[Food]

[Food] Patjuk (팥죽, Red Bean Porridge)

Once upon a time, during ancient China's Qin dynasty, there was a man named Gong-gong. He had one son, but this son was the biggest troublemaker in town. One day, Gong-gong served red bean porridge for his son because the Chinese proverb reads, 'You really become one year older when you eat a bowl of red bean porridge on Dongji (the 12th month of the lunar calendar)' but this son knocked the red bean porridge away and stormed out of the house. Soon after, someone in town informed Gong-gong that his son had drowned in the town's well when he was trying to spoil the well. After the death of Gong-gong's son, a mysterious plague ravaged the town and started killing mercilessly. Gong-gong thought that the plague was related to his son's death and that his son had become the god of plague. Gong-gong recalled his son hating red bean porridge, so he spread and covered every house, door and well in town with red bean porridge. Right after, the plague ceased and people recovered. This legend has been passed down generations and makes known that red bean porridge has the power to drive out spiritual beings including ghosts, the god of plague, goblins and so on. Therefore, even today, people eat red bean porridge and cover their doors, storerooms and wells with it to protect themselves from the plague and malicious spiritual beings.

The legend of red bean porridge originated from China and has spread to Korea and Japan, so the three countries in far-east Asia all have a culture of eating red bean porridge on Dongji, and also commonly eat it in the winter season :) It's one of my favorite porridges too.

It's obvious that there are a few legends in Korea of people driving out goblins with red bean porridge. Actually, red bean warms the body, raising one's body temperature when eaten (which aids protection from disease) so it's no wonder there is a red bean porridge legend that kicks out any god of plague and protects people from vicious spirits.

There are two styles of patjuk, one with whole red bean and another with fully grounded red bean :) If you want a crunchy and savory flavor, choose whole red bean style; if you want a silky and soft one, choose the grounded one :) Moreover, some regions eat it either with or without sugar, so if you don't like a sweet taste then you'd better check whether the porridge comes with or without sugar before ordering :)

All three countries put sticky white rice balls into red bean porridge and those rice balls mean 'getting 1 year older'. Sticky rice balls are very necessary for red bean porridge :)

Patjuk is a very friendly, common and cheap food for Koreans :) You can easily find patjuk in any traditional market in Korea :) So, if you are visiting Korea in the winter season, how about trying a bowl of patjuk with sticky rice balls?

Bon Appétit!

[Food]

[Food] Galchi-Jorim (갈치조림, Braised Hairtail)

Galchi-Jorim (갈치조림, Braised Hairtail)

Koreans love seafood as much as they love meat, freshwater food and local vegetables. Koreans eat and use most resources from the sea including fish, shell and marine plants.

According to a recent survey carried out by the Korean Maritime Institute in 2020, the most eaten seafood is squid, followed by mackerel, laver, hairtail and flatfish.

Today's fish is hairtail (also known as cutlass fish), which is one of the most popular seafoods in Korea. It's been caught in Korea, Japan, China and also in South-East Asia. It has a very long, shiny, silver-colored body with sharp teeth. It aggressively preys on smaller fish. It's called 'Galchi' in Korean, which means 'Sword Fish', because of its look and the way it swims. It swims like other fish do but it can also swim vertically. Hence the name 'sword fish'. You'll be convinced by the following pictures :)

Contrary to its tough appearance, it has a very soft and silky flesh loved by all. However, it's unfortunate to say that hairtail is one of the most expensive fish, so people can't eat it everyday like mackerel or anchovy. Nevertheless, it's worth keeping in mind that the dark-hairtail from Mokpo is a little cheaper than the silver-hairtail from Jeju Island :) Koreans usually roast it over a grill with salt but they love Galchi-Jorim (Braised Hairtail) most :)

Roasted silver hairtail

Galchi-Jorim (갈치조림, Braised Hairtail)

Put a chopped piece of hairtail into a pot with water, spicy sauce with chili powder, daikon and vegetables, and braise it till the chopped hairtail is well cooked. Then it becomes somewhat like a spicy fish stew with a spicy and savory flavor :) Moreover, the flesh of the hairtail easily absorbs the sauce, adding more flavor with the stew. Spicy, salty and savory with a silky flesh! It doesn't get much better than this as a favorite Korean dish. So galchi-jorim is one of the most popular dishes on the Korean lunch or dinner menu. Many Korean restaurants sell galchi-jorim too. You can easily find good galchi-jorim restaurant in Seoul :)

Bon Appétit!

[Food] Cockle Recipe (꼬막, Ggomak)

[Food]

[Food] Cockle Recipe (꼬막, Ggomak)

Winter is the season of seafood, fish and shells begin to gain fats to store energy for survival during cold winter. So you can taste rich flavor of the sea during winter of Korea. Moreover some seafood that you can only eat in winter entertains our tongue. Likewise amberjack that we talked last time, cockle (꼬막, Ggomak in Korean) is also typical winter seafood of Korea. It's chewy and firm flesh is gourmet of Korea that you don't want to miss in winter.

Cockle / Red Shell is called 'Ggomak/꼬막' in Korean

Cockle are usually cooked as seasoned spicy salad called 'Muchim (무침)'. Muchim is mixing raw ingredients (Vegetable, meat, seafood etc) with spicy and salty seasoning which includes chili powder, soy sauce, vinegar, sesame powder and etc. Cockles are usually steamed and cooked into muchim with soy sauce and chili powder seasoning on it.

Blood cockle muchim with red chili powder, soy sauce, chopped green onion on it

Cockle muchim

Cockle muchim's recipe is very simple. Steam cockle with steam cooker, make muchim seasoning and top the seasoning on steamed cockles. However making muchim seasoning is the hardest part. You have to control spiciness and saltiness to make balanced taste by putting appropriate amount of chili powder and soy sauce. Every cook in Korea has different cockle muchim recipe and secrets for the taste, so there's no best cockle muchim recipe but you have to find your best one.

Cockle muchim, cockle pancake, steamed cockle with side dishes

Most cockle in Korea caught in the West Sea where has wide and clean sea land that nurtures numerous marine animals and plants. Bulgyo-Eup of Bosung-Gun in Jeonnam province (Southern west part of South Korea) produces most cockle in South Korea. So you can taste fresh cockle dishes and other seafood if you visit Bulgyo-Eup in Winter.

Cockle muchim on top of spicy cold noodle

Cockle bibimbab, it's popular dish in South Korea now

Some people don't like winter because of its cold weather, but winter gives you more tasty food and dish on the other hands. So try cockle muchim and other cockle dishes now before winter pushed away by spring :) If you miss it now, you might have to wait for a year to taste :) Hope you can eat as many as you want to :)

Bon Appétit!