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Korean food is not one cuisine. This is a region-by-region guide to the dishes worth seeking out, what makes each one local, and which ones actually work in a home kitchen.

Salt in Seoul, ssamjang in Busan, chili vinegar sauce in Jeolla. The dipping sauce for Korean blood sausage is regional, and so is the sausage itself.

Order ssambap and twenty plates arrive. It is not a set menu — it is a build-your-own wrap system, and knowing the order of operations makes it far less overwhelming.

Andong's salted mackerel and Jeju's hairtail are the two classic fish for Korean braising, and they behave completely differently in the pot. Here is how to pick and how to cook each.