October
October 3rd, Gae Chun Jeol (National Foundation Day)
This is a National holiday commemorating the foundation of the very first kingdom on the Korean peninsula to ever exist. This nation was called Ko-Chosun, established in year 108 by the king Dan-Gun Wang-Gum (단군왕검) and is considered the very origin of Korea.
As ancient as the kingdom was, it also has a myth and legend about the birth of the DanGun WangGum King. The story went like this:
In Korean Mythology (who knew?! this is a thing), there was a god called Hwanin and his son, Hwan-Oong. Hwan-Oong was always interested in earthly matters, and with his father’s permission, came down to reign as king of the earth.
During his reign, there was a bear and a tiger that lived in a cave. The bear and tiger prayed and begged Hwan-Oong to transform them into humans. In response, Hwan-Oong gave the tiger and bear a pile of mugwort leaves (ssook, in Korean) and 20 heads of garlic and told them, “if you endure 100 days in the cave only eating mugworts and garlic, without seeing any sunlight, I will grant you your wish.” So the bear and tiger went into this awful cave diet with no sunlight. Which one do you think made it out, human? The tiger gave up along the way, and the bear actually was rewarded for its endurance and was granted its wish much earlier (21 day) than what Hwan-Oong offered. And the bear became a woman, named Oong-Nyuh (meaning, bear-woman).
Oong-Nyuh’s wish didn’t stop there though, because she realized no one would marry her, and she wanted a child. So she prayed for a child, and Hwan-Oong himself descended and temporarily became human to conceive the baby that would become the king of Ko-Chosun: Dan-Gun Wang-Gum.
What is the meaning behind this myth and legend? First, it reflects the virtue (bear) that Ko-Chosun prioritized over belligerence (tiger). Second, the “temptation period” with garlic and mugwort, in the cave shows their belief that all important things comes at the end of suffering and pain.
in modern Korea, there is no particular custom or ritual that remains for this day, except for recognizing the significance of the day, and recounting the origin story to children.
October 9th, Hangul Nal (한글날)
Did you know that the written Korean language is the only language in the world that was invented by a king? Hangul Day is an official holiday in South Korea that commemorates the creation of Korea’s written language, called Hangul. Hangul was invented by Sejong the Great in 1446. Prior to the distribution of Hangul, the majority of Chosun (Korea’s old name) was illiterate due to the language involving Chinese characters that required education in an established family. This was a significant hindrance among the people since illiteracy meant that they could not understand the law, and their ignorance often led to wrongful incarceration. To increase the literacy among the commoners, and, allegedly, to claim a significant political power and unity over his nation, Sejong in 1443 personally invented the Hangul system. After going through 3 years of revisions within the royal scholar team, Hangul was officially distributed in 1446 through a book called HoonMin JeongEum. Thanks to its easy and scientific language system, Hangul successfully spread across all of Chosun, rich and poor (although met with some resistance from the rich) and became the official language. Today Hangul is used both in South and North Korea, and Hangul Day is celebrated in both nations (although different dates. North Korea celebrates it on January 15th).
Today, you can see Sejong the Great printed on the 10,000 won bills in South Korea today.
Gam Gook Flower
The name of this flower reflects the sweet flavor of its petals (‘gam’ means sweet, and ‘gook’ is the family of this type of flowers). This flower is often used to infuse into alcohol, and its roots used in Eastern medicine. In South Korea, can see the Gam Gook flower starting to bloom in the fall.
Soon Dubu Recipe (Spicy Tofu Stew)
the recipe was adapted from the Korean recipe hub, 10000 Recipe.
Ingredients
2 servings
1 container Silken tofu
1 scallion,
1/4 onion
1/4 Zucchini (or Korean squash)
1/4 jalapeno pepper
1 egg
1.5 cup water
1 Tbsp sesame oil
2 Tbsp vegetable oil
1 Tbsp Gochugaru (or more, if you like spicy)
Salt to taste
1 tsp sugar
1 Tbsp oyster sauce
1 Tbsp soy sauce
1 Tbsp minced garlic
1 tsp dashi powder
Chop up your scallion, onion, pepper (smaller pieces), squash into bite size
In the bottom of an empty pot, add sesame oil and vegetable oil
Add scallion and onion and cook until fragrant in medium heat (if you want to add meat, this is where you add pork or beef and pan fry)
Add 1-1.5Tbsp gochugaru (depends on how spicy you want it) and fry until infused in the oil. mix in sugar, oyster sauce, soysauce
Then add 1.5 cup water**
for a deeper flavor, you can add 2 cups of anchovy broth (+mushroom, dashi if you have) boiled in advance.
Now bring to full boil, then add the squash, garlic, and pepper
Add the silken tofu in the end and boil 3 minutes.
Turn off heat and add egg, then serve when the egg is almost poached.
