Happy (belated) Chuseok everyone!
Chuseok (aka 'harvest festival') in Korea is basically the equivalent of Thanksgiving Holiday in the US. It's a time for family to get together and indulge in a lot of delicious, traditional food. It's also a time when the freeways are constipated for hours on end with everyone leaving Seoul and heading to their ancestral homes. I was lucky enough to leave Seoul and head to Cheonan before the madness began and didn't have to suffer in much traffic! :)
Truthfully, my family doesn't have many specific Chuseok traditions like other Korean families. Most Korean families go all out when it comes to Chuseok food, but my family likes to keep things relatively simple. Simple, yet healthy and dericious! Minus a fish dish for the non-vegans, here's what my family ate for Chuseok lunch.
Jeon (Korean fried pancakes)
vegetable side dishes
bean sprout japchae (vermicelli noodles with veggies)
These are pretty much some 'staple' dishes that are eaten during Chusok. My favorite was the jeon- so tasty with the sauce! And filling too! I tried making jeon one time before on my own, but it was a complete failure, so this was a good opportunity to learn how to do it right. My mom did most of all the cooking, but I tried to help out where I could, namely, just chopping and watching the master chef at work. I'm trying to learn as much Korean cooking as I can! :)
Oh yea, and I mustn't forget the vegan kimchi!!
Finally, a Chuseok meal isn't complete without songpyeon rice cakes for dessert!! Afterall, songpyeon is to Chuseok as pumpkin pie is to Thanksgiving. Oh, and ofcourse a plate of juicy pears & kiwi! You simply can't go wrong with fresh fruit.
