August
August 15 Gwang Bok Jeol, National Liberation Day of Korea.
Along with 6-2-5, 8-1-5 is an unforgettable date for Korea. This public holiday is the day in 1945, when the Imperial Japanese Army surrendered to the Allies and the brutal, 35-year Japanese colonization over Korea was finally over. This is one of the only holidays celebrated in both North and South Korea, since the liberation was monumental for the entire country before it was divided.
The Ung-Gung-Qui Flower
This is a flower you can see in the wild in Korea, in the heat of august. Ung-Gung Qui roots were used in traditional medicine to stop bleeding, and the roots were also infused in alcohol to treat stomach problems.
A variety of this flower is also widely known as Milk Thistle in the Western world.
The Story of NaengMyun
This is probably the most well-known North Korean dish known to South Korea. Naengmyun originated from the city of Pyeongyang, where a young fellow called Dalsae who was living in a run-down tavern at the time, made a humble dish of pressed buckwheat noodles in a cold broth.
When the Korean war broke out, Naengmyun began to spread to the Southern parts of Korea through the Pyeongyang civilians who migrated South (my own grandmother was one of them!). The style of Naengmyun evolved and settled as different specialties for different regions of Korea, and you will find that the flavors are quite different for each one. But all in all, Naengmyun is always served ice-cold, with a meat-based broth or white kimchi-based broth, topped with thin sliced beef, Korean pear, and a slice of hard boiled egg.
One thing that Naengmyun has to be served with is two sauce bottles: One with vinegar, and one with mustard. without these two, the flavors of Naengmyun aren’t complete.
My honest reason of not including a Naengmyun recipe is because it is way too laborious and difficult to achieve the correct flavors compared to the store-bought packages that include the noodles, frozen broth, and garnishes. Some day I’ll try the NYTimes home made recipe, but for now, here are the packets you can easily find online.
Cucumber Kimchi Recipe
Ingredients
4 mini persian cucumbers
2 Tbsp Gochugaru
1 Tbsp fish sauce
1 Tbsp vinegar
1 Tbsp sugar
1 tsp minced garlic
1 tsp minced ginger
3-4 cup water
1 Tbsp salt
1. Boil 4 cups of water with 1 Tbsp salt
2. Wash and cut the cucumbers (in a cross shape, but not all the way)
4. pour the hot salt water over the cucumbers, let it sit for 30 min - 1 hr
5. Cut up the chives into 1 inch pieces
6. Mix all the sauce ingredients well. Taste it, and add more sugar as needed.
7. In a bowl, toss the chives with the sauce until evenly coated (not more than 1 min! Do not overmix)
8. Drain the water from the cucumbers, and stuff the cucumbers with the chive.
9. Place in a sterile, clean and airtight container and leave it in room temperature overnight.
10. Refrigerate the next day, and enjoy!
