Korean Restaurant: Seasonal Food
In the agricultural society of the past, Koreans were very attentive to the change of seasons. For each month, the people developed unique folk customs to celebrate and commemorate the change of time, and enjoyed special dishes made of seasonal foods. Among numerous seasonal occasions, several are still widely observed by the general public.
Seollal-Lunar New Year's Day / February
On the first day of the Lunar New Year, Koreans hold a memorial service for their ancestors, and perform "sebae", a formal bow of respect to their elders as a New Year's greeting. The most common food for this day is tteokguk (rice cake soup). In Korea, it is said that you cannot become a year older without eating a bowl of tteokguk on New Year's Day.
Jeongwol Daeboreum-First Full Moon Day / February
The first full moon day of the New Year is the time to perform rites to help avert disasters and bad luck. The most typical dishes for this day are ogokbap (steamed rice with five grains: rice, red bean, kidney bean and two kinds of millet) and mugeun namul (9 to 12 different dried vegetable dishes such as bracken fern, radish leaves, bellflower roots, mushrooms, etc.).
At dawn on "jeongwol daeboreum", people crack walnuts, chestnuts or peanuts and sip rice wine, praying for good health for the whole year.
Sambok-Three days to mark the hottest period of summer
The three days of chobok , jungbok, and malbok are called sambok, and they mark respectively the beginning, middle and end of the lunar calendar's traditional hottest period of summer. Since the old days, people would eat hot meat dishes on these days to boost their stamina. A typical food for sambok is samgyetang, which is a stewed whole chicken stuffed with sticky rice, ginseng, jujube and garlic, and seasoned with salt and pepper.
Chuseok-Korean Thanksgiving Day / September
Chuseok and Seollal are the two biggest holidays in Korea. On Chuseok, people visit ancestral graves to thank their ancestors for a good harvest and for the well being of their family. Special foods for Chuseok are songpyeon (crescent-shaped rice cakes) and torantang (taro soup). Songpyeon is a rice cake hand-filled with any of various fillings made of bean, chestnut, jujube or sweetened sesame seeds, and steamed with pine needles. Along with newly picked fruits, these foods are presented at the altar for the ancestral memorial service.
Dongji-Winter Solstice / December
Dongji is the shortest day of the year. On the day of dongji, Koreans eat patjuk, red bean porridge, with rice balls in it. Since ancient times it was believed that red beans drive away evil spirits and prevent bad luck.
