| Po | |
| Country: | Korea |
| National Cuisine: | Korean cuisine |
| Type: | Dried meat or fish |
| Similar Dish: | Jerky |
| Korean name | |
| Hangul: | Korean: 포 |
| Hanja: | Korean: 脯 |
| Rr: | po |
| Mr: | p'o |
| Koreanipa: | pronounced as /ko/ |
(Korean: 포) is thin strips or sheets of dried meat and fish used in Korean cuisine.[1] Po, which is made from meats including beef, pork, venison and poultry; and seafoods including whitefish, eel, squid, octopus, shrimp and crab; is eaten as snack food, banchan (food accompanying bap) or anju (food accompanying sul).[2] Po is prepared for traditional occasions such as pyebaek (formal greetings from the newlyweds after the wedding ceremony) and jesa (ancestral rite).[3] [4]
The Sino-Korean word (Korean: 포) can be written with the hanja Korean: {{linktext|脯, which in other East Asian languages and cuisines can also mean preserved fruit.[5]
History of po is thought to date back to pre-historic hunter-gatherer societies.
According to Samguk sagi (History of the Three Kingdoms), an 1145 book written by Kim Bu-sik, in February 683 the King Sinmun of Silla sent 135 carts of rice, wine, oil, honey, jang (soy sauce, soybean paste), vinegar, and po to Kim Heum-un's house for his daughter's wedding.[6]
Northern Song Chinese scholar Wu Ji (?–1142) described Goryeo Koreans seasoning (Korean: 녹포, Korean: 鹿脯, dried venison) with cinnamon.[7]
In Joseon Korea, po made in governmental offices was called (Korean: 관포, Korean: 官脯, "governmental po").[8] Among them, large that was made in Bongsangsi (Office of Sacrificial Rites) for (governmental jesa) was called (Korean: 조포, Korean: 造脯).[9] Geonpo used for jehyang was called (Korean: 중포, Korean: 中脯).[10] At Korean New Year, it was common for provincial officials to send (Korean: 포촉, Korean: 脯燭, "po and candles") to their relatives and officials in the central government.[11] Extravagant banquets were referred to as (Korean: 육산포림, Korean: 肉山脯林), literally meaning "po mountains, meat forests".[12] Beef po was also often used to make (Korean: 우포다식, Korean: 牛脯茶食), a kind of dasik (tea food).[13] The 18th-century book Sasojeol (Elementary Matters of Etiquette for Scholar Families), which was written by the Joseon scholar Yi Deok-mu (1741–1793), states; "Do not frequently smell fish or seafood po".[14] (Korean: 천리포, Korean: 千里脯, "thousand-ri po"), made from meats marinated for a day in wine, vinegar, and salt, was prepared for long journeys.[15] (1 ri is around 393m (1,289feet), and 1,000 ri is 393km (244miles).)
Meat or fish that is thinly sliced and dried is usually called (Korean: 건포, Korean: 乾脯), while meat that is pounded flat and dried is called (Korean: 편포, Korean: 片脯). Dried meat in general can be referred to as (Korean: 포육, Korean: 脯肉), with the letter (Korean: 육, Korean: 肉) meaning "meat", while the differently ordered compound Korean: 육포 Korean: 肉脯) refers to dried beef slices. Dried fish is called (Korean: 어포, Korean: 魚脯) with the letter Korean: 어 Korean: 魚) meaning "fish".
When the meat is seasoned with salt and pepper, it is called (Korean: 염포, Korean: 鹽脯), while the dried meats seasoned or marinated with soy sauce-based seasonings are called (Korean: 장포, Korean: 醬脯), (Korean: 편포, Korean: 片脯), (Korean: 산포, Korean: 散脯), or (Korean: 약포, Korean: 藥脯), according to the methods.[16]
Po made from various meats, fish, and seafood are eaten as snack food, banchan (food accompanying bap) or anju (food accompanying sul). Salted and dried meat po are eaten as (Korean: 포자반), a salty banchan.[17] Crab and other seafood po are beaten, puffed, seasoned with soy sauce and oil, and eaten as muchim.[18] Fish po are seasoned with soy sauce or gochujang and are grilled as gui.[19]
Po are one of the foods prepared for traditional occasions such as pyebaek (formal greetings from the newlyweds after the wedding ceremony) and jesa (ancestral rite). Po and sikhye (rice punch) used for jesa is called (Korean: 포혜, Korean: 脯醯).[20] Often, po is put on the left side of the jesasang (table for ancestral rites) and sikhye is put on the right; this is referred to as (Korean: 좌포우혜, Korean: 左脯右醯), literally meaning "left po, right sikhye".[21] Another related term is (Korean: 주과포혜, Korean: 酒果脯醯), literally meaning "wine, fruit, po, sikhye", which refers to simple offerings for jesa.[22]