Po is thin strips or sheets of dried meat and fish used in Korean cuisine. 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). Po is prepared for traditional occasions such as pyebaek (formal greetings from the newlyweds after the wedding ceremony) and jesa (ancestral rite).

Name

The Sino-Korean word po (포) can be written with the hanja, which in other East Asian languages and cuisines can also mean preserved fruit.

History

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. Northern Song Chinese scholar Wu Ji (?–1142) described Goryeo Koreans seasoning nokpo (, dried venison) with cinnamon. In Joseon Korea, po made in governmental offices was called gwanpo (, "governmental po"). Among them, large pyeonpo that was made in Bongsangsi (Office of Sacrificial Rites) for jehang (governmental jesa) was called jopo. Geonpo used for jehyang was called jungpo. At Korean New Year, it was common for provincial officials to send pochok (, "po and candles") to their relatives and officials in the central government. Extravagant banquets were referred to as yuk-san-po-rim, literally meaning "po mountains, meat forests". Beef po was also often used to make upo-dasik, a kind of dasik (tea food). 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". Cheolli-po (, "thousand-ri po"), made from meats marinated for a day in wine, vinegar, and salt, was prepared for long journeys. (1 ri is around 393 m, and 1,000 ri is 393 km.)

Varieties

Meat or fish that is thinly sliced and dried is usually called geonpo, while meat that is pounded flat and dried is called pyeonpo. Dried meat in general can be referred to as poyuk, with yuk meaning "meat", while the differently ordered compound yukpo refers to dried beef slices. Dried fish is called eopo with eo meaning "fish". When the meat is seasoned with salt and pepper, it is called yeompo, while the dried meats seasoned or marinated with soy sauce-based seasonings are called jangpo , pyeonpo , sanpo , or yakpo , according to the methods.

Meat

Poultry

Seafood

Others

Uses

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 po-jaban (포자반), a salty banchan. Crab and other seafood po are beaten, puffed, seasoned with soy sauce and oil, and eaten as muchim. Fish po are seasoned with soy sauce or gochujang and are grilled as gui. 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 pohye. 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 jwa-po-u-hye, literally meaning "left po, right sikhye". Another related term is ju-gwa-po-hye, literally meaning "wine, fruit, po, sikhye", which refers to simple offerings for jesa.