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...

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...

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...

photo by Robyn Lee of Serious Eats. I hope everyone is having a great New Year. In Korea it is customarily to eat Rice Cake Dumpling Soup (Tteok Mandu-guk). Eating the dish is supposed to bring good luck and it means that you are officially a year older. So this Saturday, we will be going to Koong, a famous rice cake dumpling restaurant. This week we will also be joined by 2S2 (Second Saturday at 2pm): A community building organization.  This group meets on the 2nd Saturday of every month at the Twosome place in Insadong to meet up. I really feel groups like 2S2 are needed in Seoul and we should support them, because they are helping to build a better community in Seoul. So this weekend we will be meeting at Anguk Station Exit 1 at 12pm and then head over to Koong Mandu Restaurant for Rice Cake Soup. At 2pm, people can join the 2S2 group at the Twosome Place for coffee and dessert. They will also be doing a book exchange, so you can bring a book as well. Please send me ...

I'm currently in Emeryville, California with my friend Matt Kim . He is an amazing photographer and about a month ago he was in Korea and he took pictures of the rice cake fair along with Robyn Lee of Serious Eats . Matt is a foodie, so he has taken me out to get some great California eats. He was also kind enough to give me a place to stay for a couple of days in California. Today we went to 900 Grayson for Chicken and Waffles. During the course of the meal, he gave me some pointers on how to take better photos. I'll post these photos very soon. I've been looking through the photos that he took for the rice cake fair and I must tell you that they are breathtaking. I wanted to share some of them with you. If you want to see all the photos, you can find them here.

I want to thank everyone for participating in the Rice Cake festival held by the Institute of Tradtional Korean Foods on May 8th and 9th. I think it was an overwhelming success and the festival really showed Korea in a positive light all over the world. I wanted to post some media that I found on the net. First of all, I would like to thank Robyn Lee of Seriouseats.com for her coverage and for Rachel Yang for coming to the event. Secondly, I would like to thank Dr. Yoon Sook-ja, Hyang Soo-Hyang, and all the people at the Institute for Traditional Korean Food for holding the event. Also, I would like to thank Terry Rah for her help. I couldn't have done this without her. And I can't forget about Maureen O'Crowley, Chef Paul Schenks, and Chef Ciarian Hickey for their hospitality. Again, I would like to thank everyone that participated in the event. We couldn't have done it without you. Here are some links Seriouseats: http://www.seriouseats.com/2009/05/photos-from-the-...

The terminator of the food world has started to write about her adventures in Korea. This was the first night she was here and I just love the pictures. Yum. Here's Robyn From May 8 to May 12 I visited Seoul for the first time, mostly to eat as much food as I could and learn about a cuisine I knew little about. On my first night in an attempt to battle jetlag and give me my first gutbusting taste of food on South Korean soil, Dan of food blog Seoul Eats and his friends, including fellow food bloggers Joe McPherson of ZenKimchi and the walking Korean food encyclopedia that is Fat Man Seoul, took me out on a three-eatery night. You know you're with the right crowd when you eat at three places in a row. Dan's friend Rob recommended the following eatery to us, and we're all better for it. Click here for the rest

I met Mi-ju at the rice fair and I was happy to here that she and I went to the same school: The University of Delaware! Wow! Well here is her article on the Tteok Fair that she wrote for the Joongahn Ilbo. Dan As part of efforts by the government to promote Korean cuisine, the Institute of Traditional Korean Food held a rice cake, or tteok, competition at the AT center in Yangjae-dong, southern Seoul. The contest, part of the annual Seoul International Tteok Fair, held from May 8 to 9 this year, had a new twist aimed at drawing in newcomers to the tteok world. A fourth category was added to the three existing sections of the contest - students, amateurs, professionals. The new section gives non-Koreans a chance to show off their rice cake making skills. News spread fast and 40 participants turned up on Friday to have a go. Contestants were given an hour to make their rice cake. The options were to make a coffee rice cake, pressed flower rice cake or come up with their own original co...

So the Institute of Traditional Korean Food and I invited Robyn Lee from Seriouseats.com and her own blog to Seoul because she is a talented writer and photographerr. I mean she can make McCol look good! Check out her foodie adventures at her Flickr Stream. Here's Robyn: You can check out my photos at http://www.flickr.com/photos/roboppy .They're all uploaded, but not all visible yet cos i'm slowly..addingtags and descriptions and what not. Fun! Here's a gem: http://www.flickr.com/photos/roboppy/3515135687 And Canadian Night: http://www.flickr.com/photos/roboppy/3526358508/

Robyn posted this on Seriouseats the other day and I know I'm not the only person in Seoul that reads seriouseats or her own personal blog. She and I have been going on crazy food adventures and I need some people to show her around today. If you are interested give her a ring and show her around. So far we have eaten: hoduk, lots of rice cakes, lotteria, twotwo chicken, the grand prix pizza from Mr. Pizza, Old style teokbokki, we ate dinner with Chef Schenks at the Intercontinental Hotel at the COEX, patbingsu, samcheongdong sujebi, bossam, dongshim galbi, and...probably other stuff I can't recall right now. So...read the post below and help Robyn out. I think she'll be ready to go around 1pm. If you are coming to the tteok fair in Yangjae, look for me. I'll be helping out there all day. Rachel will be giving her food demonstration at 1pm so be sure to come for that. She is making Ricecake moussaka, Oxtail Ragout, and Makkoli Sabayon. Dan International Tteok Fair in ...

Hey folks, On May 8th and 9th, I am helping to organize a Rice Cake Fair at the aT Center in Yangjae. The event starts at 10am and finishes at 6 each day. The event will have diplomats from many different countries, chefs, and even the first lady. I am currently looking for some English speaking Korean volunteers. There will be many English speaking people from all over and they would appreciate English speaking help. Also, this would be a great way for you to practice English. You could volunteer for as long or as short a time as they would like. We are looking for 5 good people to help. If you know anyone that would be interested, please send me an e-mail at seouleats (at) gmai (dot) com or respond to this message. Thank you, Dan

Wow! Robyn Lee of Serious Eats posted a post about the rice cake fair that is happening this Friday and Saturday at the aT Center in Yangjae. It starts at 10am and the rice cake making competition for foreigners will start at 2pm. I hope you will be there. This is your chance to meet Robyn Lee from Seriouseats and The Girl Who Ate Everything. You will also be able to see cooking demonstrations from the fabulous Rachel Yang of Joule Restaurant. See you there! Dan Here's Robyn: When I was little, the term  rice cake  meant fat, round, mostly flavorless disks of puffed rice that I thought people only ate if they were on a diet. At some point this image left my mental food dictionary, and now rice cakes can only mean  the soft, squidgy Asian variety made of pounded glutinous rice  transformed into sweet and savory dishes. Growing up in a Chinese family with an affinity for Japanese cuisine, I've tried a variety of Chinese and Japanese rice cakes, but Korean rice cakes—in particula...

Still Alive - A look on the Tsukiji Fish Market of Tokyo Uploaded by l_apostrophe You have to watch this video. Yann Kerloch who is a very talented documentary filmmaker from France made this video in Tokyo. I think it is brilliantly shot and it really tells the entire story of the market. I'm very excited because Yann and his friend Gilles have agreed to make a documentary of the 7th Ricecake fair that is happening next week from May 8th to 9th at the aT Center in Yangjae. I can't wait to see what they'll come up with. Be sure to come to the Rice Cake fair to to see all the different activities. There will be rice cake making classes on both days, exhibitions, seminars, business booths, and rice cake competitions. It'll be fun for the whole family. I hope to see you there! Dan

7th Seoul International 'Tteok' Fair The 7th Seoul International 'Tteok' Fair, held on May 8 th and 9 th , will be a celebration of a time-honored Korean delicacy. Tteok has significant importance in Korean culture. The rice cake is eaten on the wintry, New Year’s Day to signify luck, purity, and another year of life. It is decorated with flowers to welcome spring. To battle the summer heat, rice cake pearls swim in honeyed water with pine nuts. In fall, red bean tteok is eaten to ward off bad luck. This year's fair will have seminars, exhibitions, and activities for all ages. This year will truly be an international competition because it will have the first international rice cake competition. This competition will be open to non-Korean nationals and the first place contestant will win 2 million won. This competition will be on May 8 th at 3pm. There will be competitions for Koreans as well on both days. Plus, there will be over 50 international trading compan...

The first rice cake orientation at the Institute for Korean Traditional Foods was a big hit. Sixty-five people came to the orientation and they all had a chance to tour the tteok museum, view a cooking demonstration, and then make their own rice cake. They learned how to make pressed flower rice cake and coffee tteok cake. This event really showed how international Korea is. There were people from India, Saudi Arabia, Africa, China, Singapore, France, Germany, Russia, Mongolia, Japan, Spain, and America in attendance. The teachers and assistants were all amazing and helpful and in the end, all the students were able to eat what they made. There will be one more rice cake class this Saturday, April 18th at the Institute of Korean Traditional foods near Changdeok Palace (Jongno 3-ga exit 7). All are invited to come and experience making this Korean delicacy. The classes are free, but the spaces are limited so be sure to make a reservation by calling 741.5477 / 010 4272 1900 or by emaili...

The first rice cake orientation at the Institute for Korean Traditional Foods was a big hit. Sixty-five people came to the orientation and they all had a chance to tour the tteok museum, view a cooking demonstration, and then make their own rice cake. They learned how to make pressed flower rice cake and coffee tteok cake.  This event really showed how international Korea is. There were people from India, Saudi Arabia, Africa, China, Singapore, France, Germany, Russia, Mongolia, Japan, Spain, and America in attendance.  The teachers and assistants were all amazing and helpful and in the end, all the students were able to eat what they made. There will be one more rice cake class this Saturday, April 18th  at the Institute of Korean Traditional foods near Changdeok Palace (Jongno 3-ga exit 7). All are invited to come and experience making this Korean delicacy. The classes are free, but the spaces are limited so be sure to make a reservation by calling 741.5477 / 010 4272 1900 or by emai...

A Dosirak (도시락) in Korean is a lunch box and Dr. Yoon has invented her own version using tteok as the main component. To the top corner you have a crisp lettuce salad dressed with a gochujang (chili) and tengjang (fermented soybean) dressing. It's a tangy dressing with a slight hint of heat. In the center are tiny myeolchi (멸치). These are baby anchovies sauteed with a bit oil and flavored with crunchy peanuts and garnished with red peppers and green onions. To the bottom left are kimchi kimbap. The rice part of the roll is made out of ricecake. It's an unconventional approach to a timeless dish. The chewyness of the rice cake (떡) was bizarre and welcome at the same time. Above the rice cake are sweet potato rice cake snacks. These have mashed sweet potato in the middle. The potato is then are wrapped in rice cake and fried. Then they are glazed with a sweet candy coating. It is crispy on the outside and soft in the inside. It's like an M & M- just imagine sweet potato i...

The 7th Seoul International ‘Tteok’ Fair 2009 The Institute of Korean Traditional Food with the Korea Agro-Fisheries Trade Corporation are organizing the first rice cake – teok – competition for foreigners. This event will be held on Friday, May 8th from 2 to 4pm at the aT Center in Yangje-dong, 2nd Exhibition Hall. The competition will invite 40 foreigners- amateurs and professionals – to make this Korean traditional food. Foreigners can reside in or outside of Korea. Contestants will be given 1 hour to make their recipes. New techniques and ingredients are encouraged. The competition will give a 2 million won prize to the person with the best recipe. The second place winner will receive 1 million won and the 3rd place winner will receive 500,000 won. The Institute of Korean Traditional Food will be holding two free orientation sessions for participants of the event at 3pm on April 11th and 18th. Potential contestants must attend one of the two sessions. The sessions will give lessons...