A Comparative Study on the Culinary Techniques of Korean Meat-based Jeon by Era : Focusing on Literature from the Joseon Dynasty to the Modern Times

This study analyzed the ingredients and cooking methods of meat-based Jeon documented from the Joseon dynasty to the modern era. A total of 139 types of meat-based Jeon were identified across 23 sources. For beef Jeon, the most frequently used main ingredient was guts (71 instances), followed by lean meat (24 instances) and a combination of lean meat and guts (6 instances). For pork Jeon, lean meat was used 13 instances and guts once. Additionally, pheasant meat (8 instances), chicken meat (2 instances), sparrow meat (6 instances), and quail meat (3 instances) were also included. Sub-ingredients comprised wheat flour, buckwheat flour, starch flour, eggs, oil, tofu, and onions. Seasonings such as salt and ground pepper were utilized, accompanied by sauces like chojang (soy sauce with vinegar) and mustard sauce. In terms of cooking methods, the most common was pan-frying (66 instances), followed by shaping before pan-frying (18 instances), coating with flour or starch before pan-frying (11 instances), wrapping and pan-frying (10 instances), and pan-frying while shaping (8 instances). For beef and guts Jeon, the most frequent methods were pan-frying, coating with flour before pan-frying, and pan-frying while shaping. In contrast, for beef and lean meat Jeon, the most common methods were shaping before pan-frying and wrapping and pan-frying. In conclusion, meat-based Jeon is a timely, nutritious, palatable, functional, and health-oriented dish. Therefore, it should be adapted to modern tastes and commercialized as K-food to ensure its inheritance and further development.