Valentine's Day Chocolates

In Korea women give men chocolate for Valentine's Day. We watched the ritual several times while enjoying red drinks at the Seoul Hyatt. Our friend gave us chocolates too:One month later, on White Day, men return the gesture by giving candy to women.I guess my self-made holiday, Analog Holiday, is not really unique after all. On this day I treat my husband to his favorite "man" things. We celebrate it on January 14, one month before V-day. I'm not sure if he likes it as much as I like V-day!

Daeborum - Full Moon Foods

Yesterday was daeborum, the first full moon of the lunar new year. On this day, Koreans eat certain foods for health and vitality. Traditionally the foods provided the vitality that farmers needed for the farming season to come. I tagged along while a friend shopped for the foods at Emart. Here are the foods she bought:
Rice cakes (upper lefthand corner) made with rice, fruits, and chestnuts:
Vegetables (naemul) and rice (a mix of several types and red bean). The red bean gives the rice a reddish-brown color. Here are the pre-made options:

They must eat an odd number of vegetable dishes. Ideally, they should eat them eleven times in one day.

Multi-grained rice by the bag:

The vegetables were harvested during the previous season. They are dried and rehydrated for this meal. They can also be purchased fresh:

The vegetables are mixed with oil and mild seasonings. Walnuts and peanuts may also be eaten.

Here's to good health this lunar new year!

Lunar New Year Gift

Koreans give gift boxes for lunar new year. Eric received this one from an employee: A couple's apple wine box!
For man...for woman

It contained multiple bottles of apple wine of different strengths, along with three shot glasses.

Perfect for our next get together.

Ddeokguk Soup for Seollal

Lunar new year or Seollal is on January 26 this year. Koreans visit family, wear hanbok, see the first rays of sunrise, give gifts to kids, show respect for parents, and eat ddeokguk soup. No one works today, and Korean employees don't even work tomorrow!

We decided to try ddeokguk soup, a mixture of seasonings, rice cakes, and mandu. My friend prepared two versions, a rich, pork mandu for the guys, and a light, kimchi mandu for the ladies.

She topped the soup with egg white or yolk strips and dried seaweed:

The snowy weather was perfect for hot soup:Everyone is one year older upon eating the soup. The soup also provides good luck.
The soup was absolutely delicious! The mandu was so tender, and the broth was flavorful.

Our hostess purchased the side dishes (and mandu) from a local vendor. They included fish, meat, and seasoned spinach, bracken, sprouts, and an unidentifiable vegetable. The wife of our host's boss provided the kimchi'i. She prepares 100 cabbage heads worth of kimchi'i each year! Talk about spicy.

We ate Korean cookies and dried persimmons for dessert. The cookies are deceiving. Though light and airy, they're saturated with oil and sugar. We spent the next five hours chatting and playing Rock Band. Talk about carpal tunnel syndrome! By the time we left, we were ready for dinner!

Happy New Year!

Hot Porridge on a Cold Day in Bundang

Eric and I spend Sunday afternoons together. We take turns planning an activity. This past weekend we visited an upscale neighborhood that he discovered when cycling. The street was quiet, not crowded, tree-lined, organized, and clean:We stopped at Bon Juk for a snack. The sign advertised black bean juk because Koreans traditionally eat this porridge one day in December.

Due to lean economic times, we shared a bowl. Fortunately the bowl was huge!

We alternated bits of kimchi'i with spoonfuls of porridge. I didn't like to mix the two items. The porridge tasted like beans - no spices, little salt, no sugar. It also contained glutinous rice balls, the tastiest part.

After our snack we returned to the bus stop. I couldn't resist this photo of contrasts: a love hotel (aptly called Hotel Novios) nextled between expensive high rise apartments.

At least unfaithful spouses and unwed young people need not travel far from home!