Guk

For other uses, see Guk (disambiguation).

Guk
Soegogi-mu-guk (beef and radish soup)
Alternative namesTang
TypeSoup
Place of originKorea
Korean name
Hangul
국
Revised Romanizationguk
McCune–Reischauerkuk
IPA[kuk̚]
Hangul
탕
Hanja
湯
Revised Romanizationtang
McCune–Reischauert'ang
IPA[tʰaŋ]
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Guk (국), also sometimes known as tang (탕; 湯), is a class of soup-like dishes in Korean cuisine. Guk and tang are commonly grouped together and regarded as the same type of dish, although tang can sometimes be less watery than guk.[1][2] It is one of the most basic components in a Korean meal, along with bap (밥, rice), and banchan (반찬, side dishes).[3][4] In Korean table setting, guk is served on the right side of bap (rice), and left side of sujeo (수저, a spoon and chopsticks).

Guk is a native Korean word, while tang is a Sino-Korean word that originally meant "boiling water" or "soup". Tang has been used as an honorific term in place of guk, when it denotes the same meaning as guk as in yeonpo-tang (연포탕, octopus soup), daegu-tang (대구탕, codfish soup), or jogae-tang (조개탕, clam soup).[2][5] Generally, the names of lighter soups with vegetables are suffixed with -guk, while heavier, thicker soups made with more solid ingredients used in jesa (ancestral rites) are often referred to as tang.[1][2] Gamja-guk (potato soup) and gamja-tang (pork back-bone stew) are different dishes; the potato soup can be called gamjeo-tang.[5][6][7]

  1. ^ a b "guk" 국. Standard Korean Language Dictionary (in Korean). National Institute of Korean Language. Archived from the original on 22 April 2017. Retrieved 22 April 2017.
  2. ^ a b c "tang" 탕. Standard Korean Language Dictionary (in Korean). National Institute of Korean Language. Archived from the original on 22 April 2017. Retrieved 22 April 2017.
  3. ^ Pettid, Michael J. (2008). Korean Cuisine: An Illustrated History. London: Reaktion Books. pp. 55–57. ISBN 978-1-86189-348-2. Archived from the original on 2023-02-28. Retrieved 2020-10-02.
  4. ^ "kuk, t'ang" 국, 탕. Korean Dishes (in Korean (North Korea)). Korean Association of Cooks. Archived from the original on 3 July 2017. Retrieved 22 April 2017.
  5. ^ a b 최, 용기 (25 February 2008). "'국'과 '탕'". Hangul sarang, Seoul sarang (in Korean). Seoul Metropolitan Government. Archived from the original on 2 April 2013. Retrieved 26 May 2008.
  6. ^ "gamja-guk" 감잣국. Standard Korean Language Dictionary (in Korean). National Institute of Korean Language. Archived from the original on 22 April 2017. Retrieved 22 April 2017.
  7. ^ "gamja-tang" 감자탕. Standard Korean Language Dictionary (in Korean). National Institute of Korean Language. Archived from the original on 18 May 2017. Retrieved 22 April 2017.