Onggi

Onggi
Korean name
Hangul
Hanja
Revised Romanization	onggi
McCune–Reischauer	onggi

Onggi (Korean: 옹기) is Korean earthenware, which is extensively used as tableware as well as storage containers in Korea. It includes both unglazed earthenware fired near 600~700 °C and pottery with a dark brown glaze that burnt over 1100 °C.

The origin of onggi dates to approximately 4000 to 5000 BC. There were two types of earthenware: a patternless earthenware which is called Mumun and a black and red earthenware. The former, a patternless earthenware, was made with lumps of clay including much fine sand; however, the predecessor of Goryeo celadon and Joseon white porcelain, a black/red earthenware, was being made with only lumps of clay. The color of earthenware is determined by the iron contained in the mud and the way of burning the pottery. The present onggi shape dates from the Joseon era. There are many records about onggi in Sejong Sillok Jiriji (Korean: 세종실록지리지, "King Sejong's Treatise on Geography"): "There are three kilns that make the yellow onggi in Chogye-gun and Jinju-mok, Gyeongsang Province".

Compared to porcelain, onggi has a microporous structure and has been found to assist in the fermentation in food processing such as the preparation of gochujang (fermented chili pepper, bean and rice paste), doenjang (fermented bean paste), kimchi (fermented seasoned vegetables), and soy sauce. Onggi with proper porosity and permeability needs to be used in order to produce an optimally ripened quality in fermented foodstuff. Fine-tuned onggi containers are, in fact, suitable for many different kinds of fermented products. Since early times, Korea has been famous for fermented foods. In ancient Chinese historiography, in the Biographies of the Wuhuan, Xianbei, and Dongyi (traditional Chinese: 烏丸鮮卑東夷傳) in the Records of Wèi (traditional Chinese: 魏志), which is part of the Records of the Three Kingdoms, there is this remark: "Goguryeo people have a custom of making fermented foods". The abundance of soybean, which grows naturally in Korea, the fresh fishery resources from the sea surrounding the Korean Peninsula and a proper climate for microbial development, all give account of the importance of fermentation as food processing. However, onggi ware also contributed to the development of fermented dishes within Korean cuisine. Large onggi ware were stored on the jangdokdae, an elevated floor near the house.

...
Wikipedia