Since it was Chuseok in Korea, we had a Korean cooking day, and I invited Melina and Emese to my place (Yang live in same apartment with me). Chuseok is a Korean holiday where families gather to cook and eat together to celebrate the fall harvest. I was happy to celebrate Chuseok in Finland with my international friends and introduce them to our holiday.
Chuseok dishes typically consist of foods with meat, so Yang and I were mindful of Emese, who is vegetarian. We decided on ‘bibimbap’, ‘jeon (pancakes)’, ‘ganjang guksu (soy sauce noodles)’, and ‘yakgwa’ for dessert.
We went to the Asian market and Lidl to buy ingredients. At the Asian market, there were a lot of Asians, which I think is because many Asian countries share the Mid-Autumn Festival.
- 비빔밥 (Bibimbap)
Bibimbap is a traditional Korean dish, and I think it’s the most popular abroad. It’s mixed rice with various vegetables, a fried egg, and gochujang(red chili paste). We chopped carrots, zucchini, and onions, then stir-fried them. These were placed on the rice with a fried egg and gochujang.
Since cooking rice takes time, we used ready-cooked rice that Yang brought from Korea.
The gochujang was a bit too spicy for Melina, so we made two versions of bibimbap: one for the German and French, and one for the Koreans. It would have been better with more ingredients, but it was still delicious.
2. 감자전, 두부/호박전 (Gamja-jeon, Dubeo/Hobak-jeon)
Gamja-jeon are like potato pancakes. The potatoes were grated and mixed with starch powder. Dubeo-jeon are tofu pancakes, and hobak-jeon are zucchini pancakes. Both are made with eggs and starch powder.
In Korea, we eat pancakes called “jeon” during holidays, usually with soy sauce. Melina and Emese mentioned that they have similar potato pancakes in France and Germany. In France, they don’t eat them with any sauce, while in Germany, they eat them with apple jam, making them sweet.
3. 간장국수 (Ganjang Guksu)
Ganjang guksu is noodles with soy sauce.
Ours turned out sweeter than it should have because we mismeasured the ingredients. However, they still enjoyed it, and I appreciated that.
4. 약과 (Yakgwa)
Yakgwa is a traditional Korean dessert that’s currently trending.
I brought some from Korea and served it for dessert. It’s sweet with a cinnamon flavor, and I was glad that they enjoyed my favorite treat.
It was my first time cooking these dishes myself, so I was nervous about messing them up. But I was proud to have succeeded.
Before eating, I taught them how to say “잘 먹겠습니다”, which means “Enjoy your meal”. While we ate, we listened to Korean, German, and French music. I was initially worried because sharing food is not as common in their cultures, but they didn’t mind at all, and I appreciated that.
It felt great to enjoy the holiday spirit in a foreign country by eating Korean food and spending time with my friends.
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