[Food]

[Food] Chueo-tang (추어탕, Loach Soup)

What do you usually think of loach or mudfish? Maybe nothing or 'eww, slippery' but can you imagine there being people who love to eat loach as soup? Yes, Koreans eat loach as soup. It's been eaten for a long time (more than 1,000 years) usually by people of low social status such as slaves and servants, but people of high social status also ate it, secretly at night. Eventually, Korean nobles and aristocrats ate it. Can you think why? :)

Oriental loach. By Manoel Jr. - https://www.flickr.com/photos/13809278@N07/15375639675, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=77757241

According to many traditional Korean medical and cuisine books, loach is very effective for providing 'stamina and energy' (particularly for men). Loach's Korean name is 'Chueo' which means 'autumn fish' because Korean loach usually lives in a rice paddy (brook and creek too), and Koreans eat them in autumn after removing all the water from the rice paddy to harvest :)

It smells very fishy and muddy so strong seasonings (Chinese pepper, spicy chili, garlic etc.) must be used to cook them to remove their unique odor. There two styles of cooking Chueo-tang (추어탕, loach soup), which are middle part (Seoul and Gaeseong)-style that use loach in whole and south part (Jeolla and Gyeongsang province)-style that grind whole loach. Well, I prefer south part-style Chueo-tang because I don't want to chew big chunks of loach in my mouth :)

It just looks like common doenjang-jjigae (Korean bean-paste stew) but it tastes uniquely like loach - savory and spicy. It also fills you with stamina and energy, so why don't you try? It may turn you into an 'Energizer' :)

By the way, the most famous chueo-tang restaurant is 'Yonggeumok' in Seoul which even North Korean VIPs ask whether it's still running because they miss the taste it had before the Korean War :)

Bon Appétit!

 [HWPL]

[HWPL] HWPL Peace Education Development Forum! (feat. CHED, DepEd of Philippines)

DepEd Ngayon, Sigay Ka Cotabato City! / October 10th 2020 / Banera News TV-Cotabato

HWPL (Chairman Man Hee Lee) hosted the HWPL Peace Education Development Forum under the topic "Raising Peacemakers for a Brighter Future through Peace Education" with the Department of Education (DepEd) and Commission on Higher Education (CHED) to encourage the implementation of HWPL's Peace Education, which is a core initiative to achieve world peace.

More than 375 participants from the Philippines, South Korea, South Africa, Indonesia and Bangladesh joined the forum on September 18th - a day in celebration of National Peace Consciousness Month and International Day of Peace.

Makabuluhang Jornalismo Your Happiness Channel / September 25th 2020 / maryjaneolvina

Representatives (civil officers, professors, peace activists of NGOs including HWPL) presented ways of promoting and accelerating HWPL's Peace Education curriculum in each country.

In a speech, Dr. Ronald L. Adamat presented an united subject within the Philippine education system, saying, "Through peace studies offered to the colleges and universities, we will all be preparing our students to be equipped with knowledge, skills, attitudes, and values in conflict resolution and peace works".

President Cherry I.Ultra of the University of Eastern Philippines (UEP) thanked HWPL's forum, saying, "The UEP Administration endeavors to do its best to bring the lesson of peace education into the hearts of our faculty, staff, students and other stakeholders with the assistance of HWPL through a Memorandum of Agreement"

CHED, DepEd and HWPL Unite to Raise Peacemakers for a Brighter Future through Peace Education / October 3rd 2020 / Maharlika TV

HWPL is a South Korea-based international non-government organization under the United Nations Economic and Social Council. It advocates peace-building through the establishment of international law for peace, interfaith dialogue meetings, and peace education.

Moreover, HWPL launched the Voice of Peace PH in July 2020 and has been cooperating with a total of 160 enrolled students and 50 volunteer peace educators nationwide.

Peace!

[HWPL] Historic Battle and the Peace. Serial Posting 5. Battle of Cajamarca (HWPL in Peru)

 [HWPL]

[HWPL] Historic Battle and the Peace. Serial Posting 5. Battle of Cajamarca (HWPL in Peru)

When? November 16th 1532 A.D.

Where? Cajamarca, Peru

Who? Spanish conquistador Francisco Pizarro's Spanish Army Vs Atahualpa, King of the Incas and unarmed 80,000 Incan people

Why? Spain began the Incas conquest to conquer the Incas and convert the Incas to Catholicism.

What happened? The Spanish Army offered the Bible and asked the Incan leader to convert to Christianity. Atahualpla, King of the Incas refused, so the Spanish slaughtered unarmed Incan people. Atahualpa was captured and later executed. It ignited a long fight between the Spanish and the Incas.

Today, traditional Incas in Peru have been participating in the peace work of Chairman Man Hee Lee and his peace groups (HWPL, IWPG and IPYG) through the 9.18 World Peace Summit, 5.25 Peace Walk and WARP (World Alliance of Religions' Peace) office.

Representatives of the Incan tribe had meetings with Chairman Man Hee Lee and even visited Korea to join in the 9.18 World Peace Summit and 5.25 Peace Walk.

We hope that the Incan tribe can keep working jointly with HWPL and Chairman Man Hee Lee :)

Peace!

 [Food]

[Food] Olchaengi Guksu (올챙이국수, Tadpole Noodles)

The Korean peninsular is a very fertile land full of rivers, plains and mountains so its main industry has been agriculture from ancient times. People planted and harvested many kinds of grains including rice, barley and so on. However, some towns located between mountains couldn't farm rice because of a lack of plain. So they usually ate corn, wheat, buckwheat, potato and sweet potato instead of rice and grain.

Olchaengi Guksu (올챙이국수, Tadpole Noodles) is the result of such an environment and culture. It's made of corn starch (NOT real tadpoles!!) and is named because of the shape of its noodle, which really looks like a big and fat yellow tadpole.

For people living in cities between mountains such as in Jeongseon, Yeongwol and Pyeongchang (Gangwon province) and in Muju (Jeonbuk province), olchaengi guksu was a very common meal for gaining basic energy from carbohydrates like potato, sweet potato and buckwheat.

They put corn kernels into a stone grinder and heated them on medium heat to turn them into corn starch water that looks like corn porridge - a very muddy form. Then they were poured into a large bowl or bucket with many holes at the bottom and placed into a large water basin so that the corn starch could penetrate these holes and form corn droplets which look like a tadpole.

When the noodles are complete, make seasoning with soy sauce, chili powder, green chili, sesame and salt to mix thoroughly with the noodles. You can also pour mild doenjang (Korean bean paste) soup into them for a more savory taste, as in the above picture of olchaengi guksu :) Yes, it's very similar to the German Spätzle except for its main ingredients (Spätzle is made of wheat).

Even though it doesn't have much taste but has a plain, mild and indistinct flavor, people prefer to eat it as they reminisce of their childhood (certainly in the case of people who lived in a mountain village) or just out of curiosity :)

These are noodles but you cannot pick them up with chopsticks so you have to use a spoon to eat them:) You can easily find them in Jeongseon, Yeongwol, Pyeongchang and Muju :)

Bon Appétit!

 [Food]

[Food] Jeoneo (전어, Gizzard)

'Even the runaway daughter-in-law returns home because of the smell of grilled jeoneo'

*In traditional Korean culture, the daughter-in-law in most families had to go through rigorous house-work and bullying from her husband and in-laws (especially her mother-in-law). It was not an unusual thing for the daughter-in-law who couldn't bear married life to flee from her husband. However, people say the smell of roasted jeoneo is so tasty and savory that it brings the runaway daughter-in-law back home.

Jeoneo tastes best when roasted or chopped raw because it's fatty, but some people (like myself) don't like jeoneo so much due to its countless tiny bones. It's so frustrating picking out every bone so people recommend eating them from head to tail, chewing through the flesh and bones. Oh, please don't forget to marinate them in salt water for 5 minutes or in rice wine to remove its fishy smell. As you chew, it's raw or roasted flesh gives you a fatty and savory flavor  :)

Jeoneo is caught throughout coastal areas, so you can enjoy it in every coast-side city in Korea, there are also Jeoneo festivals in Boseong and Gwangyang in Jeolla province :)

Bon Appétit!

 [HWPL]

[HWPL] Historic Battle and the Peace. Serial Posting 4. Battle of Hastings (HWPL in UK)

When? March 14th 1066 A.D.

Where? Hastings, England, UK

Who? The Norman-French Army of William, the Duke of Normandy Vs the English Army under the Anglo-Saxon King Harold Godwinson

Why? William, the Duke of Normandy claimed the throne of England and began the Norman conquest of England

What happened? William won and conquered England

Today, people in the United Kingdom have been participating in the peace work of Chairman Man Hee Lee and his peace groups (HWPL, IWPG and IPYG) through the 9.18 World Peace Summit, 5.25 Peace Walk, WARP (World Alliance of Religions' Peace) office, its Interfaith Dialogue sessions and more.

Good job UK HWPL branch! Keep up the good work!

Peace!

 [Food]

[Food] Hoedeopbap (회덮밥, Raw Fish Bibimbap)

Culture is a way of life so it always changes, flows elsewhere and forms new cultures. We can even think of 'stem culture' (this is beginning to sound somewhat like a virus!). Hoedeopbap(회덮밥, Raw Fish Bibimbap) is a result of Korean and Japanese food culture; born of raw fish and topped rice (Japanese) and bibimbap (Korean mix rice). I'm sure that the Japanese never thought Koreans would bring culture into their country and make it into bibimbap.

It's a very simple, quick, tasty and exotic (for non-Koreans) food. Grab a bowl containing steamed rice, chop vegetables (carrot, pickled radish, cabbage, lettuce, roasted sea weed, cucumber etc.) and put them into the bowl. Also, top it with raw fish (or raw seafood likewise squid, calamari, shrimp, prawn etc.). The most important ingredient to spice it up is chogochujang(초고추장, sour Korean chili paste). You can buy pre-made chogochujang or make it yourself by mixing Korean chili paste and vinegar. Koreans prefer to dip raw fish fillet so it's a given that they'll use chogochujang even for hoedeopbap.

Hoedeopbap is a typical dish found in every seafood restaurant in Korea. They usually use shark fillet cubes, squid, calamari, salmon, sole, flounder, rock fish, sea squirt and flying fish roe for everyday hoedeopbap. Abalone, octopus, sea urchin roe and tuna are added to make expensive hoedeopbap. However, it's surprising that no one knows who and how hoedeopbap was made in Korea for the very first time. Regardless, there's no doubt that hoedeopbap is one of the most popular seafood dishes in Korea :)

Bon Appétit!