Janchi-guksu


Janchi-guksu or banquet noodles is a Korean noodle dish consisting of wheat flour noodles in a light broth made from anchovy and sometimes also dasima. Beef broth may be substituted for the anchovy broth. It is served with a sauce made from sesame oil, ganjang and small amounts of chili pepper powder and scallions. Thinly sliced jidan, gim and zucchini are added on top of the dish as garnishes. Janchi-guksu have various garnishs with noodles. The word "Janchi" means "feast" in Korean. The name came from where someone can taste it on a feast day such as marriage or hoegabyeon.

History

The name derives from the Korean word janchi, because the noodle dish has been eaten for special occasions like wedding feasts, birthday parties, or hwangap throughout Korea. The word guksu means "noodles" in Korean, and noodles symbolise longevity - in life, in a marriage.
There are records of guksu dating back to the Goryeo period. In the book Dongguk Isangguk Jeonjip Book 6 there is a mention of guksu in a line of poetry, and in the book Goryeo Dogyeong written by an envoy from the Chinese Song Dynasty it is mentioned that guksu was eaten on special occasions as wheat was rare and expensive in Goryeo.

Popular culture

Because the noodles are traditionally eaten at weddings, the expression "When are you going to feed us guksu?" is a way of asking "When are you going to get married?" and a wedding day might be referred as "a day to eat guksu".
Following the impeachment of Park Geun-hye, many Koreans ate fried chicken and janchi-guksu, which trended on Korean Twitter.