[Food]

[Food] Goguma Pizza (Sweet Potato Pizza, 고구마피자)

When any culture of food flows into a country, it always give birth to a new culture which can be slightly or totally different from the original :)

No country (except Greece and Iran) would deny that the modern form of pizza was born in Naples, Italy in the medieval era. Every country which has imported a culture of pizza has developed their own pizza, including Korea which uses various ingredients including kimchi and Korean-style paste.

Sweet potato was brought into the Korean peninsula more than 400 years ago, and Koreans created pizza with it during the 1990s i  Seoul. They topped pizza with tomato paste, cheese, some vegetables and a creamy sweet potato moose.

It could happen because sweet potato is one of the most popular vegetables in Korea. People usually steam or bake it for the best taste. It tastes like old pumpkin or sweet chestnut, and goes very well with kimchi which is salty, spicy and sour.

Sweet potatoes have been worked on by scientists and farmers so they can control their hardness and sweetness by underground ripening before harvest. For most sweet potato moose, pizza makers use fully ripened sweet potato which has a very soft and sweet flesh.

You would say sweet potato doesn't go well with tomato paste and cheese, but you are wrong. The saltiness of tomato and sweetness of sweet potato creates one of the best combinations of taste on pizza dough.

Cheese, sweet potato and chopped onion

Sliced sweet potato, sweet potato sauce & moose, black sesame

Some people don't like sweet potato pizza because it's neither classic nor overly stodgy. But it is true that every Korean pizza place offers sweet potato pizza on their menu. Moreover, it's one of Koreans' most beloved pizza that people of every age can enjoy.

I'm sure that you can't find sweet potato pizza in your country's pizzeria, but if you ever visit Korea then try a piece of it :) You may like it.

Bon Appétit! 

 [HWPL]

[HWPL] HWPL's 1st to 5th Peace Tours, the First Step for Cessation of War and World Peace

Religious dignitaries from China, Italy, Netherlands, France, Congo, Turkey and Germany are welcoming Chairman Man-Hee Lee prior to the lecture in Belgium held during the second peace tour on July 4th, 2012.

May 11th, 2012 (the 1st Peace Tour) Chairman Man-hee Lee met and welcomed Mr.Mezier (former East German Prime Minister) at Potsdam, Germany to discuss inter-Korean reunification.

“It is difficult to even think about this peace work indeed. So I had to beg God. ‘The Lord has given me the best truth out of the 6,000 years of mankind, so if you tell me to preach the truth like Moses, like Jeremiah, I can do it, but I will not be able to do the work of peace because I'm weak. But if God and Jesus are together, I can do it.” The answer was that God and Jesus would be with me. You promised to be with me wherever I go and with whomever I meet, so now I had to do it.”

This is the background to the beginning of the peace movement that transcends borders and religions, as revealed in an autobiographical letter sent to Cheonji Daily by Man-Hee Lee, Chairman of Heavenly Culture, World Peace, Restoration of Light (HWPL) in April 2016.

On December 3rd, 2012 (the 3rd Peace Tour), Chairman Man-Hee Lee visited Ethiopia and met with President Girma Walde Giorgis at the Presidential Palace in Addis Ababa and asked him to join the peace movement.

Since 2012, Chairman Man-Hee Lee has been on the Peace Tour under the command to "End war and achieve world peace.” Human history has been in a series of wars. As a result, the cessation of war and achievement of world peace has been regarded as an impossibility. Thousands of people have won the Nobel Peace Prize, but brutal wars are still ongoing. However, knowing the answer to peace from heaven, and hearing that God would walk with him, Chairman Lee had to follow the command and set off for the world.

He was 82 years old when he first toured. For an elderly man like Man-hee Lee, the long-distance flight to a far away foreign land was a road to death. The 1st~5th Peace Tour: ▲1st Germany, Switzerland, Austria (May 5th~16th, 2012) ▲2nd Germany, Belgium, Luxembourg, USA (July 2nd~26th, 2012) ▲3rd Ethiopia, South Africa (November 30th~December 18th 2012) ▲ 4th Papua New Guinea (March 3rd - 9th, 2013) ▲ 5th The Philippines and Thailand (June 12th - 21st 2013).

December 14th, 2012 (The 3rd Peace Tour) Chairman Man-Hee Lee visited South Africa and discussed world peace with President Jacob Zuma at the Presidential Palace in Pretoria, the administrative capital.

Chairman Man-Hee Lee and Deputy Prime Minister Leo Dean of Papua New Guinea are shaking hands after the World Peace Talks in March 2013 (The 4th Peace Tour)

Chairman Lee's first Peace Tour for 'World Peace and Cessation of War' was in Germany, the birthplace of the Reformation. In Potsdam, Germany, he met Mr. Lothar de Mezier, the last prime minister of the former East Germany, and had a conversation about the unification of the Korean Peninsula and world peace for about three hours. Through their conversation, Chairman Lee realized the importance of a “civilian peace movement from the bottom up” rather than “political peace” achieved by a higher social class.

During each tour, Chairman Lee held a peace seminar considering the characteristics of each country. He also urged them to join the 'World Alliance of Religions' for reconciliation and cooperation between religions and 'enactment of an international law to end war' for world peace through key personnel meetings.

Seminars were a success wherever he went. German religious figures attending the Frankfurt conference welcomed Chairman Lee warmly. Afterwards, the large rally held in Berlin was a great success, with over 400 religious figures from 25 countries attending.

During the 5th Peace Tour held from June 12th-21st in 2013, Chairman Man-Hee Lee met with members of the International Youth Peace Group in Thailand and instilled a vision of world peace in young people.

The second peace tour took place in Europe and the Americas. Hundreds of religious figures attended the seminar held at a hotel in the Houpalize region in Belgium, who had heard of the results of the first European visit. The first American seminar was held at The Times Center in the New York Times headquarters in Manhattan, New York, USA. The tour to the Americas was well received by the interest and response of locals, with audiences lining up in the middle of New York to hear Chairman Lee's message of peace. The seminar held at the Crystal Church in Orange County, California, the largest Protestant church in the world, was attended by about 1,500 people.

From the third tour in Africa, the movement for the enactment of the international law on the cessation of war and the alliance of religions began in earnest. Chairman Lee met with high-ranking political figures such as Ethiopia's President Girma Walde Giorgis and South African President Jacob Zuma and appealed for their participation in the enactment of an international law to end war that would bring world peace.

A large-scale peace seminar was held at the City Hall in Cape Town, South Africa. A large number of African religious figures who heard the news of the first and second peace tours, the ‘World Peace and Sky Culture and Arts Festival (Heaven Culture and Arts Festival)’, attended this event and drew attention.

The 4th tour in Papua New Guinea was held in March 2013. It was an invitation as a state guest by Papua New Guinea Prime Minister Peter O'Neill, who was moved by the video of the 'Sky Arts Festival' held earlier.

In an interview with Deputy Prime Minister Leo Dian of Papua New Guinea, Chairman Lee emphasized that “there should be an article on world peace and the cessation of war.” In addition, Chairman Lee delivered a peace lecture to the residents of Panghiya and Yalibu, which received a great response.

After the seminar held in Berlin on May 12th, 2012 (the 1st tour), attendees visited and greeted Chairman Manhee Lee.

On the 5th trip to the Philippines and Thailand, the 12 branch managers of HWPL accompanied him as a peace delegation. From the 5th tour, representatives of youth groups from each country who participated in the ‘International Youth Peace Walk’ held on May 25th, 2013 at the Seoul Olympic Park Peace Gate welcomed Chairman Lee wherever they went.

During the tour, Chairman Lee delivered peace lectures in major cities in the Philippines and Thailand, starting with a lecture on peace at St. Augustine University located in Manila, the capital of the Philippines. During his visit to the Philippines and Thailand, he held a meeting with representatives of member organizations of the International Peace Youth Group and emphasized the importance of the youth peace movement.

A young man from Rangsit University in Thailand said, “Chairman Lee is like a superman who saves the world, all mankind, and our youth.“

Even in the Philippines, the enthusiasm of young people to participate in the HWPL peace movement was hot everywhere, with 4 UN-registered youth group members taking 7 hours to visit Chairman Lee.

After the peace seminar held at the Crystal Church in Orange County, California on July 21st, 2012 (the 2nd tour), local media interviewed Chairman Lee.

Chairman Lee's peace tour was also featured in the local media. During the first tour, several media outlets, including Germany's Rhinemine TV, focused on Lee's lecture. During the second tour, 10 major media outlets, including European broadcasters as well as NBC, the largest U.S. broadcaster, Azteca America TV, China's largest newspaper Xingtao, and 80-year-old New York radio broadcaster WVOX, conducted on-site coverage and an interview with Chairman Lee.

In particular, during the live broadcast of Azteca America TV, viewers' interest soared, so advertisements were stopped, and the interview was conducted for more than 30 minutes than planned - an unprecedented broadcast in the history of the program.

On December 15th, 2012 (the 3rd tour), Chairman Man-Hee Lee's peace lecture was held at City Hall in Cape Town, South Africa, and about 700 religious figures attended and listened.

During the third tour in Africa, about 20 media requests for their program were received in South Africa alone, and Ethiopia TV, the state-run broadcasting station in Ethiopia, reported heavily on the schedule of Chairman Lee's tour.

The 4th tour in Papua New Guinea was a hot topic in the local area even before the visit. Local media, including the state-owned broadcasting station EMTV, reported to all the people daily about the meeting between Chairman Lee and Prime Minister Peter O'Neill, including videos from the Heavenly Culture and Arts Festival, from two weeks before the tour. Everywhere he went, reporters inundated him with requests for interview.

The 5th tour in the Philippines and Thailand was actively reported through local state broadcasters and major media outlets. After recording the broadcast at the studio, Wizitrarundi, a Thai NBC newscaster, said, “I am very impressed. It's amazing how one individual can show such a strong driving force not only for the peace of the country, but also for the peace of the world". "I hope that the work of Chairman Lee can successfully create and promote peace around the world."

In March 2013 (the 4th tour), many people from various tribes gathered in Panghiya, the hometown of Papua New Guinea's head, Prime Minister Peter O'Neill, to listen to the peace lecture of Chairman Man-Hee Lee.

The Philippine Peace Seminar held on June 14th-15th, 2013 (the 5th tour) was a great success with 5,000 locals flocking to it over two days.

Peace!

 [Food]

[Food] Hodugwaja (Walnut Cake, 호두과자)

Hodugwaja is a very popular and friendly snack (and cake) in Korea today that you can find at every express highway rest area. It has a hard and crispy outside, but soft and sweet red bean paste with crunchy walnut.

Walnut originates from Iran. It was imported to China by Zhang Qian (China's famous traveler) and passed to Korea in 1320. Mr. Cheong-Shin Yoo, who was a royal trading officer in the Goryeo dynasty, brought walnut to Korea and planted it in today's Cheonan city. That is how Cheonan became so famous for walnut cake.

The couple Mr. Gui-Geum Joh and Mrs. Bok-Soon Shim, who opened a bakery in Cheonan, wanted to invent bread that used Cheonan city's special product for customers who visited their bakery for a cup of tea. That's how hodugwaja was birthed in Korea.

Freshly baked hodugwaja

Hodugwaja gift box

Bakers usually fill hodugwaja with sweet and red/white paste from red bean, with a piece of walnut. But today, they use  variety of fillings such as custard cream, chocolate, cream cheese, fruit paste/cream etc.

Anyway, hodugwaja has become a very common sweet snack that you can find on the express highway, which people still love for its sweet, savory and crunchy taste.

A hodugwaja shop in the express highway rest area

So, if you have the chance to go to any express highway in Korea, visit any rest area and try hodugwaja :) It will 'sweeten up' the boredom spent in the car.

Bon Appétit! 

 [HWPL]

[HWPL] True Story of Peace - Peace is Achieved in Mindanao by HWPL and Chairman Man Hee Lee

Would you believe it if one man ended a 40-year conflict without weapons, arms, political or religious power, but through peaceful mediation and people's agreement alone?

Here's a real case study of one man and his affiliate group having achieved it in 2014 in Mindanao, the Philippines. Chairman Man-Hee Lee and his peace NGO, HWPL (Heavenly Culture, World Peace, Restoration of Light) were invited to Mindanao by request to achieve peace on the island.

To resolve the conflict, Chairman Man-Hee Lee and HWPL hosted their first peace walk festival on January 24th 2014 in Mindanao with more than 1000 people, and urged for the necessity of peace to people in the region. At the event, Chairman Man-Hee Lee and HWPL helped people show their desire for peace, then made each leader of the opposing parties who were in conflict with each other sign the peace agreement.

The following report contains a full summary of the story :)

୮A culture of peace is being fostered in Mindanao, Philippines, a land that has been blood-stained by a 40-year conflict. The civilian group-led peace agreement that was signed on 24 January 2014 is being implemented and is raising awareness for peace among the residents. This agreement largely contributed to creating an atmosphere of peace for a peace agreement between the government of the Philippines and the Moro people.
 
HWPL and Peace in Mindanao
Heavenly Culture, World Peace, Restoration of Light (HWPL, Chairman Lee Man-hee) has held various events and activities in the Philippines since June 2013, including bringing relief for the slums, holding conversations with religious leaders for interfaith harmony, and establishing a youth network for peace. Amid these efforts, Chairman Lee Man-hee was invited to Mindanao by H.E. Antonio J. Ledesma, Archbishop of Archdiocese of Cagayan de Oro.

At the time, Mindanao was a battleground of bullets. It was not an easy decision for Chairman Lee Man-hee, an 84-year-old man, to enter into a conflict zone that could potentially take his life. However, Chairman Lee thought, “I cannot deny this request when I was asked to come for peace as a peace activist,” and transcended national borders, ethnicities, and religions to travel to this region.

Chairman Lee realized the Mindanao conflict was a Catholic-Islam Religious conflict and hosted the first peace walk festival on 24 January 2014 in Mindanao, General Santos, Philippines. Over 1,000 people, including believers from both religions, students from the Mindanao State University, and members of the International Peace Youth Group, participated. After the peace walk, Chairman Lee spoke about the necessity of peace to Catholic and Muslim leaders, youth groups, and university professors at a hotel in General Santos.

Chairman Lee criticized the religious leaders that gave rise to this long-time conflict brought with words and religion and emphasized that “God’s will is peace, not war.” He then asked the attendees, “Do you want peace or do you want war,” and had them raise their hand if they wanted peace. When all the attendees raised their hand, Chairman Lee called the Catholic and Islamic representatives to the stage while saying, “Then sign the peace agreement.”

H.E. Fernado Robles Capalla, D.D, Archbishop Emeritus of Archdiocese of Davao, and Esmael G. Mangudadatu, Governor of Maguindanao, signed an agreement for the creation of peace and the cessation of war as the representatives of Catholicism and Islam, respectively, during the spontaneous peace agreement signing ceremony.

The Mindanao peace agreement that was mediated by HWPL proposed a “civiliancentered awareness improvement and action”- based approach to peace. In line with this approach, HWPL began peace activities across the Philippines, including Mindanao, to raise public peace awareness on the universal peace principles of mutual understanding, respect, and harmony. HWPL is also carrying out peace initiatives centered around civil society, including education, religion, youth, and women, in order to eliminate the factors that are sources of conflict and also to strengthen the core values for peaceful development.」

Peace!

 [Food]

[Food] Mineo (Surf Fish, 민어)

Since the Chosun dynasty within the Korean peninsula more than 500 years ago, Mineo (Surf Fish, 민어) has been an unique seafood for stamina and a gourmet dish for people. It's usually been eaten by the royal and noble family because it is rarely caught and is expensive due to the lack of cold storage technology.

The Chinese character for Mineo's 'Min(民)' means 'common people', which is ironic because a common person has caught but not actually eaten, it because of its cost. Mineo is considered one of the tastiest types of fish in Korea with people saying that the sliced raw fillet of mineo gives the best taste. Its flesh, air bladder, skin and bones are all precious ingredients for fishcake, stew, spicy cold dishes and soup that can be cooked with mineo.

Mineo tastes best in summer and winter because it fattens itself for the breeding season and survives the winter :) Moreover, male mineo tastes better than female mineo because it doesn't lose fat even in the breeding season (August and September).

They are usually caught by sea fishing in the West Sea (the Yellow Sea) of Korea, along the coast of Jeolla province. This is one of the reasons why mineo has become so expensive. However, people who ever eaten mineo as a raw fillet say raw mineo fillet is one of the best fish they have ever eaten.

Chewy and soft with marine and savory taste :) Some people say it's even better than eating raw tuna fillet.

Mineo (surf fish) belongs to the same family as the croaker/yellow corbina, but is much bigger

Bon Appétit! 

 [HWPL]

[HWPL] Peace Video Clip - A Closer Look The True Story of Peace - Korean, Man Hee Lee -

Today I want to introduce you all to this short video about HWPL (Heavenly Culture, World Peace, Restoration of Light) and its chairman Mr. Man-Hee Lee :)

This video contains very essential and concise achievements of HWPL and Chairman Man-Hee Lee since the beginning of HWPL's global peace work. 

Chairman Man-Hee Lee declared the Declaration of World Peace in 2013 and started HWPL's peace initiatives and campaigns with numerous affiliated NGOs and VIPs of the world including through the 918 WARP (World Alliance of Religions' Peace) Summit, 525 Peace Walk and Peace Education by drafting and implementing an innovative tool for world peace in the form of the DPCW (Declaration of Peace and Cessation of War) in 2016. The DPCW consists of 10 articles and 38 clauses that effectively stop any conflict or war in the world.

Despite my explanation about HWPL and Chairman Man-Hee Lee, I cannot explain about their amazing peace work enough. 'Seeing is Believing' :)

Let's check out the video. Hopefully you will also become a peace advocate after watching it :)

Peace!

 [Food]

[Food] Yeongyangbap (Delux Rice/Nutritious Hot Stone Pot Rice,영양밥)

Since ancient times, rice has been a staple meal for people in the Korean peninsula. Koreans have farmed rice from 5,000 years ago according to official records and steam-cooked rice from approximately 2,000 years ago when there were three kingdoms. However, Korea usually had a rice deficiency until the 1960s, so a bowl of plain rice without any other grains (bean, barley etc.) was eaten only on special occasions for common people, unless they were very rich or the royal family.

To fill their hungry belly, people started to put more ingredients into rice pots including other grains (barley, sticky rice, millet, beans etc.), vegetables and herbs (corn, deodeok, thistle, potato, sweet potato, radish, ginkgo nut, bean sprouts etc.), sea weeds (sweet laver, hijiki, green laver etc.) and even seafood (mussel, oyster, fish etc.)

Typical yeongyangbap

Hijiki yeongyangbap

Oyster yeongyangbap

Meanwhile, people in regions with plentiful rice also cooked yeongyangbap. They put ginseng, ginkgo nut, chestnut, dates and more cereal to rice and steamed it, and people started to call it 'yeongyangbap',which means 'nutritious rice'.

Yeongyangbap goes very well with any Korean dish (and side dish) and it's great as a single dish too. Yeongyangbap's recipe was written in Korea's first recipe book in 1459. After the 18th century, Korean recipe books have records of the typical yeongyangbap of today. 

In a Korean palace, yeongyangbap was not a common meal that people could eat everyday. Even court cuisine cooks served yeongyangbap to a king only on a commemorative day or when they welcomed very important guests.

Mung bean and millet yeongyangbap

Today, yeongyangbap is not an everyday food but it can be eaten in many Korean dish restaurants. Contemporary yeongyangbap is steamed in hot stone pot with a variety of grains. Furthermore, it tastes much better than rice that is cooked in an electric rice cooker :)

If you are sick of boring plain rice, how about trying yeongyangbap? It will give you much joy to chew :)

Bon Appétit! 

 [HWPL]

[HWPL] HWPL Heats Up World's Online News...World  Pays Attention to 'World Peace Summit'

“I have something I want to say (to reporters). Isn't peace better than war? If you are not yet a peace ambassador, please become one. Shouldn't the media take the lead?"

-HWPL Representative Man-Hee Lee at a press conference held after the declaration ceremony for the enactment of international law on the cessation of war on March 14, 2016-

Chairman Man-hee Lee ㈔ Heavenly Culture, World Peace, Restoration of Light (HWPL) frequently uses the expression “calling heaven and earth as a witness” at official public meetings. It is also said to emphasize that everything he does is worthy of respect and of being publicized.

Furthermore, there are those who are invited to be witnesses at peace events or at official events: journalists. In response, world media has shown great interest in Chairman Man-hee Lee's innovative methods and groundbreaking results for achieving world peace. In particular, during his world peace tours in 70 countries, Chairman Lee responded to requests for media coverage more than 300 times, including interviews and broadcast appearances.

World media could not forget the excitement of the World Peace Summit held on September 18th, 2014 at the Jamsil Olympic Stadium in Seoul, South Korea, with the participation of 200,000 people. Even at the time, the media expressed surprise within headlines, and the annual ceremony held on September 18th each year thereafter was also re-examined.

In particular, this peace summit was special in that it clearly demonstrated how peace can practically be achieved, through the official proposal of two solutions for peace that Chairman Lee obtained through his earnest prayers to heaven. Chairman Lee suggested the “enactment of an international law to end war in the global community” and the “alliance of religions” as answers to achieving peace. As a way to achieve this, he proposed a campaign to support the Declaration of Peace and Cessation of War (DPCW - 10 Articles, 38 Clauses) and the activity of the ‘World Alliance Religions' Peace Office’. Participants were amazed with this clear answer. This news was made known to all countries through the press.

AnaneimConnected of the United States reported with the headline, “The World Peace Summit, the beginning of a new era, announcing a world of peace.” A report was also published in the Chinese newspaper Sacheondang Daejapmun, which read, “The passion of young people for world peace has captured the hearts of global leaders.”

Malaysia malaysiasaya emphasized in its headlines that "the official press conference of the World Peace Summit presented a concrete way to end war and achieve world peace."

Brazil's Noticia Na Hora wrote, 'Religions from all over the world have come together for a world without war', while Albaiulianul, Romania, delivered the news of the World Peace Summit, saying, "The government, non-profit and religious organizations discussed together to establish peace."

Bosnia and Herzegovina OSLOBODENJE reported the headline, "the largest peace conference ever held with presidents from all over the world”, and Nigeria’s The Nation emphasized that “a new era of world peace has been declared”. Brunei Bru Direct said, “The successful hosting of the World Peace Summit, which opened the beginning of a new era of peace, informed the world that the era of peace has begun, and Seoul, Korea has become a center of peace.”

Others that reported on the World Peace Summit included SanDiegoRed in Mexico, The Nation in Nigeria, Africe Today in Angola, Applause Africa in USA, Africa News Analysis in USA, KP Daily News in Cyprus, SINART in Costa Rica, Georgia Today in Costa Rica, A1plus in Armenia, EMTV in Papua New Guinea, Spy News Agency in Ghana, Chad state broadcasting station Electron TV, Bahrain Bahrain News Agency, Zimbabwe Daily News, Nicaragua state broadcasting station Bolsa de Noticias, Yemen NationalYemaen, and more.

Everywhere Chairman Lee visited on a peace tour, reports were carried out through online media as well as broadcasts.

Bolsa de Noticias, the national broadcaster of Nicaragua, announced the news of Chairman Lee's visit online, and CNBC in the United States reported that "World peace activist and HWPL representative delivers a message of peace to the United Nations."

News of Chairman Lee’s peace trip, talks, press conferences, women’s forum, youth forum, world peace walk, MOU and MOA agreement ceremonies, peace agreement ceremonies, and peace school designation ceremonies were reported through the media in each country.

CNN iReport, a public media outlet in the United States, reported the news of HWPL's UN Peace Conference with the headline, "'World Peace Leadership', and the 'Women, Youth, and Interdenominational Conference' at the United Nations!"

Mexico el mexicano, Lebanon Saida World, South Africa Platiumweekly, Veracruz e-consulta, Romania digi24, Philippines spyghana, Philippine philstar, Kosovo RTV, UK Zimeye, Kyrgyzstan state media KTRK, Albania ATA, Nigeria The Niche, Bulgaria Sakanews, Sakanews The media outlet Lanka Puvaths reported on HWPL's peace activities.

Peace!