koreancookery1-1, Challenge 1: The parts of a meal

Model answer:

A plain Korean meal is built from several parts that arrive together. Each person has a bowl of rice (bap) and a bowl of soup (guk or tang). A thicker, heavier-seasoned stew (jjigae) sits in a shared pot in the middle, with the banchan (small side dishes, in small portions meant to be finished at the meal) and kimchi, which the Wikipedia article calls the essential banchan. A main dish such as galbi or bulgogi can sit in the centre.

Cheop counts the banchan: 3, 5, 7, 9 or 12, with 12 used in royal cuisine. Kimchi is not included in the count. (A passage on who received how many is tagged "citation needed", so treat it as a belief.)

Sources: Wikipedia, Korean cuisine; Banchan.