Fried Vegetables with Potato Noodles (Japchae)

Basic Info:

            Fried vegetables with potato noodles basically have mushrooms, meat, carrot, spinach, onion and potato noodles. After frying all the vegetables and noodles, soy sauce, sault, ginger powder and olive oil are needed to make the noodles more soft and tasty. People usually have japchae when it is someone’s birthday or when they have memorial ceremonies for ancestors.

Historical Facts:

Japchae with various kinds of vegetables

            The name “Japchae” came from China where “jap” means many, various, mixed and “chae” means vegetables. The Chinese recipe book made in 1670 contains a similar food with japchae with various kinds of mushrooms and noodles fried together, which shows how japchae was influenced by Chinese traditional food.

            During Joseon Dynasty in the reign of Gwanghae-gun, a man called Lee Choong offered a bribe, japchae, to the king. Since the king had enjoyed the taste of japchae, he became nobility and the king started to order the cooks in his castle to make the same one as Lee Choong brought. This story was the beginning of how japchae got famous in Joseon Dynasty.

CCOT:

            During the time period of 1600 to 1700s, Korean recipe book explained that japchae did not have potato noodles, but a little bit of flour mixed within vegetables. Also, the vegetables included dried ginger, balloon flower root, etc. which are easily obtained in the mountains or farming places. It shows how poor peasants enjoyed having japchae as well with different ingredients. On the other hand, these days, japchae has noodles for sure with meat. It shows how Korea became wealthier than before.

Japchae made by my mother

Experience:

            I’ve always tried japchae when it was my birthday or memorial ceremonies. Since japchae has long noodles, people in the past believed that you would live a long life as those long noodles if you have japchae many times. I like it when japchae has beef in it because it tastes good with potato noodles and various vegetables.

Red Bean Gruel/ Soup (Patjuk)

Basic Info:

            Red bean soup/ gruel is made with red beans, rice and glutinous rice ball cake. People in the past used to put glutinous rice ball cakes as much as the number of age that the elders got more rice cakes in their gruel. These days, red bean gruel has honey or sugar to make it sweet, but some still enjoy the bitter taste of red beans. Koreans used to have patjuk during the 11^th and 12^th months of the lunar calendar, when it is winter solstice.

Historical Facts:

Red Bean Gruel with Glutinous Rice Ball Cakes

            Koreans have red bean gruel when it is winter solstice because they thought the red bean gruel can get rid of ghosts or goblins. Since the winter solstice was the day when a dead man called “Gong-gong-cy” went back alive as a ghost and he didn’t like red beans, such belief that red beans will get rid of those ghosts led Koreans to have red bean gruel every 11^th and 12^th months. The legend of “Gong-gong-cy” was from China, and the old poems, such as Ikjae Collection, mentions about having patjuk during winter solstice. It shows that such old custom was started from Goryeo Dynasty since the poems were from that time period.

            People also used to put patjuk in front of the gate (house’ door) or on furniture because they believed that patjuk would exorcise the evil spirits and keep the family safe. When moving to another place, they put patjuk on their furniture and shared the rest of it with neighbors. When a person was sick or having a disease, they would put patjuk on the road in front of houses so the red beans can get rid of the illness since Koreans had the images of goblins for illness or diseases at that time period.

CCOT:

            Patjuk was very common in the past that many peasants, especially those who were poor, had patjuk for meal. Koreans had patjuk in any time, whether it was summer or winter, because red beans were considered as medicine that gets rid of any evil spirits or diseases. However, people these days usually have patjuk when they are sick, just as any gruel. They don’t put any specific meanings on having patjuk as before. Some Buddhists or the elders have patjuk in winter solstice, but most of the teenagers or adults don’t follow such ritual.

Experience:

Red Bean Gruel

            In my case, my grandmother always cooked patjuk for our family when it was winter solstice because she was Buddhist and she believed in such ritual that red beans keep us safe from evil spirits and diseases. I personally like to have patjuk with honey or sugar to make it sweet because its sweetness with rice ball cakes tastes nice.

Sliced Rice Pasta Soup (Tteokguk)

Basic Info:

            Slice rice pasta soup is prepared with slices of rice cake, beef, eggs, dried laver, etc. People usually boil beef leg bone, the brisket of beef, shin fore shank, etc. to taste the deep taste of beef stock. Koreans feast on rice cake soup on the New Year’s Day morning altogether with their families, and consider the rice cake soup as age, so if you have one bowl of rice cake soup, you get one year older.

Historical Facts:

            Koreans used to have tteokguk on the New Year’s Day because they thought white rice cake would make them solemn and clean as they start the New Year. They thought the New Year is when all the creatures in earth rebirth so they had to respect such day with reverent mind, showing the religious aspect of Korea back then. They had tteokguk to hold a memorial ceremony for ancestors on the New Day with such mind as well.

Sliced Rice Pasta Soup (Tteokguk)

      In the 3^rd century B.C., Chinese collection of poems called “Hwan-sah” mentions about a soup similar with tteokguk that has meat stock as well, which shows how tteokguk was inspired by Chinese culture. The record in the mid-Joseon period briefly mentions about tteokguk in the past, which had red pepper, soy sauce and pheasant meat instead of beef. The nobility hunted pheasants with the skills learned from Yuan Dynasty in the late Goryeo period, and made dumplings with pheasant meat. Such hunting and making dumplings with meat were considered luxurious at that time. On the other hand, poor peasants had chicken instead of pheasant because pheasant was expensive and hard to get. This eventually made such saying that goes “Chicken instead of pheasant,” meaning people should have something to substitute with another if they don’t have enough power or opportunity to have the one they need.

CCOT:

            In the modern days, people usually make tteokguk with beef while the past Joseon period usually had pheasant meat or chicken for the soup. It is because Korea had economically developed and is able to get beef easier than before. However, it is the same to have tteokguk on the New Year’s Day with respectful mind.

Experience:

            I’ve always had tteokguk on the New Year’s Day with all my family members, including all my cousins in Busan and Gangwon-do. We come together and have a memorial ceremony for ancestors on the New Year’s Day with tteokguk and other traditional Korean foods. Tteokguk is one of my favorite Korean foods because the rice cake and beef tastes good together with warm beef soup.