As a result, Korean cooking has a distinct national identity that, in its contemporary form, combines dishes and techniques from both peasant diets and royal palace foods. The markets overflow with fish, shrimp, crabs, clams, oysters, squid, and octopus, which are eaten dried, pickled, crushed into paste or sauce, stewed, steamed, and grilled. Fish is even stirred into a common breakfast porridge. As in Japan , rice, pickles and fish are the basis of the diet. Dejan paste, fermented soybean paste, and gochu Jang , a hot, fermented chile paste are much like Japanese miso .
Rice is sometimes mixed with barley or soybeans for flavor and nutrition.
Both grain and rice are often made into noodles , which play a central role in Korean cooking. Soups, which come in a wondrous variety, are often noodle-based, and buckwheat noodles are distinctively local. Much Korean cooking is done in a clay stewing pot known as a tukbaege . Street carts and restaurants all over Korea serve up pancakes made on a griddle and fritters made from scallions, oysters, buckwheat, meat, and most anything else. The wok , too, is common.