‘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.

Are you "Soju" experienced?

When you travel in Korea, and if you are lucky enough to have a good Korean friends to have good time with, you have more than 90% of chance to experience "Soju".

"Soju" is a distilled liquor similar to Vodka. But, lower alcohol volume, about 19% while Vodka is +40%. Some special Soju producers' more expensive and higher quality Sojus are as strong as Vodka, but normal Korean people enjoy factory made ones. Those are very cheap 1,000 Won (less than 90 Cents in USD) in a market, or 3,000 Won (do the math yourself) in most restaurants or drinking places.

Koreans love to have dinner with Soju. Since Soju is not a strong drink, it goes very well with meats, fish, and vegetable dishes. Especially on grill tables (Koreans love to cook their beef and/or pork on the dinner table), while waiting meats are done, Koreans start their dinner session ahead drink Soju with small side dishes. So conversation and chatting start right away enjoying the drink and food. And, it goes all along till the end of the dinner. Korean dinner table is the spot to start and maintain friendships. It is a beautiful way to finish the day.

[KOREAN TASTE] 'Gahm Ja Tang' (Potato Stew)

The direct translation of 'Gahm Ja Tang' is 'Potato Stew'. However, the food's main ingredient is pork bones with meats. It has potatoes in it. But, Koreans enjoy the meat around the bones.

This dish is a great example of 'closer to the bones, sweeter the meat'. You might find you are struggling with bones to dig out the meats. But, after the short struggle, you will enjoy the taste of the pork, tendered and seasoned well with the soup.

The soup of the stew is based on 'bean paste', the product of very complex fermentation of soy beans. And, a lot of vegetables are put into the soup, and mixed with juice from the bones and meat to complete this delicious stew.

Usually, when the stew is served to a table, it is precooked without fresh vegetables. And, on the table, fresh vegetables are placed on the top of the precooked. Then you have to wait until the stew is boiled properly.

Most Koreans start eat the stew by tasting the soup during boiling. The soup is very tasty with some hint of sweetness and sourness mixed with great meat & bone broth. So the soup itself becomes a great companion for 'Soju' naturally. ('Soju' is Korean version of Vodka.)

Then when the stew is completed, you can start dig in the meats, potatoes and vegetables along with clean tasting 'Soju'. And, after the meats and vegetables are gone, you can still enjoy the soup. If you are still hungry, the most restaurants give you a bowl of steamed rice to eat with the soup.

If you are traveling Korea, or living with a place close to Korean communities in your country, look for a luck to find good Korean friends to take you to a restaurant serving 'Gahm Ja Tang'. This dish represents Korean tastes in many ways. And, I am sure you will enjoy every part of the food. Just don't forget you have to order 'Soju' to complete the new experience. I wish for your luck.

[KOREAN TASTE] Homemade Tofu

Special Homemade Tofu

The best way of tasting homemade tofu is 'not cooking'. Eat as it is with some kind of sauce and/or garnish.
Then the dish becomes a delicacy of simplicity. If the tofu was made with roughly ground beans, you can feel soybean taste as it is.
My favorite way to enjoy 'uncooked' tofu is to have with fast fried Kimchi next to it.
Just chop Kinchi and pan fry with some oil and butter if you like. If you want, you can fry with thin sliced pork. But, I wouldn't recommend it when you having real high quality tofu. Because if the fried Kimchi has too much flavor, you can't taste tofu well.
The photo is the dish I had a month ago with my friend. We went out of Seoul to enjoy food and drink. And, we ended up to step in a restaurant serving homemade tofu with its villages special soybean variety.
We enjoyed a lot: simple clean taste with great Kimchi and SOJU.