[English]
Hello everyone, welcome to <Didi's Korean Culture Podcast>, where we talk about various Korean cultures in Korean.
Everyone, how was everyone last week?
It's almost mid-October now
There's not much left of the year, but how are you spending your time without regrets?
If you have any regrets right now,
There's still a little over a year left
I hope you're having a good time doing everything you planned one by one
I went on a trip early this month
I went to a place called Jeonju on a domestic trip
If you take the KTX from Seoul,
you can get to Jeonju in about an hour and a half
So, it's a close travel destination from Seoul.
Also, you can have a good time and come back with a day trip
So it is one of the travel destinations that are often introduced to foreigners and foreign friends
It is a place I have been to a lot
What Jeonju is famous for is
It is famous for its delicious food
The Jeolla-do region is famous for its delicious food
Jeonju is also famous for its delicious food... Tteokgalbi is also famous.
What I ate was blood sundae and tteokgalbi this time.
Bibimbap and Jeonju bibimbap are also famous and plentiful.
And Jeolla-do is especially famous for its delicious side dishes.
So not only the main dish,
but all the side dishes are delicious, so it is a popular place.
Another unique thing is... Does everyone know about Bukchon Hanok Village?
There is a village in Seoul where old traditional Korean houses are gathered like this
There is also a Hanok village in Jeonju
There are a lot of old houses that can be seen in historical dramas, etc.
There are a lot of services for wearing hanbok
Places where you can go to hanbok stores and rent hanbok and take pictures
There are a lot of places like this
So, I have been to Jeonju more than 5 times so far.
Every time I go, I feel like 'I have to wear a hanbok when I come to Jeonju'.
It's a place where I always rent a hanbok, wear it, take pictures, and have fun.
This time, my Japanese friend's working holiday has ended.
He's a friend who's been on my podcast a lot, and he's called Chijjang. I went to Jeonju
...
...
I wore the same hanbok as I did in Jeonju, took a lot of pictures
ate delicious food, played around, etc.
Among them, I did something unusual
And... Chi-jjang, my Japanese friend
said he wanted to try making something like Korean food
That was one of his bucket list for this working holiday
So what... is there a program we can learn together
what? I looked it up to see if it would be a good idea to learn.
Do you know makgeolli?
It's a traditional Korean alcohol.
I think most of you know it.
There's a makgeolli making experience program.
So, 'This is it!' I thought this would be fun and made a reservation.
This time, while I was in Jeonju, I made makgeolli.
Actually, I don't drink makgeolli very often.
I don't know if I ate makgeolli by mistake once
or if makgeolli is not good for my body.
I once ate makgeolli and my stomach hurt so much that I couldn't sleep.
I didn't eat that much
Did you drink a bottle of makgeolli?
Because of the trauma of not being able to sleep all night because my stomach hurt so much,
I've been avoiding makgeolli ever since.
But this time, I got to try the process of making makgeolli myself
and also listened to the explanation.
When I made it myself and ate it, it was delicious. That
So, after going to this makgeolli experience
I gradually became interested in this type of traditional Korean alcohol
It gave me an opportunity to try it little by little.
The place I experienced was a place called 'Jeollagam Yeongyangjojang'
This is the place I worked so hard to find.
The owner was a very warm and funny person.
So, The history of alcohol,
and the history of alcohol in Korea, while also telling us about
'tasting' so we could try it.
So I got a lot of alcohol that day,
and listened to a lot of explanations.
And I talked to the owner a lot and even made it myself.
It was a really fun time.
If you're going to Jeonju,
this is a program I'd like to recommend and a place I'd like to recommend.
But as I listened to the explanation, I realized that this is something that my subscribers,
, would also enjoy listening to.
So, I recorded it so well, and then
I came back and organized it a bit, and
I'm going to tell you about various traditional alcohols, including traditional Korean alcohol, makgeolli,
in this episode.
So, if you listen to my explanation this time,
you'll get to know Korean alcohol a little more. You will learn more about
and there will definitely be other drinks that you are curious about
So, keep those things in mind when you come to Korea
so that you can have a more interesting dining experience and
drinking makgeolli
Today, I will try to explain it well
Yes, then let's talk about traditional Korean alcohol right now
Please listen with fun
Yes, then Korea Characteristics of alcohol
Shall we talk about it first?
There will be a lot of alcohol where you live.
There will be alcohol that is only made in that country and it will have its own characteristics.
The characteristic of Korean alcohol is that it uses rice as its main raw material and main ingredient.
Things like wine are made from grapes.
And among Chinese alcohols, do you know Kaoliang liquor?
There is a liquor called Gaoliangju, which has a very high alcohol content.
It is made from a grain called sorghum.
But what is the staple food of Koreans?
The food that Koreans mainly eat is rice.
In Korea, alcohol is also made from rice.
The fact that most Korean traditional alcohol is made from rice
can be said to be a characteristic of Korean alcohol.
So, if you look at the types of alcohol, there are two main types.
The first is 'fermented liquor', so
there is one fermented liquor, and
one is 'distilled liquor.'
If you boil this fermented liquor, it becomes distilled liquor.
What fermented liquor means is that it is fermented.
If you ferment milk, it becomes yogurt.
And foods like kimchi are also fermented foods.
Makgeolli and other Korean alcohols are also made by fermenting rice
and made into alcohol.
While listening to this explanation, I wondered why, if rice or grapes are fermented,
what would happen? I was a bit curious about whether this could become alcohol.
They say that the reason it becomes alcohol when fermented is because of sugar.
Sugar, 'sugar' is like a sweet substance. A sweet substance
Even things like grapes have a sweet taste.
Do you know that this sweetness is called yeast?
When making bread, you have to add something called yeast
Because the bread rises like this and becomes bread
But there is yeast in Korea too
It's called 'nuruk'
They say that there are small microorganisms, and the living microorganisms eat sugar
So when these ingredients meet yeast and these microorganisms,
the microorganisms eat the sugar in the ingredients
Then CO₂, this creates carbonation. Bubbly carbonation
As CO₂ and alcohol are spit out,
they say this is what makes alcohol
But rice too... 'Is rice a unit price?' You can think of it like this,
If you chew this for a while while eating,
you can feel the sweetness
So, rice also has sugar
So, I learned that microorganisms eat this sweet substance
and it turns into alcohol
So, this fermented liquor is fermented like this,
and the alcohol is released, and now you mix it with water and drink it.
When you boil this fermented liquor, you can drink it like this.
What is made by pouring the steamed drink, drop by drop, like drip coffee,
is called distilled liquor.
A representative example is something like soju.
There is distilled soju.
That is distilled liquor.
Then, the process of making traditional Korean alcohol is also fun.
You said you need rice earlier, right?
Rice is not just raw rice.
We need something called godubap.
'Godubap'... is also called 'kkodeobap'
It is rice made by steaming rice in a pot.
In that case, it is a bit hard to eat as rice,
and there is rice with a texture that seems a bit... undercooked.
For such rice, there is the Korean yeast malt that I talked about earlier. Mix it with
water and stir well. Do you know the
jar?
There is a jar that holds the brown Korean red pepper paste, soybean paste, etc.
I put these things in the jar
The reason I put it in the jar is
You said it was alive. The yeast is alive.
So because they need to breathe.
The jar and bottle have holes through which the air can escape.
Very small holes that allow them to breathe. Since it's a bottle, I put it in there.
Now, I keep the temperature warm, and when I open it after a few days,
it says it's alcohol.
If you look at it like this, all the rice and yeast will have settled,
and only the liquid will remain on top like this.
But some of the rice may be floating
It may be floating like this
But it will remain floating
The alcohol that you just scoop up and drink is called 'Dongdongju'.
There is a drink called Dongdongju.
These rice grains in the drink here are annoying, I don't like it, I want to drink it cleanly.
Then it's 'Yongsu' Then it's called Yongsu... What should I say? stick?
There's something like this. There's something like a tea strainer that can filter it out.
You put something like a filter in there so there's a clear part.
Just scoop out the clear part and put it in.
Then, it's only the clear part that's left without rice grains or anything floating around, right?
It is said that this is called Cheongju or Yakju
Then they scoop it all out like this
Then there is this residue left over here
The rice and enzyme residue will remain
After taking it out, wrap it in a cotton cloth like this
When you wrap it in a cloth like this and make Greek yogurt
You squeeze out the moisture on the cotton.
Just like that, you put these residues and rice residues into the noodles and squeeze them out.
Then you will get some of the remaining water.
This is makgeolli
Makgeolli is made by squeezing these remaining ingredients.
So, the name of makgeolli comes from the method of making it.
Cheongju, which I talked about earlier, is consumed by filtering it well using a proper mold.
But this is makgeolli. The makgeolli was just filtered.
I just took a cloth like this, squeezed it out, and ate it.
They said it was called makgeolli because it was just filtered.
This was the first time I knew about it.
The makgeolli comes out like that, and after squeezing it like this, the undiluted makgeolli comes out.
I mix it with water and usually eat it like this
So, if I want to drink a strong alcohol, I don't mix it with water.
If I want to drink it a little weaker, I add a lot of water and drink it.
It's called makgeolli that you usually adjust to about 4 to 10 degrees and drink it like this.
Isn't it interesting?
So, let's talk a little more about the makgeolli I made this time.
Makgeolli is a liquor made by fermenting rice as is.
So it is said to be very nutritious...
It contains B vitamins, dietary fiber,
and lactic acid bacteria because it was fermented.
They say it is a liquor that is good for the body if consumed in moderation.
Believe it or not
It's a bit of a problem because you can't do it in moderation.
If you drink a lot, it's alcohol, so it's bad for your health.
If you drink it in moderation, it's alcohol that can also provide you with nutritional value.
I think that was an interesting point.
There's a lot of misconceptions about alcohol in general.
People think it's not good for your health, but I've learned that makgeolli
is still a drink with a lot of nutrients.
And From now on, I'm going to talk briefly about the history of Korean alcohol
The history of Korean traditionalism
Nowadays, Koreans
usually drink beer or soju the most
Among them, they drink soju the most
In fact, Koreans did not drink soju like this
And that green soju of today
So, I happen to not drink a lot of these traditional alcohols
How did it change to soju?
This process is interesting, so I would like to share it with you as well.
They say that in the old days, every home made alcohol.
Liquor stores and alcohol businesses
These things were not active.
There weren't that many.
They say people just made their own alcohol and ate it like they would cook a meal at home.
And in Korea, there is a concept of 'accompaniment.' Have you heard of it?
It's still used these days.
Would you like some accompaniment? Is the accompaniment okay? I'm asking this.
Banju means eating rice and alcohol together.
I don't know the origin of it.
I have to look it up. Does it mean half? half?
It's not just about drinking.
You're saying you're eating half alcohol and half rice?
I don't know, I'll look it up
Anyway, the concept of accompaniment has existed since ancient times
You said earlier that people made alcohol with rice
It has a lot of nutrients and they thought of it as just rice
Just like eating rice and soup together
You should eat rice, soup, and alcohol together like this
Because there wasn't that much rice
There were poor people in the past.
It's a waste of rice to just eat this as a snack, so
They say they ate a lot of rice like this as a meal
There was a culture of making alcohol at home like this, and
they used the alcohol they made to make
bread or rice cakes
There was always alcohol like this at home,
There comes a time when this becomes impossible
In the meantime, people are drinking too much
Then, it is said that there were some laws banning alcohol because
they did not work well.
But in Korea, there were many cases where alcohol was needed.
You also have to make rice cakes
Alcohol is also necessary when holding ancestral rites.
So, they just secretly made all the alcohol somehow.
It was like that.
Korea was going through the Japanese colonial period.
There was a time when Japan was ruling and ruling
At that time, alcohol was called the Liquor Tax Act
There was a law against making and consuming alcohol
To make and drink alcohol,
you needed a license like a driver's license to make alcohol
Ordinary people were not allowed to make alcohol
There was a law saying that if you made alcohol, you had to pay a lot of taxes
At that time again. Things were bad during the Japanese colonial rule.
Everyone was poor and didn't have enough to eat. As a result, it must have been difficult to make alcohol while paying taxes.
...
So now the culture of making alcohol at home is starting to disappear.
Then we were liberated in 1945.
After being freed from Japanese rule,
our country was restored and people started making alcohol again.
Not long after, war breaks out again
As the war that divided North and South Korea breaks out
the situation gets so bad
the country becomes so difficult
So the most serious thing is that there is nothing to eat, nothing to eat
Because there is no rice to eat right now and no rice to eat tomorrow
No one would have been able to make alcohol with it
It became impossible to make alcohol.
And the country also enacted a law saying that alcohol cannot be made from rice
Because rice was needed to be eaten, such a law was created
So in the meantime, a lot of flour was imported from the United States,
and the number of foods made with flour increased.
At that time, tteokbokki and ramen were created.
I have talked about all of these things on a podcast once.
These are flour foods and flour alcohol.
There must have been alcohol made from wheat, such as beer.
It is said that other foreign alcohol was imported and consumed
Brandy, cognac
Whiskey, wine, etc.
Traditional Korean alcohol was made at home, so it disappeared a lot, at that time
And since people did not have a lot of money,
it was difficult to buy and drink foreign alcohol
What was made at that time?
It's the green soju we know now.
As I mentioned earlier,
this is not a distilled liquor where you boil something like makgeolli and steam it to get it drop by drop.
This is
chemical alcohol?
chemical alcohol, edible alcohol, and
soju is a cheap drink made by just adding water.
So you can get drunk at a cheap price,
So you can get drunk at a cheap price, with a cheap taste?
Soju is a type of alcohol that was made just to get drunk quickly at a cheap price
But then this soju took root
People... ate a lot and it was cheap, so they started eating a lot of it
Now the situation in the country has improved
There is enough rice to eat
So now there is no law saying you can't make that kind of alcohol
But people are already used to soju.
Making it yourself can be cumbersome, and in fact
Even rice... many traditions like this have disappeared
And soju, more than anything, is so cheap and easy
Because you can just eat it
People have already gotten used to it and because of this
They say that a lot of our country's traditional alcohol has disappeared
Through these processes
But now people are saying, let's revive traditional Korean alcohol once again.
With the creation of such breweries, breweries, and organizations,
various traditional Korean alcohols are also being produced.
Actually, I myself never thought that I should try Korean traditional alcohol,
and I don't have many opportunities to eat it.
What can I say?
If you go to a fancy bar, they have a lineup of traditional Korean liquors.
In general, if you go to a bar or restaurant, there is
a bottle of soju, beer, and at most a bottle of makgeolli.
So I didn't know much about this, but this time, after experiencing this myself and
listening to the history, I became interested.
Handmade makgeolli that was made at home
What did handmade alcohol taste like?
It must have been so delicious, right?
It tastes better if you make it yourself. Everything
I became curious about such things.
I also thought that if I go to a store and discover traditional alcohol in the future,
I should try it little by little.
What do you think, everyone?
Did you learn more about traditional Korean alcohol?
I'm really curious about the alcohol in your country
So this time...
Leave a comment below the podcast to find out what alcohol you drink most in your country
What kind of traditional alcohol is made in your country
I would be very grateful if you could also leave a comment about those things
Yes, so this was the story about traditional Korean alcohol.
Yes, today we talked about traditional Korean alcohol like this.
How do you feel about it? Do you guys want to try it?
When you think of makgeolli in Korea, there is one word that comes to mind a lot.
It's a hangover. Hangover
If you drink makgeolli, you have a bad hangover
A hangover is something you feel bad the next day after drinking it.
You don't feel fast and your head hurts.
They say that's what a hangover is
Makgeolli is a particularly bad hangover
Next There are a lot of people saying things like, “It’s a tough day.”
So, is makgeolli actually a drink that causes hangovers? When I looked for something like this,
it wasn't particularly so.
But they say it's a somewhat cloudy alcohol.
There's a type of alcohol called Takju that contains a lot of various ingredients.
Soju is just a clean drink.
Vodka is clean.
But should we say that makgeolli has just the ingredients in it?
Powder? These things are also mixed in and a lot of things are mixed
They say that those types of drinks cause a lot of hangovers
But you can eat them in moderation
Especially makgeolli, which is not that strong but is still delicious
Because it is sweet and carbonated
I end up drinking a lot of it
So I probably drink a lot of makgeolli
I think there were a lot of people who had a hard day the next day.
Eating in moderation is important
And since this is the final wrap-up, I'll just introduce how to drink well without a hangover
...
There were about five things
The first is eating in moderation, which I talked about a lot earlier
Eating in moderation is the most important
The second is eating with food
This is also a method
What do Koreans think? As I said, there are a lot of accompaniments.
There are many people who are okay with eating food and alcohol together.
When you watch foreign dramas,
people just grab a beer and drink it all the time.
Well, they only drink whiskey, right?
This is where Koreans get a bit of a culture shock.
It's better to eat alcohol like makgeolli with food
Well, alcohol... That's how the alcohol slows down. It spreads
and is less absorbed, so
it is important to eat it slowly with food,
and it is also important to eat some food before drinking
What kind of food do you eat with makgeolli? Usually pancakes, green onion pancakes,
makgeolli on a rainy day,
green onion pancakes and makgeolli are often said,
and they say makgeolli goes well with most foods.
Because this is grain wine, a liquor made from grains
Because it is a liquor made from rice
They say it goes well with most foods*
You know, rice goes well with most side dishes
They say it means the same thing.
So it's delicious when eaten with a variety of foods, for example
tofu and kimchi,
stir-fried pork, spicy things too. It's delicious
It goes well with spicy foods such as soft tofu stew and chicken feet
It goes well with meat and other greasy things
Because it's carbonated, it reduces the greasiness
Because you can eat it deliciously with those foods
Eat it with food
And thirdly, don't smoke together
This also helps with hangovers
Let's only drink or smoke or do one bad thing
If we drink together, the next day will be more difficult
It would be good to know this
The fourth thing is to drink a lot of water
You need to dilute this a little while drinking
Instead of just drinking alcohol, drink water with it
You need to make it a little lighter
So drink water in between. Drink a lot
You have to go to the bathroom a lot,
Take care of that on your own
But instead, we have to live the next day
Take care and drink a lot of water
The last one is a hangover cure, this is helpful
A hangover cure
If you go to a Korean convenience store, there are hangover cures. You can drink them
Or there are stick-type jellies and many more.
Eat that before drinking
They say it's good to eat it after drinking
I've told you this once
I have a place to drink with my friends and I made a promise to drink
Then, there's a hangover cure
If you go to a Korean convenience store, you get 1 plus 1 for something like this
If you buy something like this and take it with you, you can become a popular star
I hope you take good care of the hangover cure
and enjoy drinking and culture without hangovers, safely, without risk,
Okay, then, now,
...
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...
Thank you so much for your thoughts
To those who listened to the podcast until the end today
Thank you all for your hard work
I will come back again with the next podcast
Have a good day and good night, everyone!