[Food] Dak-Gangjeong (닭강정, Sweet and sour chicken)

[Food]

[Food] Dak-Gangjeong (닭강정, Sweet and sour chicken)

It is an undeniable fact that famous deep-fried chicken originates from the U.S.A through the tragic history of slavery. Nevertheless, when deep-fried chicken flowed into Korea, Korean-style deep-fried chicken became more famous globbally than the original. (However, it doesn't mean Korea didn't have any deep-fried chicken recipe. Korea had traditional deep-fried chicken recipe called 'Pogye', which is soy-sauce and vinegar-based deep-fried chicken.).

Today's dish, 'Dak-Gangjeong (닭강정, Sweet and sour chicken)', is a very modern Korean dish that appeared from 1970s; the era when Korea was massively industrialized and started to develop its culture, quality and diet. In 1993, dak-gangjeong was introduced in a newspaper as a good dish to cook when deep-fried chicken is left over at home, which means dak-gangjeong was a beloved and popular recipe for the public.

A dak-gangjeong shop in a market of Gangneung Central Market

Dak-gangjeong originated in two cities, Incheon in western Korea and Sokcho in eastern Korea. Several dak-gangjeong shops claim that they have the original dak-gangjeong with 40 years of tradition but no one knows who the original really is.

Dak-gangjeong slightly differs from 'Seasoned spicy chicken' through some of its features, though it is similar. Its seasoning is less watery, more viscous, and fully coated fried-chicken, not 'poured' on chicken. It is usually spicier than seasoned spicy chicken because of garlic and spicy chili, and a bit more crunchy with more nuts.

Western dak-gangjeong from Incheon features bigger chunks of chicken which is very similar to seasoned spicy chicken. On the other hand, eastern dak-gangjeong from Sokcho has smaller pieces of chicken and is usually boned. To me, they are all nice and delicious anyway.

The recipe is very similar to seasoned spicy chicken.

1. Deep-fry chicken pieces.
2. Stir-fry them on a wide and round pan with sliced garlic and spicy chili.
3. Add soy-sauce, starch syrup and water. (Here you can add more seasoning such as chili paste, chili powder etc.)
4. Add starch water and nuts, boil down.

'Dak' means chicken and 'gangjeong' means traditional Korean crunchy crackers with rice, sesame, beans, nuts etc. in Korean. I think that its name suits it very well with its crunchy and sweet features. Dak-gangjeong is one of my favorite dishes, and it is also very popular to many tourists who visit Korea because....I mean, who dare hates deep-fried chicken?! You look at the photos in this article. Don't you see that crunchy, crispy-fried chicken with lip-smacking seasoning?

A dak-gangjeong from Shinpo Market, Incheon, western South Korea

A dak-gangjeong from Sokcho Central Market, Sokcho, eastern South Korea

Nowadays, you can find dak-gangjeong very easily in any market in Korea because it is popular to Koreans and non-Koreans alike. Once I saw tourists from the U.S.A trying some sample of dak-gangjeong at a market in Busan (when I visited Busan), then they bought 2 boxes of dak-gangjeong per person.

A dak-gangjeong with fried rice cake pieces

If you are sick of 'normal' fried chicken, try dak-gangjeong. It will open your door to a new world of deep fried chicken :)

Bon Appétit!

[IPYG] IPYG Incheon Branch Cleans Up a Park in Incheon

[IPYG]

[IPYG] IPYG Incheon Branch Cleaned a Park in Incheon

According to Sinah Daily, HWPL (Heavenly Culture, World Peace, Restoration of Light. Chairperson: Man Hee Lee) Incheon branch reported on July 15th that IPYG (International Peace Youth Group) and Korean Environment Protection Hwarang Volunteer Group Incheon Association cleaned up the Culture Park in Yeonsu Gu, Incheon.

From May this year, IPYG has been carrying out an environmental clean-up campaign with the Korean Environment Protection Hwarang Volunteer Group Incheon Association to create more pleasant parks and landscapes for citizens throughout Incheon.

국제청년평화그룹 인천지부, 환경정화 봉사 전개 / Reporter Juyong Park / July 15th 2019 / Sinah Daily

IPYG members who joined in the clean-up picked up littered trash from 3pm-5pm.

Sinah Daily introduced IPYG as a wing of HWPL (an international peace NGO) that has been carrying out a youth peace campaign. The press praised IPYG as a passionate NGO that voluntarily carries out peace campaigns and work in the local community.

Peace!

Want to be informed and involved? Click Below!

HWPL official homepage : www.hwpl.kr

IWPG official homepage : http://www.iwpg.org/en/

IPYG official homepage : www.ipyg.kr

DPCW information : http://www.hwpl.kr/en/initiative/lawForPeace

[HWPL] HWPL Incheon Branch Hosted WARP Office

[HWPL]

[HWPL] HWPL Incheon Branch Hosted WARP Office

HWPL's (Heavenly Culture, World Peace, Restoration of Light, Chairman: Man Hee Lee) effort towards world peace continued on as its Incheon branch hosted a WARP Office in March 2019.

HWPL's Incheon branch reported that they hosted its 'Mansoo, Joo-an WARP Office's 11th Interfaith Dialogue Meeting' at its office in March. HWPL's WARP Office is a meeting for interfaith dialogue between religions to resolve global conflicts, helping religious leaders and believers to participate in inter-religious discussion and promote religious understanding and harmony for the cause of world peace.

Cheondogyo, Buddhist and Christian panels joined in the event to provide evidence for their respective scripture including when and how world peace through religious harmony is promised within each scripture.

HWPL 인천지부, 기독교 불교 천도교 이해와 화합 위한 토론회 개최 / Reporter Yanghoon Kim / March 11th 2019 / Maeil Daily

The Buddhist panel said that people can co-exist through mutual harmony and peace by respecting each other, while the Cheondogyo panel said that each person must perceive the truth in scriptures to unify people, society, race and country.

The Christian panel explained that the Bible is the truth because the reality of the Old and New Testaments have appeared through 'Prophecy and Fulfillment', adding that, 'True world peace can be achieved when God's kingdom is created on earth and when we overcome Satan's world and ourselves with Jesus' true words'.

After the discussion, all panels acknowledged their responsibility as religious leaders and promised that they would keep participating in HWPL's events to help fulfil their pursuit of world peace.

HWPL has been regularly hosting its WARP Office 'Interfaith Dialogue' since 2014 in more than 70 countries, and about 3000 leaders from most world religions have been working jointly with HWPL.



Peace!

Want to be informed and involved? Click Below!

HWPL official homepage : www.hwpl.kr

IWPG official homepage : www.iwpg.org/en

IPYG official homepage : www.ipyg.kr

DPCW information : http://www.hwpl.kr/en/initiative/lawForPeace

[Food] Gamjatang (감자탕, Pig's backbone soup)

[Food]

[Food] Gamjatang (감자탕, Pig's backbone soup)

It was one hot spring day during my mid-20s in the army. I was being trained and disciplined to become a prospective sergeant. Everyday was a long, hard day.

Some people may already know that every Korean man must join the army after 19 unless exempt on physical or mental grounds. Unfortunately I was a healthy young man with such lousy eyesight that everything looked blurry (and still does now) without my beloved glasses. I joined the army in spite of the fact that I didn't like Korea or its army at all because I just wanted to run away from reality. Oh, well....if you ask how terrible a condition I was in, I....uhm....had to quit my bachelors course due to finances, broke up with my girlfriend who I was supposed to marry within a few months, and was despised in my family because I gave up my overseas study and future.

Wasn't that terrible enough? You might say 'Have some guts, fight for your life!' but I would say 'Shut up, those disasters have almost shredded my mind!'

Consequently, I quickly left my life as a student and member of the Kim family and started life as a recruit in bootcamp - the lowest class in the army. As time went by, I became a private, first-class private, and then I decided to work as a staff sergeant because I believed that was my only way to make money in Korea, staying far from family to whom I didn't want to return.

Korean Army Recruits

Endless PRI (Preliminary Rifle Instruction) drills and training made me gnash my teeth for a few days. Repetitive exercise of...

Hit the deck! Take aim! Shoot!

On your knees! Take aim! Shoot!

Stand up! Take aim! Shoot!

.....with all the battle gears and a 4.3kg rifle, it wasn't an easy thing. Then, after these countless exercises, I was pushed to the shooting range with an exhausted body.

Oh, well, I wasn't very good at shooting rifles and felt like all the targets were mocking me with the words 'You can shoot us.....in your dreams'. If you don't pass rifle shooting training with good marks, you have to go back to the PRI and do everything again. Isn't that great? I can't count how many PRIs I had to do that day.

Anyway, back to my story. It was one hot spring day :( I'm sure all candidates were starving and thirsty. The sweat, dry wind, hot sun, annoying dust and an angry drill sergeant. Ah! Great! 

I remember that lunchtime had come but no one was moving. We all laid on the ground regardless of whether it was full of dust or not. We just wanted to rest. All of a sudden, from afar, someone with our food rations shouted:

"Guys!!! GET UP!! It's Gamjatang today!!"

"It's MEAT! soldiers!!! MEAT!!"

Everyone simultaneously opened their eyes and slowly turned their heads towards the people with food. Their shouting was so powerful and we were slowly rising from the ground like a swarm of zombies.

Meat?! Gamjatang?!

Gamjatang! Meat! Energy!

Without exception, all 'zombies' ran down to the ration box like lightning and 'attacked' Gamjatang. Yes, I was one cruel zombie too. XD

Even now, Gamjatang is one of my favorite foods :)

Chopped pig's backbone

Gamjatang is Korean style pig's backbone soup with potatoes, perilla, sesame leaves, dried oriental cabbage and fermented kimchi - full of protein and carbohydrates. Mild spicy, nutty and salty flavor is very addictive with full-steamed backbone meat, which is very soft and tender. 'Gamja' means potato and 'Tang' means soup in Korean. So it means 'Potato soup' but its main ingredient is, ironically, pig's backbone.

Doenjang (Korean bean paste)

Perilla

Sesame leaf

Oriental Cabbage leaf

Raw Gamjatang

Pig's backbone is a very cheap ingredient. It was left behind after rich and powerful people took all the meats. One man in Incheon had gathered pig's backbone from among the remnants, boiled soup with other cheap ingredients, and sold it to poor people at a cheap price. Later, this soup became 'Gamjatang'. So Incheon has many famous Gamjatang restaurants today, and Gamjatang is now a very common Korean dish.

A 24-hour Gamjatang restaurant

Today, Gamjatang is not really a cheap dish like it was before. However, Gamjatang is certainly a welcoming dish for all Koreans. Like Gukbap, it is a dish Koreans eat when they want to eat meat and get some energy for a sad and monotonous life. To comfort and cheer somebody up :)

I still can't forget the Gamjatang that was cooked in a messy hall. I was hungry, not only for food but also for warmth from my family. I had struggled to overcome the loneliness and despair of my reality and past that had tried to consume me. I clenched my teeth and was resolved to prove to my family that I was no longer a 'loser'. I was determined to prove that I'm a 'winner' in other ways. I don't know why, but Gamjatang's hot and soft taste filled my soul with life every time I ate it.

I think that, maybe today, I'll call my friend who is under pressure like I was. And I will ask him to have Gamjatang for dinner then will say, as I give him a piece of backbone,

"Here's your piece of life. Eat it. Let's wish our lives to be a piece of cake."

Instant Gamjatang noodle

Bon appétit!

[HWPL] 918 World Peace WARP Summit : HWPL Supporters ONE! Interview with TVN (National Mozambique Broadcasting Center)

[HWPL]

[HWPL] 918 World Peace WARP Summit : HWPL Supporters ONE! Interview with TVN (National Mozambique Broadcasting Center)

Good day :) Greetings to all family members of peace! As I wrote in other articles, I participated in and experienced the 918 World Peace WARP Summit at Asiade Stadium, Incheon, on the 18th of September with my very own eyes :) as a proud member of HWPL Supporters One.

Want to watch the full video of the 918 WARP Summit? :) Click: www.warpsummit.org

I had a fantastic and hectic day watching all the events and interviewing many people from diverse countries :) Colorful and fabulous parades, and hopeful speeches about peace by participants transported me up to cloud nine XD

One of the most exciting things that I experienced was interviewing reporters from TVN (National Mozambique Broadcasting Center).

Here is the link of related article :)

http://www.peacebreeze.net/2018/09/hwpl-918-world-peace-warp-summit_18.html

However, I wouldn't start writing this article if my story with TVN ended here :) Some hours later, while my HWPL Supporters One colleagues and I were struggling with laptops and mobile phones, Mr. Mutawanga and his colleague (Main reporter/journalist of TVN) visited our booth :)

They wanted to interview us (HWPL Supporters ONE) and they wanted to me to have an interview with them because I interviewed them XD

The reporter (Sorry, I didn't ask this gentleman's name :( ) asked me what we were doing, what our purpose was, how many members we were, whether we were trained for the job etc. :)

I blurred faces because of copyright reasons :)

I blurred faces because of copyright reasons :)

Well, I didn't see this coming at all. I never thought this kind of thing would happen in my life :) We were just doing what we are good at and love doing, which is writing articles and spreading and promoting the culture of peace through twitter posts:) It was so exciting to talk about how great our job (Voluntarily spreading and promoting HWPL and DPCW for the world peace) is. It's also been a pleasure that I could introduce our online volunteering activity and the attention given by foreign media that made us all proud of HWPL's peace work :) The interview gave my colleagues and I conviction that what we are doing is the right thing in our lives.

It also gave us confidence that if we keep carrying out our work online, we can certainly help make the reality of world peace and the cessation of war come more quickly in our world :)

I'd like to finish this article with a segment of my interview with them :)



Do you want to say anything before we finish? (The reporter)

- I don't think only special and powerful people have the power to change the world. I think that common people like you and I - yeah, you who are watching this video - have the power to change history.



Peace!

[HWPL] 918 World Peace WARP Summit : The 17th's Conferences - 2018 Conference for the Implementation of the Declaration of Peace and Cessation of War

[HWPL]

[HWPL] 918 World Peace WARP Summit : The 17th's Conferences - 2018 Conference for the Implementation of the Declaration of Peace and Cessation of War / Global Cooperation for the Realization of a Peaceful Unification on the Korean Peninsula

Greetings! Family members of peace :) The 918 World Peace WARP Summit has already begun since participants landed at Incheon Airport. Today - 17th September - there are two events that we can watch live. Please refer to the below :)

There are the HWPL Intercontinental WARP Office Meeting and 2018 Conference for the Implementation of the DPCW.

Today's 2nd event - 2018 Conference for the Implementation of the DPCW - is a meeting of political leaders, legal and diplomatic experts, academic professionals, religious leaders and leaders of women’s and youth organizations with the purpose of sharing and discussing how they can implement the DPCW with concrete methods in their respective countries and continents.

Participants of these diverse professions of each country will discuss:

- RESULT OF ACTIVITIES FOR THE ENACTMENT OF THE DPCW AND HOW THEY WILL IMPROVE THEM

- RESULT OF THE WARP OFFICE AND PLANNING HOW TO SPREAD THE CULTURE OF SCRIPTURAL COMPARISON TO THE WORLD

- DECLARATION OF A PLAN TO SUPPORT THE DPCW AND THE REUNIFICATION OF THE KOREAN PENINSULA THROUGH HWPL’S ADVISORY COUNCIL

- THE URGING OF EVERY COUNTRY, BY LEADERS OF YOUTH AND WOMEN’S ORGANIZATIONS, AND JOURNALISTS, FOR THE REALIZATION OF THE DPCW

Now let's take a look at those who gave a speech :)

And you know what? They are only the tip of the iceberg :D In previous articles about the 918 World Peace WARP Summit this year, I told you that there are more than 1000 participants at this year's 918 World Peace WARP Summit :) Let me simplify the content of the topics that they discussed today :

- How can we introduce the DPCW to the UN?

- How can countries support the DPCW?

- How can religious leaders carry out the DPCW?

- How can the advisory council implement the DPCW and assist in the peaceful unification of North and South Korea?

Doesn’t that look so serious? :) But please remove the misconception that these questions can only be answered by the individuals above. As long as you don't sit idly on your chair and yawn, YOU are someone who can make a difference to the world. If you want to support this work of peace, support HWPL and DPCW by watching HWPL’s events :) 

Together with HWPL you can:

- URGE LEADERS OF EVERY WORLD STATE to SIGN THE DPCW

- ESTABLISH MORE WARP OFFICES THROUGHOUT THE WORLD TO RESOLVE CONFLICTS BETWEEN RELIGIONS

How on earth can you make this happen? Once again, I say to you that you can really make this happen together with HWPL and DPCW.

Click to join the movement for world peace!

2018 HWPL World Peace WARP Summit Official Homepage

- http://www.warpsummit.org/

2018 Conference for the Implementation of the Declaration of Peace and Cessation of War

- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sPpql8kJfLY

[HWPL] 918 World Peace WARP Summit : The 17th's Conferences - HWPL Intercontinental WARP Office Meeting

[HWPL]

[HWPL] 918 World Peace WARP Summit : The 17th's Conferences - HWPL Intercontinental WARP Office Meeting

Greetings! Family members of peace :) The 918 World Peace WARP Summit has already begun since participants' landed at Incheon Airport. Today - 17th September - there are two events that we can watch live. Please refer to the below :)

There are the HWPL Intercontinental WARP Office Meeting and 2018 Conference for the Implementation of the DPCW. 

Today's 1st event - the WARP Office Meeting - is a meeting of religious world leaders comparing religious scriptures on one topic. Today's topic is:

The WARP Office Meeting's main goal is to resolve conflict between religions, which itself causes 80% of all world conflicts. Therefore, religious leaders will discuss and share what their scriptures say about the topic and questions asked in the meeting. Through this meeting, there can be greater understanding between religions in the hope of a cessation of war and peace between religions and its believers.

Today's HWPL Intercontinental WARP Office Meeting is directly related to some of the articles in the DPCW (The Declaration of Peace and Cessation of War), which is HWPL's main initiative due to be introduced to the UN for enactment as a legally-binding law.

I think it is very important to spread and to promote the WARP Office Meeting to religious and civil societies throughout the world to create a culture that searches for the truth. We have to let more and more people know about the WARP Office so that more religious leaders can join the meeting to resolve conflicts between religions throughout the world. When every religion and its believers understand each other, I'm certain that this 80% cause of world conflicts will disappear :)

The meeting's first question is:

Don't you want to know what each religion answered for this question? Moreover, there are more questions and engaging discussions between religious leaders and its believers. Come and join if you are a true believer and someone who hopes for peace :)

Click to join world peace!

2018 HWPL World Peace WARP Summit Official Homepage

- http://www.warpsummit.org/

HWPL Intercontinental WARP Office Meeting/What Religious Texts Tell You "About God"

- http://www.warpsummit.org/en/livestream?days=17_1

Peace!

[Peace Quotes] 918 World Peace WARP Summit : Quotes of International VVIPs

[Peace Quotes]

918 World Peace WARP Summit : Quotes of International VVIPs

Greetings! Ladies and gentlemen of the world! :D

The 918 World Peace WARP Summit is 2 days away and will be hosted at Asiade Stadium in Incheon. It will be, perhaps, the largest world peace event with more than 2000 participants from over 100 countries. Many conferences - including press conferences - that involve political leaders, legal, diplomatic and educational experts and leaders of civil organizations will be held from the 16th onwards (Today).

Here's the official homepage of the 918 World Peace WARP Summit :)
Click and take a look for all the information about the event!

www.warpsummit.org

Some of the VVIPs who will participate at the 918 World Peace WARP Summit at Asiade Stadium in Incheon who were asked for their opinions about HWPL and its DPCW by reporters have already left positive remarks. Let's take a look :)

Stanislav Stanislavovich Shushkevich (Ex-chief delegate of national highest council of Belarus) 

"The declaration of peace and cessation of war (DPCW) is a very effective law for solving our world problems"

He also added: "However, this is not simple, and DPCW is taking a global approach. We should pass down our experience to young adults and they must carry out this great initiative for posperity and demand peace for a new world."

Donald Rabindranauth Ramotar (Ex-president of Guyana)

"I think that DPCW of HWPL will contribute to the reunification of the Korean peninsula and world peace"

He also added: "One of the most important things for Koreans is to unite North and South Korea and to defuse tension between the two Koreas; consequently uniting Koreans as one. I hope the two Korean leaders will make this happen."

Emil Constantinescu (Ex-president of Romania)

"The 918 World Peace WARP Summit will play a significant role for the peace of the Korean peninsula and the world"

He also added: "I'm proud that I accepted the invitation to attend the WARP Summit with the chairman of HWPL, Man Hee Lee, 4 years ago. I believe that it is the duty of people like me to help and support the next generation. Therefore, I'm also again going to engage in discussion for the creation of a peaceful world."

These are only 3 among 1000 participants' responses :) I'm sure that many people will leave more hopeful comments towards world peace during this 918 World Peace WARP Summit.

How about you? Don't you also want to be the one who makes the world peace? :)

Peace!