Korean Treats to Heat You Up This Winter Part_2
Korean Treats to Heat You Up This Winter Part_2
Traditional Winter Foods
Gimjang Kimchi
Kimchi is the quintessential Korean food, and comes in large variety. Wintertime Kimchi-making is known as gimjang'. Gimjang is the preparation and storage of kimchi that will be eaten over the stark winter months. Traditionally, gimjang kimchi was the only vegetable available in the cold winter season when nothing green was to be found. As winter approaches, autumn's final harvesting consists of gathering the major ingredients for kimchi Chinese cabbages and radishes. These ingredients to make gimjang kimchi are traditionally prepared by the housewives for their family members to eat during winter.
The important factor in gimjang is storage. Gimjang kimchi is best when stored at 0, with little to no temperature fluctuation for best fermentation. Traditionally, there were designated earth holes in which gimjang kimchi jars were buried, and covered with straw mats for storage in the winter. Today, most Korean households have two refrigerators. One is the typical refrigerator while the other one is a kimchi-exclusive refrigerator, which is also a uniquely Korean electronic product.
Red Been Porridge of Winter Solstice
Winter solstice refers to the day with the fewest daylight hours in the year; therefore the night with the longest duration. This year, winter solstice was on Dec. 22, and from the very next day, daylight started to become longer, slowly chasing away winter as the sun gains its strength.
Korea's most important traditional winter solstice event is making and eating red bean paste porridge. The red beans are boiled into porridge and small glutinous rice balls are added, making the red bean paste porridge thick and sweet. Red beans symbolize the chasing away of evil spirits, and the rice balls symbolize new life. Therefore, a delicious bowl of red bean past porridge on winter solstice was believed to chase away all illnesses, and if you eat as many rice balls as your age, it finally means you have aged one year.
In Korean history, Koreans sprinkled red bean paste porridge around their homes and shared it with their neighbors to chase away evil spirits. Koreans also believed a warm winter solstice meant the coming of diseases and death, and a cold snowy winter solstice meant a prosperous New Year.
Although the winter solstice is not a major Korean holiday like Chuseok or Seollal, Korean families do get together to enjoy a sweet bowl of red bean paste porridge and wish for a healthy and prosperous New Year. Lately, many porridge restaurants have opened, so you can enjoy the red bean paste porridge any time of the year. It usually costs around 5,000 ~ 8,000. How about enjoying a filling bowl of the sweet red bean paste porridge to wish for a healthy and prosperous New Year?
Manduguk(Dumpling Soup)
Manduguk (dumpling soup) is a delicacy that warms the body and mind, and is enjoyed by almost all Koreans during the cold winter. Beautifully prepared dumplings are filled with minced beef and vegetables, then added to a hot broth along with sliced rice cakes and boiled to perfection. Although traditionally the dumplings are made of pork and beef, these days, pheasant meat, is added to the dumplings to make Pheasant Manduguk. The pink and yellowish dumpling soup is made naturally with vegetables. Although eaten throughout all the four seasons, Manduguk is especially delicious in winter and is traditionally served on New Year's Day. It is especially tasty when enjoyed with gimjang kimchi (kimchi prepared during winter) or cold mulkimchi (watery kimchi). Manduguk usually costs about 4,000 won to 7000 won per bowl depending on the region and the restaurant.
Tteokguk (Rice Cake Soup) on Lunar New Year's Day
Tteokguk is normally enjoyed in Lunar New Year's Day. On New Years morning, the whole family gathers around to have tteokguk together. Eating tteokguk, they make New Year's resolutions while wishing each other a healthy and rewarding New Year. Lately, tteokguk is often enjoyed on Solar New Year's Day. Of course you don't need a special occasion to enjoy tteokguk. Many people enjoy the food routinely as a seasonal delicacy during the winter.
To make tteokguk, first slice up garaetteok (long, white cylinder-shaped tteok) thinly and then put the pieces into soup stock seasoned with a pinch of salt or a drop of soy sauce. Garaetteok is sliced into different shapesaccording to each region in Korea. These days, sliced garaetteok is widely enjoyed in a range of soups including manduguk (dumpling soup) or ramyeon (ramen).
Ogokbap (Five-grain Rice) of Jeongwol Daeboreum (Jan. 15th by lunar calendar)
Ogokbap Ricea special festive food for Jeongwoldaeboreum, refers to cooked white rice mixed with five grains including glutinous rice, glutinous millet, red beans, glutinous kaoliang, and black beans. Depending on the region, 2 or 3 grains out of the five are interchangeable. As it is largely deemed to be much healthier to add grains when cooking white so these days, people routinely add one or two other grains. There are other festive foods to enjoy on Jeongwoldaeboreum. Traditionally, people enjoy dried wild vegetables from the previous year steamed and seasoned or simply stirred. Or they have 'bureom' (a range of nuts including pine nuts, chestnuts, walnuts, and peanuts) and wish for good luck for the whole year.
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