Gopchang refers to either a dish of grilled intestines of cattle or pork in Korean cuisine or the intestines themselves. In the latter case, gopchang is commonly referred to as such because of its curvy shape rather than as sochang (소창), which literally means "small intestines." It is the counterpart of daechang (대창), meaning "large intestines." Compared to other cuts of meat, gopchang is high in iron

Iron

Iron is a chemical element with the symbol Fe and atomic number 26. It is a metal in the first transition series. It is the most common element forming the planet Earth as a whole, forming much of Earth's outer and inner core. It is the fourth most common element in the Earth's crust...

 and vitamin

Vitamin

A vitamin is an organic compound required as a nutrient in tiny amounts by an organism. In other words, an organic chemical compound is called a vitamin when it cannot be synthesized in sufficient quantities by an organism, and must be obtained from the diet. Thus, the term is conditional both on...

s. It is relatively inexpensive and has a characteristic flavor and a chewy yet palatable texture, so it is used in many Korean dishes such as gui

Gui

Gui or guee is a generic term to refer to grilled dishes in Korean cuisine. These most commonly have meat or fish as their primary ingredient, but may in some cases also comprise grilled vegetables or other vegetarian ingredients. The term derives from the verb, "gupda" in Korean, which literally...

(grilled dishes) or bokkeum

Bokkeum

Bokkeum is a generic term to refer to a Korean dish made by stir-frying ingredients in a sauce. According to Korean dictionaries, the verb form of bokkeum, "bokkda" means "cooking dried ingredients over heat." However, bokkeum not only refers to dishes made by stir-frying ingredients to a dry...

(stir-fried

Stir frying

Stir frying is an umbrella term used to describe two Chinese cooking techniques for preparing food in a wok: chǎo and bào . The term stir-fry was introduced into the English language by Buwei Yang Chao, in her book How to Cook and Eat in Chinese, to describe the chǎo technique...

 dishes). It is similar to makchang

Makchang

Makchang gui is the name of a Korean dish that consists of grilled pork large intestines similar to chitterlings, but often grilled over coals. The small intestines are often called gopchang. They are often served with a light doenjang sauce and chopped scallions...

, except that it is prepared from the small intestine

Intestine

In human anatomy, the intestine is the segment of the alimentary canal extending from the pyloric sphincter of the stomach to the anus and, in humans and other mammals, consists of two segments, the small intestine and the large intestine...

s of pork

Pork

Pork is the culinary name for meat from the domestic pig , which is eaten in many countries. It is one of the most commonly consumed meats worldwide, with evidence of pig husbandry dating back to 5000 BC....

 (or ox

Ox

An ox , also known as a bullock in Australia, New Zealand and India, is a bovine trained as a draft animal. Oxen are commonly castrated adult male cattle; castration makes the animals more tractable...

).

According to Dongui Bogam, gopchang fosters stamina and vitality and strengthens spleen and stomach as well. Also it serves positive notable physical effects on diabetes mellitus, alcoholic, alleviation of toxicity, intestine detoxication, sterilization, diuretic effect , skin care, fatigue recovery, and is especially helpful for elders’ stamina and osteoporosis. Since gobchang is a high protein but low cholesterol food, it can protect the stomach wall with great ability of deintegration and provides alcoholysis and promotion of digestion at the same time.

However, since gopchang is a high protein and enzyme contained food, it has its own unique smell. In order to get rid of this, it should be contained in water for a few hours. After that, put garlic or ginger to completely remove the smell. If flavoring alcohol or spice like pepper is added, it would be more effective.