Gomtang
Naju City is famous for Gomtang, which is a type of soup made with different parts of beef such as the short rib and knee cartilage of a cow. The soup is simmered over low heat for many hours and sometimes people use oxtail or an ox’s head in the soup. The resulting broth is warm, rich and savory. Naju Gomtang has a long 70-year tradition and is known for a variety of health benefits. Post-partum women and those with brittle bones are recommended to have gomtang for the abundance of calcium. The collagen contained in the broth is also great for joint health and skin elasticity. Gomtang is usually made without salt so patrons can add salt and chopped green onions to their own taste. Enjoy gomtang with tangy kimchi on a cold winter day.
Naju is a large agricultural hub famous for Hanwoo, a Korean breed of cattle. During the colonial period, Naju produced many military goods from Hanwoo including the meat used for canned beef, while the hide was used to make belts, shoes, and bags. Naju is also famous for natural dyeing as well as the cultivation of Naju pears, known to be the sweetest and juiciest in South Korea. This small urban center is where many rural residents go when they wish to experience features of everyday city life while staying in the countryside.
Gokseong – Sweetfish
Sweetfish is a type of fish that lives around Jeollanam-do’s Gokseong County, and is sometimes called “the Seoul lady.” The silver body and red lips are said make it look like a city girl who is dressed up for a night out. Sweetfish swim up the Sumjin River and are caught by the fishermen in the town. When sweetfish are abundant in the river, the water turns silver from all the fish swimming around. Locals often eat raw sweetfish with shots of soju. It is the most sought-out fish during the summertime in Korea and is likened to the sweetness of a watermelon. There are many restaurants in the area where the fish is used in a variety of stews like “sundubu jjigae” or soft tofu stew, and it is also served grilled.
Mokpo – Nakji Tangtangi
For the adventurous eater, head over to Mokpo to try some Nakji Tangtangi, or San Nakji. Nakji Tangtangi is San Nakji that has been chopped thoroughly into small pieces, ("tang-tang-i" is an onomatopoeia for chopping). San Nakji is a raw dish that looks to be alive as it squirms upon touch. It is chopped up and served onto a plate usually in fish markets in South Korea. They are salty, sticky, chewy, and are eaten raw with a drizzle of sesame oil for flavor. The sensation is unlike any other because the suction cups of the octopus stick to the inside of your mouth. It is important to chew thoroughly so that there is no choking involved. In Mokpo, you can find creative interpretations of Nakji Tangtangi - combinations with live baby octopus, beef tartare, and abalone.
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Gurye – Wild Herbs, Greens, Mushrooms
Gurye is a county in Jeollanam-do located between Jirisan Mountain and Baegunsan Mountain. Gurye is famous for its wild herbs, greens and mushrooms, often popular during the spring season. The seasonal and local ingredients that are harvested in Gurye are transformed into healthy banchan, or side dishes, and are perfect for both vegans and health enthusiasts. The herbs that are sold in Gurye are ssuk (Korean mugwort), gosari (bracken shoots), chwi-namul (Aster Scaber), and cham-namul (Pimpinella brachycarpa), among others. The grocery stores, restaurants, and traditional markets serve herbs so that people can boil or stir fry herbs and turn them into banchan to eat with rice.
Mushrooms are also harvested from Jirisan Mountain and are one of the best health foods that grow in Jirisan Mountain. Mushrooms are used in hot pot soups in Gurye restaurants and have immense health benefits such as preventing Alzheimer’s, cancer, diabetes, lowering cholesterol, protecting brain health, vitamin D, and heart disease. Mushrooms are also used in a lot of other hot stews such as the hot pepper fish stew and mountain vegetable table d’hote.
Yeosu – Spicy Marinated Raw Crab
Yeosu is famous for its spicy marinated raw crab known as yangnyeom-gejang. Yangnyeom-gejang is an extremely popular side dish served in Korea. There are different versions of the crab dish in different provinces such as Gyeongsang, Jeolla, and Jeju Island. Yeosu Gejang is the most famous for its salty and spicy taste. The Jeolla dish is known for its umami, with preparation involving being cleaned, mixed with soy sauce, adding scallions, garlic, ginger, chili pepper powder, sesame seeds, and salt.
Similar to Mokpo, Yeosu is also very famous for its variety of seafood and the nightlife as both are major port cities. Some of the fish eaten are called seodaehwe, a raw sashimi. Pieces of seodaehwe are served chilled and cut into very small pieces. It is flavored with rice wine vinegar and red pepper sauce. There are also cabbage and onions mixed into the fish which make the dish tarty and refreshing for a hot summer day. The famous Korean song Yeosu BamBada (Yeosu’s Night Sea) sung by Busker Busker is named after this romantic street which lights up with cable cars, a multicolored bridge, and glowing “pocha” street food stalls.
Temple Food by Buddhist Nun Jeong Kwan (as seen on Chef’s Table, NYT)
Temple food is extremely famous in Jeollanam-do and has achieved global recognition through Buddhist Nun Jeong Kwan, the master chef of temple food. Temple food has been described as far beyond any Western metric of organic. Kwan is a chief monk at the Chunjinam hermitage of Baekyangsa Temple in Jeollanamdo. Featured in the New York Times as the philosopher chef of the most exquisite cuisine in the world and in the Netflix original series Chef’s Table, Jeong Kwan’s lifestyle and cooking invites us to think twice about our relationship with food and nature.
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Temple food is vegetarian and does not use pungent herb ingredients like green onions, garlic, wild chive and leek nor seafood or meat. Temple food is good for digestion and a measured lifestyle. Buddhist Nun Jeong Kwan said, “when we cook food that can become one with the person eating it, then it functions like medicine inside our body.” Travelers can experience an immersive temple stay and try Jeong Kwan’s world-famous food at Baekyangsa Temple.