‘MAKOLI’ is HOT!

In many Asian countries, including Japan and, of course, Korea, new hot trend drink is MAKOLI. This drink is a Korean traditional brew made with rice and/or other grains such as wheat. It is often called as ‘Nong Ju’ meaning “farmer’s drink”. As the meaning of the name suggests, MAKOLI was the most popular drink for ordinary working class people before beer was produced in Korea. And, now the popularity is back not only overwhelming Korea, but quenching many Asians’ thirsts.

MAKOLI is a raw drink before precipitation and filtering process to separate clear portion to get ‘Chung Ju’ similar to ‘Sake’ in Japan. This unrefined brew is light on alcohol about 6~7 percentage. The color is milky or cloudy. Since MAKOLI still contains starch of ingredients, it is relatively heavy bodied with refreshing taste, the flavor of the grain, and the mixture hints of sourness, bitterness, and sweetness. This complex, yet refreshing taste makes MAKOLI go along well with the most of Korean dishes.

The simplest way to enjoy MAKOLI is to have with KIMCHI, the most popular Korean vegetable dish. Some Koreans have the drink with fresh cabbages dipping into simple sauces, even mayo. (Korean cabbage is famous for its high sweetness.) The most popular dish for MAKOLI among Koreans is ‘Jeon’ or ‘Buchimgae’. These two names are kind of confusing. But, they refer dishes either single or mixed ingredients of vegetables, seafood coated with flour & egg mixture, and fried on oiled skillet. Depending on recipes, the ingredients are coated only with eggs or only with flour & water mixture. Due to wide selection of ingredients and cooking method, ‘Jeon’ or ‘Buchimgae’ has very many varieties.

‘Pah (spring onion) Jeon” with Seafood.

well prepared “Pah Jeon”

‘Pah Jeon’ is the most popular variety. Many places especially close to colleges or industrial area serves ‘Pah Jeon’. This particular ‘Jeon’ has a very similar look of pizza. And, it has very same concept of sharing as pizza has. Instead of beer, Koreans are drinking MAKOLI with friends with this dish to refresh their souls from daytime stress. Then, the table becomes a paradise. With a few bucks in the pocket, this is a great bargain. And, I wish you are lucky to have a good Korean friend to experience this happy moment with these good Korean tastes.