science

Po (food)

Po (food) is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Po (food) rather than just read about it. In short: Po (Korean: 포) 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 alcohol).

Key takeaways

Po (food) belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Po (food) to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Po (food) from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Po (Korean: 포) 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 alcohol). 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 脯, 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 the 1145 historical text Samguk sagi, in the 2nd month of 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-era Koreans seasoning nokpo (녹포; 鹿脯, dried venison) with cinnamon. During the Joseon period, po made in governmental offices was called gwanpo (관포; 官脯, "governmental po"). Among them, large pyeonpo that was made in Bongsangsi (Office of Sacrificial Rites) for jehang (governmental jesa) was called jopo (조포; 造脯). Geonpo used for jehyang was called jungpo (중포; 中脯). At Korean New Year, it was common for provincial officials to send pochok (포촉; 脯燭, "po and candles") to their relatives and officials in the central government. Extravagant banquets were referred to as yuk-san-po-rim (육산포림; 肉山脯林), literally meaning "po mountains, meat forests". Beef po was also often used to make upo-dasik (우포다식; 牛脯茶食), 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 (천리포; 千里脯, "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 (1,289 ft), and 1,000 ri is 393 km (244 mi).)

Varieties Meat or fish that is thinly sliced and dried is usually called geonpo (건포; 乾脯), while meat that is pounded flat and dried is called pyeonpo (편포; 片脯). Dried meat in general can be referred to as poyuk (포육; 脯肉), with yuk (육; 肉) meaning "meat", while the differently ordered compound yukpo (육포; 肉脯) refers to dried beef slices. Dried fish is called eopo (어포; 魚脯) with eo (어; 魚) meaning "fish". When the meat is seasoned with salt and pepper, it is called yeompo (염포; 鹽脯), while the dried meats 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.

Meat

Nokpo (녹포; 鹿脯) – venison Jangpo (장포; 獐脯) – Siberian roe deer venison Jeyuk-po (제육포) – pork, salted and dried, parboiled in diluted wine, and dried again Yukpo (육포; 肉脯) – beef By method Baepo (배포; 焙脯) – thinly sliced beef or pork, seasoned and dried on baerong (배롱; 焙籠) on fire Jangpo (장포; 醬脯) – seasoned with aged soy sauce, massaged, and dried Jangpo (장포; 醬脯) – thick slices of lean meat is repeatedly grilled to sear skin, beaten with bats, and seasoned with aged soy sauce, until thoroughly cooked Pyeonpo (편포; 片脯) – meat is pounded flat with knife, and dried Sanpo (산포; 散脯) – meat sliced into pieces and sun-dried Yakpo (약포; 藥脯) – meat is thinly sliced, seasoned with soy sauce, oil, sugar, and pepper, massaged, and dried on sokuri

Poultry Geowi-po (거위포) – goose Gireogi-po (기러기포) – wild goose Chiyuk-po (치육포; 雉肉脯) – pheasant

Seafood

Chupo (추포; 秋脯) – squid Eopo (어포; 魚脯) – thinly sliced fish Gepo (게포) – fiddler crab meat Saengseon-po (생선포; 生鮮脯) – fish Saeu-po (새우포) – shrimp, halved, marinated, dried and grilled Pressed Jwipo (쥐포) – thread-sail filefish, dried and pressed Muneo-po (문어포; 文魚脯) – giant octopus, dried and pressed Ojingeo-po (오징어포) – squid, dried and pressed

Others Sapo (사포; 蛇脯) – snake meat, eaten as folk remedy in the past

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 (포혜; 脯醯). 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 (좌포우혜; 左脯右醯), literally meaning "left po, right sikhye". Another related term is ju-gwa-po-hye (주과포혜; 酒果脯醯), literally meaning "wine, fruit, po, sikhye", which refers to simple offerings for jesa.

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Po (food)

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Po (food) claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Po (food) before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Po (food) ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Po (food)

In research: Po (food) appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Po (food) in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Po (food) is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Dried foods, Korean meat dishes, Korean seafood dishes, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Po (food) outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

Ask Teacher Smith questions about this articleOpens your AI tutor with a question about “Po (food)” →

Affiliate

Preply — study more efficiently by working with a personal tutor. 50% off.

How to study Po (food) in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Po (food) means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Po (food) out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Po (food) in simple terms?

Why does Po (food) matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Po (food)?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Po (food).