Excited about the week-off from school?
Students get to enjoy the week to celebrate the Chuseok, or the major harvest festival held in Korea annually on the 15th day of the 8th month of the lunar calendar. Chuseok can be compared to the American Thanksgiving in that it brings together the whole family for an evening of delicious feasting. If you’re a little unfamiliar with the food aspect of Chuseok, not to worry! Go ahead and take a close look at some of the traditional foods we see (but mostly eat) during Chuseok.
1. Songpyeon
Songpyeon is a sweet, traditional Korean rice cake with special fillings containing sesame seeds, black beans, mung beans, cinnamon, pine nut, walnut, and honey. But songpyeon is not your average rice cake. These delectable treats are steamed over a layer of pine-needles, creating songpyeon’s special aroma.
2. Japchae
Japchae is a Korean noodle stir fried with sesame oils and vegetables. Served mostly as a side-dish nicely paired with a bowl of rice, a variety of healthy vegetables such as carrots, onions, spinach, and mushrooms are added to the dish to make it a little more special.
3. Hangwa
Hangwa is a sweet, traditional Korean cracker made of rice flour, honey, fruit and roots. Natural ingredients are used to decorate the food with various colors, flavours, and tastes. Hangwa is typically paired with tea for the best taste.
4. Galbijjim
Galbijjim is a Korean steamed dish made of beef or galbi. Various ingredients such as soy sauce, sesame oil, scallions, minced garlic, pepper, ground sesame with salt, ginger juice, and sugar are mixed to create a delicious sauce to go on top of the galbi. Have you had enough of the standard “K-BBQ” as a passer for eating a Korean dish? Then give this bowl a go!
5. Jeon
Jeon is a Korean traditional pancake. Usually eaten as an appetizer, there are various types of jeon depending on which ingredients are added. Some famous jeons eaten during Chuseok are yukjeon, saewoojeon (shrimp-flavored), and hobakjeon (pumpkin-flavored).
– Eunice Na (’17)
Featured Image: KOCEF