September
September 17th Chusoek 추석
Along with Seollal (Lunar New Years), Chuseok is one of the biggest holidays of South Korea. falling on the the lunar date of august 15th each year, it’s a national holiday celebrated for 3 days: a day before and after the main holiday. Historically, this was a time just before harvest season in the fall. On Chuseok, Korean people gathered the few and early crops and prayed to our ancestors for the start of an abundant harvest season. It was also a celebration of wrapping up the most labor intensive summertime farming. So although Chusoek is sometimes known as a Korean version of Thanksgiving, the meaning and timing is quite different from the American tradition. One of the foods eaten on Chuseok is a half-moon shaped rice cake filled with honey and sesame called Songpyun. Even this Songpyun was originally known for being made with unripe rice, as it was part of the pre-harvest season. Now in modern Korea, The Chuseok dinner spread looks much more abundant than those farming days. Chuseok remains a holiday where everyone leaves to visit their hometown- so much so that the traffic all over korea becomes so bad, and we call is a national “migration period.”
Garden Cosmos (cosu-mosu, when pronounced in Korean)
the origin of this flower is Mexico, but surprisingly it’s one of the most typical and nostalgic flowers that South Korea blooms with every fall. Some parks around the Han River have blooming fields of this cosmos flower that makes the fall season all the more romantic and beautiful in South Korea.
Galbijjim Recipe (for the communal Chuseok Dinner)
Ingredients (4-5 servings)
4 lb Short Ribs, bone in
2 carrots (medium sized)
2 yukon potatoes
1/2 Korean Radish
2 onion, cut into quarters
1 cup shishito peppers
Sauce
1.5 onion, yellow or red
two thumb-sized pieces of ginger
10 cloves of garlic
2/3 cup brown sugar (120g)
1 kiwi, peeled
5-6 whole black peppercorns
1.5 cup soysauce
4 Tbsp mirin
3 Tbsp sesame oil
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Korean-style Short Ribs or, you can also use this cut
My favorite Soysauce (sorry this is a whooping $37 on amazon… but try to find it at Hmart or other Asian grocery stores, it should be around $10!)
Premium Sesame Oil this is worth the price. If I spend money on anything, it’s premium sesame oil- the flavor makes a huge difference
Recipe
Look at the Short Ribs. You’ll see the fibers running horizontal to the length of the bone. make 2-3 cuts perpendicular to these fibers.
to be honest with you, the direction of the cut is not a huge deal. but it does make a small difference. make sure when you make these cuts, cut just before you hit the bone. the purpose of this is to let the marinade permeate throughout the meat and tenderize it better by increasing the surface area.
Blend all the sauce ingredients until completely smooth. (Now, if you have an Instant Pot, skip all the way to 8)
put on a pair of food-safe gloves, and coat the short ribs with the marinade. make sure to rub the marinade into the crevices.
transfer the meat into a large airtight container. pour the rest of the marinade into the container so the meat is submerged and leave it in the fridge overnight (minimum of 4 hours and up to 2 days*
if you have a pressure cooker, no need to marinade the meat. the pressure will tenderize and help the flavors seep through. see instructions under 6.
prep the carrots, radish, and potatoes by cutting them into about 2 inch cube sizes. If you want to be extra traditional, use a peeler to round the edges of the potatoes and carrots. cut the onions into quarters.
rounding edges can preserve the shapes of he veggies as they cook, and also make the galbijjim dish more presentable.
the next day, pour all the contents in the meat container into a dutch oven or large pot. pour just enough water to submerge the meat.
our cook time from this point will be about 4 hours. boil on high for 20 minutes, then on medium heat for the rest of the cook time.
This is for everyone with an Instant Pot who skipped from 2). dump all the meat, carrots, potatoes, onions into the Instant pot and pour the blended sauce over. close the instant pot, make sure the vent is in the “sealed” position and pressure cook for 40 minutes. then allow the pressure cooker to naturally vent for 15 minutes. lastly, quick release the vent and wait until the seal pops up, indicating it’s safe to open the lid. these instructions are from My Korean Kitchen and comes in so handy!
If you don’t have an Instant pot, at the 3 hour mark, remove all the grease that floats to the top with either a ladle or a turkey baster
add the prepped carrots, potatoes, onions, and radish. close the lid and simmer for 1 more hour.
in the end, add the shishito peppers and close the lid for another 10 miutes.
enjoy with rice! happy chuseok!
