Yukpo is a type of po or dried meat, made from beef. It is a traditional Korean food, commonly eaten as snack food, banchan (food accompanying bap) or anju (food accompanying sul). It is also one of the foods 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 yukpo (육포, 肉脯) is a compound of yuk (육, 肉), meaning "meat", and po (포, 脯), meaning "dried meat or fish". Because beef is the default meat in Korean cuisine, many beef dishes such as yukpo and bulgogi are referred using the words gogi (고기) or yuk (육, 肉), meaning "meat", rather than soegogi (쇠고기) or uyuk (우육, 牛肉), meaning "cow meat".

History

Varieties

Dried thinly sliced beef is usually called geonpo (건포, 乾脯), while when the meat is pounded flat and dried it is called pyeonpo (편포, 片脯). When the beef is seasoned with salt and pepper, it is called yeompo (염포, 鹽脯), while the dried beef seasoned or marinated with soy sauce-based seasonings are called jangpo (장포, 醬脯), pyeonpo (편포, 片脯), sanpo (산포, 散脯), or yakpo (약포, 藥脯), according to the methods.

Use

Yukpo is eaten as snack food, banchan (food accompanying bap) or anju (food accompanying sul). Salted and dried yukpo is eaten as po-jaban (포자반), a salty banchan. Yukpo is also one of the foods prepared for traditional occasions such as pyebaek (formal greetings from the newlyweds after the wedding ceremony) and jesa (ancestral rite).