Pa Jeon

Korea people usually eat ‘Pa Jeon’ in rainy days, and it is very good friend of Makkoli. Nowadays, Pa Jeon is called Korea pizza or Korean pancake by many foreigners. The Pa Jeon is related with rain and the story from the old Koreans’ life. Korea was an agricultural people, so they usually do farm working. When they had a rain, they could not work. Thus, they spent time to clean their house or fix their farming gears. Even though they could not do work, they needed to eat something. However, at the time, rice was the most valuable food, so they had to find some other food. Then, it was the Pa jeon which was made by flour.

Here is my special Pa Jeon recipe

Ingredients for 2 people

Green onion (80g), flour or Pa Jeon mix powder: can have this from Korean market (80g), egg (60g), salt (4g), cooking oil (24g), and water (150ml)

Source

Soy source, vinegar, (mix half and half)

1.      Mix the Pa Jeon mix or flout with water. Then, put eggs and salt, and mix it 5minutes.

2.      Wash green onions and cut it by 5cm per each.

3.      Put the green onion into the Pa Jeon mixture. (if you want to add meet or see food, it will make taste better)

4.      Put some cooking oil in the pen, and bake the Pa Jeon mixture. ( it would be a same size like pen cake or pizza.)

5.      Serve with small dish and enjoy it with source. (Pa jeon is really good to eat with Makkoli which is Korean rice wine.)

By Sungwoo Son.

Makkoli

Makkoli is traditional Korean drink which made with fermenting a mixture of rice and water. It is very milky, off-white color, and sweetness, and it is about 6~7% alcohol. The drink was not very famous in world market, and little people knew about the Korean traditional alcohol. However, nowadays, many people know about the drink especially it is a boom in Japan. I also could find some Makkoli in the Korean market which is located in Seattle area. It was very surprise because I could see our traditional drink in western market. When Korean talk about this Makkoli, we always emphasize that Makkoli have a lot of lactic acid bacteria. Thus, the lactic acid bacteria could help your intestine health, and it would improve your immunity.

             We have hundreds of Makkoli distillery over the all of Korea. In addition, each small town has their own special style of Makkoli. Some town adds some black bean with rice, and some town adds some ginseng for the Makkoli. It gives custom taste of the drink, and it is one great way to enjoy this drink. If you know Makkoli and like Makkoli, I would recommend Makkoli trip in Korea. I believe that It will be great travel.

By Sungwoo Son Highline Community College, W.A

Soju

           Soju is most famous alcohol in Korea. It is hard liquor, and many Korean enjoy it. Soju does not have special taste and smell, and it does not have a color. It looks like water or vodka. When Korean has BBQ, they usually drink Soju especially the Soju with Samgyupsal (Korean style Pork valley BBQ). There is many reasons why Korean really like the Soju, and I will introduce two popular reasons.

Soju is very popular among Koreans in an economic downturn. I think that the reason is cheap price of Soju. When I went a liquor store in Washington, U.S, I really surprised about the price of Soju because it was expansive. The price was around six dollars, but if I buy a bottle of Soju in Korea, I usually paid dollar and half. Thus, it is very reasonable price ordinary people, and it is kind of traditional memory for Korean.

Another reason is matching with many Korean foods. When we have Korean style BBQ such as Samgyupsal and Galbi, Korean usually drink Soju. I think that Soju usually reduce the oily taste from meet. In other words, when we have a Samgyupsal (Pork valley BBQ), we usually feels very oily and fatty. However, when I have the BBQ with Soju, the Soju cleaned up those kinds of oily feeling.

At the end of every year, Korean drinks a lot of Soju in a party. Some people die by Soju because of heavy drinking, and some people drink the Soju for celebration. When Korean put Soju in their glass, they put their memoly too. I believe that Korean really love the Soju, and I would say that the Soju is a soul drink of Korean.

By Sungwoo Son

Kim Chi soup (Ji gye)

Kim chi soup

Kim chi soup is very simple home style soup. It usually cooks with old Kim Chi. Old Kim Chi are very sour, so some people do not like the taste. It easily can find from any Korean restaurant, and it is very easy to cook. I believe that nobody hate this soup if they are Korean.

Cooking Recipe (for 4-5 people)

Kim Chi   (500g)

Water    (4 cups)

Diced tofu (little)

Red pepper powder (little)

Soy sauce   (one tablespoon)

A Chives   (One lump)

A onion   (One lump)

Chicken *boneless thigh*   (200g)

Red pepper paste   (Proper quantity)

How to cook

1. Cut vegetables and chicken by one bite size.

2. Put some water into a pot, and then add soy sauce and red pepper powder.

3. Add Kim Chi into the pot, and also add vegetable and diced tofu.

4. When the soup start to boil, keep boil it for 10 minutes.

5. Serve with a small bowl and rice.

By Sungwoo Son

Sam Gye Tang

Samgyetang, it is Korean style chicken soup with ginseng. When people see the word ginseng, they probably can guess what kind of food it is. it is very health food, and Korean usually eat the food on summer. It is kind of herbal soup that contains several oriental herbs such as jujubes, ginseng, and milk vetch root. The soup is very hot and tasty. We also believe that the herbs can give very good effect for human health, so many Korean enjoy this soup. There are some steps how to cook this Samgyetang.

Ingredients

A whole chicken, 15 cups of water, 1/3 cup of rice, 10 cloves garlic, 1~2 root of ginseng, 4~5 jujubes, salt, and black pepper.

1.      Rinse and place rice with clean water in a large bowl about 30 minutes.

2.      Wash and peel garlic, rinse jujubes, and ginseng.

3.      Rinse the whole chicken thoroughly inside and outside. *do not cut it in half!!!!*

4.      Put the all mixtures such as garlic, jujubes, ginseng, and rice. Then, twist the chicken lags, and tide with thread.

5.      Place the chicken in a large pot with enough water. * the whole chicken must be in the water*

6.      Boil over higher heat for 15minutes, and cook with lower heat for an hour.

7.      After an hour, take the chicken in the bow, and put some soup from the pot.

8.      Serve with salt and black paper. * do not forget to take off the thread *

By Sungwoo Son

Kim Chi

Kim Chi is one of the most popular Korean foods. Kim Chi is not just food, and It is part of Koran culture. It is a kind of vegetable we eat with almost every Korean dish. Furthermore, the Korean Ministry of Culture and Tourism appointed Kim Chi is one of the ten representative things in Korea. Nowadays, people can find the Kim chi very easily if they go to any Korean restaurant. I also really love this food, and I would say that Kim Chi is the best and basic food of Korea. There are two important reasons why Kim Chi is the best.

Many people know that the fermented food is very healthy, and Kim Chi also one of them. Many Korean people believe that Kim Chi can help diet. Kim Chi contains capsaicin which heats our body, and it helps fat burning. In addition, the main ingredient of Kim Chi is Napa cabbage, so people can enjoy this food with very low calories. Therefore, Kim Chi is sensationally popular in Korea especially young women.

             Another reason is great taste of Kim Chi. I believe that it is not familiar to western people, and it could be very spicy and salty. I would say that it is only the first time that people who has Kim Chi. Korean usually do not eat only Kim Chi. We eat the Kim Chi with many foods such as rice, pork meet, tofu, and etc. in addition, we have a lot of ways to cook with Kim Chi, and it make their taste better. I strongly believe that everyone can like Kim Chi if they know how to enjoy this food.

By Sungwoo Son.

<Soondooboo stew recipe>

Soondooboo stew can be created in these five simple steps.

1.      Prepare sliced green onion, onion, and green pumpkin in advance

2.      In a pot, pour small amount of sesame oil and fry kimchi and pork

3.      If meat and kimchi are done, pour anchovy broth in the pot. Water is okay, but anchovy broth would be better because it brings more deep flavor

4.      If it starts to boil, put chili powder, crushed garlic, thick soy, pepper, and sliced onions and green pumpkin. If the flavor is insipid, put some salt

5.      Lastly, Soondooboo falls plop into the water.