Let's Enjoy 'Traditional Foods Made with Our Rice' This Chuseok!

Promotion of Songpyeon, Yaksik, Makgeolli Made with Our Rice... Encouraging Rice Consumption

Traditional food made with Korean rice.

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Kim Gwiyeol] The Gyeongbuk Agricultural Research and Extension Services introduced traditional foods made from Korean rice that families can enjoy together during the Chuseok holiday, along with methods to make them and places where they can be easily purchased online to promote rice consumption.

One characteristic of our cuisine is the abundance of traditional foods made using grains. Since ancient times, there has been the concept of yakshikdongwon (藥食同原), meaning "food and medicine share the same origin," which embodies the fundamental idea that the food we eat also serves as medicine, and this philosophy is included in traditional cooking methods.

Traditional foods made from grains commonly eaten during the Chuseok holiday include songpyeon, yakshik, yakgwa, and Makgeolli.

Songpyeon is made by grinding non-glutinous rice into flour, gradually adding hot kneading water to make a dough, then kneading it. Fillings such as beans, chestnuts, and sesame seeds are placed inside, shaped into half-moon or full-moon shapes, and steamed.

Yakshik is made primarily from glutinous rice steamed into a sticky rice porridge, mixed with ingredients such as jujubes, chestnuts, pine nuts, and walnuts, then steamed again and seasoned with oil, honey, and soy sauce.

Traditional foods made from Korean rice such as songpyeon, yaksik, yakgwa, and makgeolli.

According to the Samguk Yusa, in Joseon, honey was commonly referred to as yak (藥, medicine), so rice dishes containing honey were called yakshik (藥食), and honey-containing sweets were called yakgwa (藥果), both passed down as representative traditional holiday foods.

For the younger generation accustomed to instant foods and foreign wheat flour products, it is recommended to enjoy songpyeon and yakshik during the holidays and try making them at home. Not only do these foods contain healthy nuts, but above all, they are made from Korean rice grown on our land, which is beneficial to health, making this the most important reason.

With the recent growth of the online market due to COVID-19, the Agricultural Research and Extension Services have been building distribution networks to make it easy to purchase processed products such as rice cakes, yakshik, hangwa, yakgwa, and Makgeolli made by local agricultural product processing businesses.

They are actively encouraging entry and sales on platforms such as the Gyeongbuk representative agricultural specialty and processed product shopping mall Saiseomall and Naver Smart Store, creating opportunities for consumers to connect with these products.

Shin Yongsup, Director of the Agricultural Research and Extension Services, said, "This Chuseok, I ask everyone to enjoy traditional foods made from Korean rice. At the same time, I hope that Gyeongbuk’s processed rice products will be widely promoted and sold, significantly increasing rice consumption. Moving forward, we will do our best to expand consumption channels through product development aligned with consumer trends and online marketing activities, so that Gyeongbuk agricultural products can reach global consumer markets."