It's scary to think this but many of the rice cakes sold at stores and restaurants may have been contaminated with e-coli. This is just irresponsible for it puts a blight on the entire food industry. On top of that rice cakes that were returned for failing sanitation tests were given to charity groups. Shame on you Songhak foods. Readers, I suggest you stop eating rice cakes until they get this all sorted out.  Via soompi ( http://www.soompi.com/2015/07/07/korean-rice-cake-manufacturer-shocks-public-after-knowingly-distributing-heavily-contaminated-food/ ) " Korea’s number one rice cake manufacturer,  Songhak Foods , brought shock to the Korean public when it was revealed on July 6 that the company had been distributing rice cakes containing E.coli and harmful pesticides to large marts and franchises from last June to January of this year. The amount of food distributed amounts to 18 billion won (approx. 16 million USD). Some sources state the contaminated food...

  These days I feel like I am always running around for work and meetings and such so I have just a little time to grab some food and go. I try to eat as healthy as possible, but sometimes I like indulge in some junk food. One of my favorite goto snacks is pumpkin rice cake (hobak tteok). Nakwon tteokjip in Insadong packages them individually so it is like an energy bar. It has a slight pumpkin flavor and also black and red beans, chestnuts, peas, and some dates. It's a great snack to have and it is pretty healthy. Nakwon tteokjip is pretty creative with their tteok selection. I recently had a cheese rice cake. It looked like cheese even if it didn't quite taste like it. They also have daechu, black raspberry, mugwort, green tea, and black rice. Good stuff and they are made fresh every day. Another snack I have is gukhwa bang. It's an ice cream sandwich that is in the shape of a flower. Inside there is creamy ice cream and there is a chewy layer of rice cake an...

Songgi Mushroom These days, I am into snacking and I love carbs. It must have something to do with the exercise that I'm doing. I try to run a couple of days a week so my metabolism is a bit quicker than it was. So...I can snack and go and not worry so much. But being busy with a couple different projects I haven't had many full meals. I eat and I go. So here are some quick bites I have had in the last couple of days. Up first is Songgi mushrooms which are considered to be the highest quality mushrooms in Korea. A box costs 100-120,000 won and I think you might get 8 or so. While I was stopping by in the morning to visit my favorite monk, Dae Ahn Sunim, she insisted that I have a few of these mushrooms. They were cooked simply -just steamed, yet they had a wonderful punch of flavor that felt like an endorphine high. Lovely stuff. I recommend you try them. Pumpkin Rice Cake Another thing I've been eating a lot of are pumpkin rice cakes. I think they are much bet...

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...

In January and February, O'ngo Culinary School will be offering Saturday Cooking Classes for those hoping to learn Korean cuisine and meet other foodies. You'll learn Korean favorites such as Daktoritang, Bibimbap, Japchae, and Sundubu throughout the 2 month course. You'll get a deep understanding of the culture and the techniques of Korean cuisine from our award winning chefs. First, you'll see a demonstration from the chef, then you'll have a chance to make your own, and then you'll get to eat what you made. January 29th: Korean New Year's Class: Mandu Rice Cake Soup February 5th: OFF HOLIDAY February 12th: Sundubu and Seafood Pancake February 19th: Japchae and Spicy Pork March 5th: Kimchi and Bulgogi March 12th: Daktoritang and Vegetable Side Dishes March 19th: Dolsot Bibimbap and Bean Sprout Soup The classes will be offered in English at 11am and at 3pm. You can sign up for 1 or all of the classes. There are 3 classes a month  and classes...

Crescent Moon Rice Cakes: Songpyeon 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 would come true if they prayed to the moon. Songpyeon is made by kneading rice flour with hot water and mung beans. Then, the filling is put into the dough. Songpyeon is lat...

Last week the Agency for Traditional Market Administration sponsored a market tour and a Crescent Moon Rice Cake Cooking Class with O'ngo Food Communications for Filipino Mothers and children currently married to Korean spouses in Korea. It was a great day and we started off with a market tour and then we went to a cooking studio to make the chuseok treats: Songpyeon. Songpyeon, or Crescent Moon Rice Cakes, are often eaten during this Korean holiday to signify the coming of Autumn and to commemorate the relationship of the Earth and the moon. Market Tour in Korea The mothers and the children really enjoyed the market tour and the shop owners were very kind for every step of the way, they kept on giving food the children and the mothers. I think they had quite a lot of kimchi, whole baby crabs, crispy bindaetteok and other specialty Korean foods before they got to the cooking studio. Filipino Mothers and Children in the Korean Market Say Cheese! Pumpkin, Chestnuts, Chi...

With a friend I went to Yoon Sook-ja's Rice Cake Cafe to enjoy a bit of afternoon tea with some rice cake snacks. I have worked with Yoon Sook-ja in the past and I find her an absolutely delightful person. Her rice cakes are works of art and they taste delicious as well. I had the mushroom tea (it's the dark tea below.) This tea had Korean dates (jujubes), pine nuts, mushrooms, and other stuff. I really don't recall the name of the drink but after drinking it I felt a bit lightheaded. Now, this could be because of all the late hours I have been putting in lately, but it also could have had something with the tea. My friend's Pumpkin latte tasted like a Korean pumpkin. It didn't have espresso, so I don't think I would consider it a latte. It was more a steamed milk with pumpkin. I enjoyed it a lot more than the pumpkin spice coffee drinks in the states that have nutmeg and other craziness in it. Oh, and if you have a question on which rice cake to get, I reco...

Chef Shawn has been testing tteokbokki at the O'ngo Cooking Studio in preparation for our class tomorrow. The first version is the traditional soupy version topped with some sesame leaves. He added pineapple for sweetness. The second version is more of a crispy variation with red chili paste. I liked the second one more. Tteokbokki: Rice Cakes in Red Chili Paste Sauce Topped with Sesame Leaves and has Pineapple Crispy Rice Cake with Red Pepper Flakes and Sesame Seeds They are like Tatertots, only better.