[Food]

[Food] Hwachae (Fruit Punch, 화채)

Hwachae is a typical Korean summer food. Its recipe descends from centuries ago and its official recipe was written in the 19th century. It's very similar to western-style punch except that it is a non-alcoholic food.

Hwachae is made of omija (schisandra/magnolia vine) juice or honey water, sugar and other fruits or flowers. Traditional hwachae uses many ingredients including watermelon, pear, azalea, rose, mandarin, apple, strawberry, cherry, peach, citron and grapefruit. 

Hwachae is a very popular food in summer because of its cold, refreshing, sweet, fruity and sour flavor.

It's very easy and inexpensive to make, but it was traditionally eaten only by the royal family, nobles and the wealthy because ice and fruit were very expensive ingredients in olden times.

Azalea Hwachae

Omija Hwachae

Today Koreans usually use watermelon and canned fruit with soda, and often add some milk. Chop any fruit with sweet or sour flavor into small pieces and pour ice cubes and soda to chopped fruit. Voila! If you want to make hwachae with azalea or rose or citron, then the recipe becomes a bit harder because the traditional Korean court recipe has to be used for these ingredients.

Hwachae with watermelon and canned fruits

Typical hwachae - watermelon, ice cubes and soda

If you are going through a hot summer, how about a bowl of cold hwachae? It will cool your life for a moment with its sweet and refreshing taste :)

Bon Appétit! 

 [HWPL]

[HWPL] HWPL's Peace Education is Needed for Africa!

HWPL (Heavenly Culture, World Peace, Restoration of Light; Chairman Man-Hee Lee) has been running numerous peace initiatives and events with its affiliated organizations in the world.

Youth Pillars Initiative South Sudan is one such Peace NGO that is striving for peace in its country and around the world. It operates peace education programs for the youth including farming and peace education in South Sudan.

Mr. Emmanuel Anur Towongo, founder and executive director of Youth Pillars Initiative South Sudan, experienced Independence in 2011 and the civil war from 2013. He saw many people, especially youth, who were victimized and killed because of politics and factions. He also had to survive through the war.

He says that formal education through schools, libraries and educational facilities are key to resolving the conflict in South Sudan. South Sudanese youth became extremely vulnerable and were easily manipulated by the elites as tools to make critical decisions without thinking through their actions. Actually, the majority of frontline fighters in the war were young and uneducated.

He added that, in spite of the destruction on educational facilities, the peace education program by IPYG (International Peace Youth Group, an HWPL affiliate) is making a significant impact on youth who are studying at schools in the bushes.

In particular, IPYG's broad network is proving to be of great support to Mr. Towongo. Recently, IPYG hosted their Youth Empowerment Peace Workshop online and created a space for discussion for world peace with leaders of youth organizations. They identified challenges that they had to break through within their respective country.

In the future, Mr. Towongo hopes to create an inter-school peace debate program and platform for young people so they can learn to talk to others peacefully and constructively. He asserts that communication is a very powerful factor that helps to stop conflicts within families and communities. Moreover, an healthy debate and discussion gives an opportunity for young people to acquire leadership skills.

Even though many countries in Africa are in the middle of cruel conflicts, its future is very bright because of the efforts for peace by HWPL and many African leaders.

Peace!

 [Food]

[Food] Cham-we (Korean Melon, 참외)

There are many fruits in the world, but I think this fruit is (probably) the only fruit that has 'Korean' in its name despite having been brought to Korea from China, and major species of Korean melon being invented in Japan.

There are few theories that explain the origins of Korean melon. One convincing theory is that melon originates from Guinea (Africa) and was spread to ancient Egypt and Europe - which became melons that most people know of - and was also spread to China and India. Melons from Africa came to Korea through China more than 1000 years ago, and soon became a special product in Korea with an unique scent and sweet taste that helped farmers increase profit.

The Korean melon has a milky flesh, sweet and honey-like juice and seeds that look like peeled sunflower seed. Korea used to have many species of Korean melon before the introduction of F1 species (major species of today with a yellowy skin and milky flesh) from Japan in 1957. However those original Korean melons were not as sweet as the F1 species so they quickly faded out of Korean history.

Frog Korean Melon (Original Korean Melon Species)

Striped Korean Melon (Original Korean Melon Species)

Apple Korean Melon (Original Korean Melon Species)

Korean melon is 'Cham-we (참외)' in pure Korean language. Cham-we(참외) means 'Not shabby, very good' which implies the meaning, 'Better taste and scent than cucumber'.

Today, the Korean melon is one of the most popular fruits in the Korean summer, quenching one's thirst with its sweet and refreshing juice. Its juice is very sweet and cool, so give it a try :)

Bon Appétit! 

 [HWPL]

[HWPL] HWPL Peace Libraries for Children and Peace of Myanmar

HWPL (Heavenly Culture, World Peace, Restoration of Light: Chairman Man-Hee Lee) has been building HWPL peace libraries for children in Myanmar to implement HWPL's peace initiatives including peace education.

It's being led by Ven.Ashin Htavara, who is the general secretary of the All Burma Monks' Representative Committee (ABMRC) of Myanmar. He is actually staying in Norway because he was exiled from his country for leading the Saffron Revolution in 2007. However, he is still working for peace in Myanmar today with HWPL.

Regarding the current situation in Myanmar, he said it's very likely to become a civil war so the help of the global community and prayers of the family of peace are desperately needed. He emphasized that the military is mercilessly killing people and it must cease.

He explained that he learned about HWPL and Chairman Man-Hee Lee after being exiled to Norway, and thoroughly acknowledged the importance of peace and peace education in elementary schools. Therefore, from 2018, he began to build HWPL peace libraries to teach peace.

In the future, he hopes to run peace education, peace activities and peace campaigns throughout the libraries. He was moved by Chairman Man-Hee Lee's pure passion for peace when he joined HWPL in 2016, and he was appointed as an HWPL Publicity Ambassador soon after in May 2018.

He opened the first HWPL peace library in Myanmar on June 2nd 2018 in the Payafon area, and the 4th HWPL Peace Library is about to open. He hopes for Myanmar to restore peace quickly and for peace education to be given to students and citizens in Myanmar.

Now he wants to build more HWPL peace libraries and conduct HWPL peace initiatives within libraries. He said he wants to teach the importance of peace, the DPCW (the Declaration of Peace and Cessation of War) and more. He will never give up striving for peace with HWPL.

Peace!

 [Food]

[Food] Food Trip to Gangneung - Meatball House

Today is a cloudy, gloomy and rainy, but hot and moist day because today's forecast predicts showers this afternoon. After a workout at the gym, I'm a very hungry hippo. I think I want some meat, and there's one place in Gangneung that can soothe my appetite :)

I follow the road to Wolhwa street on foot, where a major railroad in Gangneung once was, but now it has become Gangneung citizens' favorite park since it was turned into one for the 2018 Winter Olympics :)

Anyway, it's way to the back streets of downtown Gangneung :)

Eh....I love Gangneung but I guess it's not as much as this artwork does...

I keep going on downtown Wolhwa street to the back streets, and there it is :)

Ta-dah, I introduce Australian Meatball House in Gangneung, the only meatball house in Gangneung. The owner of this restaurant named it because he learned Australian-style cooking when he stayed in Australia for a few years.

There are some posters that contain images of Australia, and the owner speaks English too. Obviously it has an English menu. They make very nice meatballs with a mixed tomato, cream and rose-based sauce, as well as Aussie-style meat chili hot-dog and chips. However, I only order 6 meatballs with tomato sauce without bread, cheese, chips or chili because my skin broke out a few months ago, so my diet is very restricted for therapeutic purposes...(sigh).

Despite my poor skin condition, I'm satisfied with what I ordered because it's so nice.

It looks a lot but I can eat them in a very short moment and still enjoy their full taste and texture :)

Meatballs are as big as golf balls and fully covered in tomato sauce. Tomato sauce has onions and mushrooms so you won't get bored :)

The tomato sauce is full of tomatoes, which is very refreshing, sweet, sour and savory, yet with a firm and core taste of original tomato and beef stock :)

The meatballs are very soft yet don't lose the original texture of minced meat, giving you a satisfying taste on your tongue. Coarsely chopped garlic, onion and mustard seed in the meatball prevents the dish from becoming greasy.

I'm sorry that I forgot to take a photo after eating them all because the dish was so good that I forgot I had to take a photo :)

If you ever visit Gangneung in the future, don't miss this place :)