Chuseok Chuseok  Chuseok is the Korean version of Thanksgiving. During this holiday, the family gives thanks to their ancestors by welcoming the spirits into their houses to taste the ethereal flavors of the year's harvest. This may sound superstitious, but the real intention is to commemorate the departed. Because without our ancestors, literally, we wouldn’t exist. This is a family holiday and to be invited to a family's Chuseok celebration is a very special honor. Basically, the family is accepting the guest into their family to not only meet the living relatives that attend, but also the spirits that have passed. During my first year in Korea I was bestowed this special honor by the Kim family in Gyeong Ju. Jikyeong was a student of mine and we became fast friends and she knew that I was new to Korea and I didn't have anyone to celebrate this holiday with. I accepted her invitation, but with one request: I wanted to participate in the preparation of the vari...

Crescent Moon Rice Cakes: Songpyeon With Chuseok coming up, I thought you should know a bit about the classic food. This article was published 1 year ago on this site and it has been reprinted with permission. Here's another great column from Lindsey Huster. With Chuseok less than a week away, preparations have long been in the works for this food-lovers holiday. Already coworkers are bringing home pears, SPAM and other boxed goods. The timely, uxorial duties have also fallen upon Korean women to (once again) exhaustively prepare large quantities of food. Although the holiday is known for its traditional japchae, bulgogi and fruit, Songpyeon remains the ultimate attribute of this holiday season. Songpyeon, or crescent moon rice cake, consists of rice flour dough, which is stuffed with an endless possibility of fillings. Although the rice cake itself is a half-moon shaped, the filling is always molded into a full moon shape. At one time, people believed that their wishes wo...

A blast from the past. Here's one of the first restaurant reviews I posted on Seoul Eats back when this blog was called, www.happylunatic.com (then epicourageous.com). Nolboo Sulfur Fed, Mud Jar Roasted Duck Say what! Behind the Express Bus terminal in Seoul, next to the Marriot Hotel, there is a Nolboo restaurant that serves "Sulfur Duck Roasted in Mud." It is called the 놀부 유화오리 진홁구이 (Nolboo Yuhwa-ori jinhukgui). At this restaurant you get duck that's fed sulfur and then stuffed with sticky brown rice, black rice, sweet potato, beans, ginko, dae-chu (Korean red dates), deer antler, ginseng, licorice, angelica, and who knows what else. The duck are fed sulfur (I'm not sure how they feed them sulfur, but I assume it goes into their feed). The reasoning behind the sulfur is: that direct contact with sulfur is a dangerous substance for all mammals other than ducks. Sulfur has curative qualities, but it is toxic for other mammals. The idea is that the ducks e...