Seollal is the Korean New Year and is one of the most celebrated and respected events in Korean culture. Diverse foods are consumed over the days of the celebration depending on the significance they bear on the festive events. The Lunar New Year is a fun festival celebrated in Korea from the first day of the new moon to the fifth day.
Rice Cake Soup Story Ragoofle
Tteokguk is Korea's most popular New Year food; it is a deep, broth soup containing thin-sliced rice cakes. Its consumption on New Year’s Day is a habit due to the perceived representation of wealth for the new year. The circular shape of the rice cakes also represents circular life issues.
Similar to guk there are a variety of ingredients that go into ssam: a rice cake, beef or anchovy broth and garlic, eggs, and green onions. One of the simplest and more traditional forms of rice cake is the rice soup cake, which is a soft rice cake that is very easy to cut and eat because it is so soft, and it is cut into fragile pieces. This is why it is the best dinner on a cold winter day.
Jeon - Korean Pancakes
Jeon pancakes are savory Korean pancakes and are usually prepared with seafood, meat, or vegetables in a batter made of wheat or rice flour, which is then pan-fried. A pancake made of green onion is called pajeon and seafood pajeon is known as haemul pajeon while kimchi jeon is made of kimchi.
The round shape of the pancakes symbolizes new opportunities and a great new year ahead. The colors also have meaning for Koreans since they believe that the golden color symbolizes wealth. Jeon is their favorite kind of food to share with the whole family, as it encompasses the right amount of crispy, chewy, and flavorful texture and tastes the Koreans would expect from the dish.
Yakwa – Fried Honey or Flower Cakes.
One of the most common Korean dessert items is yakwa, which are fried cookies and cakes that are honey-flavoured and perfumed with rice wine, cinnamon, and pine nuts. More elaborate recipes also add flower petals to the batter. These sweet treats contain wishes for a sweeter new year.
Yakgwa flower shapes refer to peony, chrysanthemum, and rose, which are flowers with their own New Year symbolism in Korea. The shapes and flavors are amazingly creative and make passing yakgwa around the table during New Year party time enjoyable.
Songpyeon – an unwritten Korean rice cake.
Songpyeon is the chewy half-moon-shaped rice cakes eaten with the fillings of traditional starch-and-sugar syrup, roasted sesame seeds, or a mixture of both. The process involved in making them is pretty labor-intensive, and families make them together a few days before Seollal.
Songpyeon is another type of rice cake that is shaped in the form of garments and hats and colored in a wide variety of bright colors, which further enhance this celebratory aspect. They are like other rice cakes and represent an individual’s wishes for a good year ahead. It is also customary to wish that the coming year might be as sweet as the sweet items one presents to the host.
Ddeok - Rice Cakes
In contrast to the uniform slices of thin tteok in tteokguk soup, Koreans also have a preference for eating whole, or large sliced, oval shaped ddeok in more significant amounts during the new year. The most popular types are white or brown and come stuffed with sweet-red-bean-paste.
Rice cakes are thus, on the whole, seen as symbols of success and good luck in future undertakings. However, as they are very high in calories, they form an essential part of holiday tables and gift boxes. They have a somewhat neutral taste and a chewy texture, characterizing them to be served in sweet as well as savory dishes.
Fruits Representing Fortune
Other fruits also have symbolic significance and can thus be found on occasions like holiday feasts. Tangerines or oranges are associated with wealth and good luck as they are golden in color, bulging or round like ‘money.’ Persimmons also have a similar meaning in terms of the acquisition of money and wealth. When you cut a pomegranate, it breeds abundant wealth and fortune with its red seeds.
These fruits go from being used as decoration pieces of the multi-day festival to being eaten as part of a sweet dessert or snack. Their bright colors and mixed tastes become spots of productivity on the New Year table views. They also make for easier consumption among the range of heavier rice and meat options found in most places.
Beverages for Toasting
Makgeolli or dongdongju will be served together with the many new year dishes since Koreans will toast quite often when many of them are gathered for the new year celebrations. Makgeolli is a light white beer with a slightly sweet and sour taste, which can help to balance out some of the oiliness of the meat and fried pancakes that are served at the table.
Rubber dong dongju is a fizzier drink with a deeper shade of red that looks like rubies; it is believed to bring good luck in accordance with Korean folklore. The traditional wines mentioned above work perfectly well with the heavy spices and saltiness of food that are common in holiday dishes. A couple of alcoholic refreshments give the opportunity to all to toast for the health, joy, and wealth for the coming year.
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