[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! 

 [Food]

[Food] Bingsu (Shaved Ice with Toppings, 빙수)

The world is now suffering from not only COVID-19 but an abnormal climate which is causing boiling hot summers. Neither people today nor in ancient times enjoyed excessively hot weather so they also enjoyed a cold dessert like we do today :)

There are many records of people eating shaved ice, ice cubes and ice cream with sweetened toppings such as fruits and juices in Egypt, China and Italy. Obviously people in the Korean peninsular loved eating cold desserts and ice in the hot summer. After the Korean War, various western ingredients (condensed milk, jelly, chocolate and more) were imported to Korea. So Koreans shaved ice cubes into small ice flakes, topped with small sweets, and the first thing they did was to top it with sweetened red bean which is a very traditional ingredient among Korean desserts.

Patbingsu (Shaved Ice with Sweetened Red bean, additionally it's topped with rice cakes and vanilla ice cream)

Seolbing (Shaved Milk Ice with sweetened red bean)

Traditional toppings for bingsu usually include sweetened red bean, sugar coated jelly cubes, rice cake cubes, condensed milk and pieces of fruits (using canned fruits is common). However, people started to think this traditional bingsu was boring so they invented more kinds of bingsu :)

Mixed Fruits Bingsu

Strawberry Bingsu

Melon Bingsu

Green Grape Bingsu

They started to top bingsu with fresh fruits, and even filled fruits with shaved ice and toppings.

Cheesecake Bingsu

Green Tea and Chocolate Bingsu

Koreans started to make bingsu out of cheesecake, green tea, chocolate, black sesame and more. Now various types of ice shave and toppings are used for bingsu and are trending in Korea :)

If you are enduring a hot blazing summer, how about a bowl of Korean style bingsu? It will cool you down with its sweet coolness :)

Bon Appétit! 

 [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!