9 Chuseok (Korean Harvest Moon) recipes which you can make at dwelling, from rice recipes like Songpyeon (rice truffles), Sikhye (rice punch), Jeons (fritters) to Samesaek Namul (vegetable aspect dish with three colours).
What’s Chuseok 추석?
Chuseok 秋夕 actually means “autumn night,” and it’s a harvest moon pageant commemorating the season’s crops. In Hangeul (pure Korean), it’s additionally referred to as Hangawi 한가위. 한가위 means the center of August or Fall as this present day is Aug fifteenth within the lunar calendar across the autumn equinox.
In 2023, this present day falls on Sept. twenty ninth and the Korean authorities has introduced a protracted vacation that begins from twenty eighth Thursday until Monday Oct 2nd. Since Chuseok might be totally different yearly relying on the lunar calendar, the Korean authorities proclaims a short lived lengthy vacation weekend to ensure each Korean has sufficient time to return dwelling to their hometown if they should and have a good time the custom collectively.
For a lot of Korean households, Chuseok is a time when folks collect collectively to carry out Jesa (제사 ancestral rites) by cooking fantastic meals to supply to their ancestors, setting the desk and alluring the ancestor spirits to go to and benefit from the meals. Jesa for Chuseok can also be referred to as Charye 차례 and when the ceremony is over, the entire household will benefit from the meals collectively.
Historically prior to now, the ladies within the household (mother, daughter-in-law, daughters) spent days making ready all of the Jesa meals. However at this time’s fashionable Korean household usually chooses to go on journeys as a substitute or really order the meals from companies as a substitute of laboring for days to arrange all of it. Nevertheless it’s nonetheless good to know the historical past behind these meals.
Chuseok can also be a time to have a good time all of the abundance of This 12 months’s crop which can all the time embody rice and fruits. Chuseok recipes embody rice cake, rice wine, and rice dessert with the brand new rice crop together with festive dishes like grilled fish, dried seafood (octopus, pollock or yellow croaker), beef jerky (yukpo), seafood fritters (saengseonjeon), and vegetable aspect dishes (namul).
How one can set the desk for Chuseok Jesa (Charye 차례)
When organising the desk for the ancestral ritual, there are particular guidelines and pointers on what and the way meals ought to be ready and the way they need to be positioned on the desk. This custom has been a part of the Korean tradition for a whole bunch of years, maybe going again to when Koreans prayed to mountain gods or tree gods for security and abundance.
When organising the desk, listed here are some common guidelines (it’s mentioned that the spirits are usually not keen on the next 😉)
- no aromatics similar to garlic, crimson chili powder, inexperienced onions ought to be used – which suggests no spicy or closely seasoned meals
- no peaches or different fruits which can be fuzzy – ghosts don’t like fuzzy issues.. 😝
- no fishes whose title ends with ‘chi 치’ – kkongchi, samchi, myeolchi.. largely of the mackerel species
BTW, if you wish to find out how the standard Jesa desk was setup, right here’s a diagram that I drew to indicate you the way it’s accomplished! So the ancestor’s place is on the North finish and on the South finish, the descendants will take turns to bow and supply wine to the ancestral spirits.
There are 14 guidelines in all that information the way you set this providing desk. General, it ought to have 5 rows with totally different meals that vary from fruits to soups and tteok.
There’s even a rule that claims all produce from the earth (i.e. crops) ought to be in odd numbers (therefore the fruits are stacked in odd numbers) and all produce from the sky (i.e. meat and fish) ought to be in even numbers. Anyway, I’ve drawn a pattern Chuseok desk that incorporates typical Jesa meals. Hopefully, you’ll be able to see it OK!
NOTE – there’s a little mistake on this drawing. I ought to have drawn 2 place settings (2 spoons + chopstick units and a pair of memorial tablets (신의 shineui)) since now we have 2 plates of songpyeon for every ancestor however I solely drew one as a substitute… unsure what I used to be considering.. that’s why I wrote “x2” subsequent to every. Guess spirits are available {couples}.. LOL.
- Row 1 (from high, left to proper): Noodles, wine, songpyeon, wine, songpyeon, flat tteok (rice cake)
- Row 2 (left to proper): 어동육서 (魚東肉西 eo-dong-yuk-seo) means fish to the east and meat to the west, 동두서미 (頭東尾西 dong-du-seo-mi) means fish head should face the east and tail should face the west. So now we have beef jeon, beef jerky, assorted skewered jeok, grilled fish (with head pointing to east), fish jeon
- Row 3 (left to proper): 3 soups, beef soup, tofu soup, fish soup
- Row 4 (left to proper): 좌포우혜 (左脯右醯 ja-po-wu-hye ) means dried meals (po) to the left or west and Sik(hye) to the best or east.
- Row 5 (left to proper): 조율이시 (棗栗梨柿 jo-yul-yi-si) means fruits have to be positioned on this order – dried jujubes -> peeled chestnuts -> pears with high minimize off -> persimmons.
Primarily based on this desk, I’ve put collectively 9 Chuseok recipes that Koreans prepare dinner and eat to memorialize and pay respects to their ancestors and in addition to simply have a good time the approaching of autumn!
1. Probably the most well-known Chuseok Recipe – Songpyeon – ROW1
One can’t have a good time Chuseok with out making this glorious deal with referred to as Songpyeon(송편). As a child, this was one time once I was allowed to totally take part within the kitchen with out being informed I ought to simply go and do my homework. 😝I feel I all the time most popular being within the kitchen than being up in my room doing a little boring homework..hahaha..I suppose I used to be meant to be doing this.😍
This steamed rice cake is made with short-grain rice cake dough and has a candy filling. It’s vegan and gluten-free! I take advantage of matcha powder and kabocha squash to create totally different colours of the dough, and I wish to make fillings from sesame seeds and mung beans. It may be a enjoyable kitchen session with the household! Don’t miss my step-by-step images and a how-to video within the put up right here.
Custom has it that the rice cake is steamed on high of a layer of pine needles in order that the “chi” of the pine tree will switch and make us robust and wholesome. Plus, this course of additionally provides the rice cake a beautiful aroma of the pine tree.
2. Beef Soup (Yuk Tang 육탕) – ROW 3
Hearty Korean Beef Soup (Yuktang aka Gogiguk)
Most likely essentially the most primary soup in Korean delicacies but in addition one of many three soups in Chuseok recipes. This beef soup is fantastic by itself but in addition an ideal base for a lot of different soups like Tteokguk and extra.
3. Three-Coloration Vegetable Facet Dish (Samsaek Namul) – ROW 4
One other fairly dish that’s all the time included in Chuseok recipes is Samsaek Namul, which principally means “three-color greens.” The precise colours are white, brown, and inexperienced. I take advantage of white radish to make white namul, bracken fiddleheads to make brown namul, and perilla leaves to make inexperienced namul.
This vital dish is a part of a show of meals choices to household ancestors on the morning of Chuseok in a memorial ceremony referred to as Charye 차례. Koreans return to their hometowns to pay respects to their ancestors for a bountiful harvest.
4. Pan-fried Fish and Shrimp Jeon (Saengseon and Saewoo Jeon) – ROw 2
Fish and shrimp fritters, or jeon in Korean, are virtually all the time served in a full-course conventional Korean dinner, particularly for particular festive meals round Chuseok and New 12 months’s. To organize this, merely coat fish and shrimp in eggs and flour after which pan-fry them to golden brown perfection. Fish jeon is often made with chicken fish, particularly cod and pollock.
These fritters are one other nice occasion meals as a result of they are often made forward and stored heat within the oven till serving time. The tip is to cowl them partially in order that they don’t dry up. You possibly can serve jeon at room temperature too, however they style so a lot better heat.
5. Water Kimchi (Nabak Kimchi 나박김치) or MUL KIMCHI- ROW 4
As the principles say, you can’t put closely seasoned spicy meals so an everyday kimchi can’t go on the Chuseok charye desk. Nonetheless, there’s a spot for mul kimchi. And how can one ever have Korean meals with none type of kimchi?? Useless or alive..?? HAHAHA.. however I suppose I have to be lacking one thing.
I’ve 2 water kimchi recipes – Radish Water Kimchi and Nabak Kimchi. You possibly can select any one in all these. They need to solely take 3-4 days to totally ripen.
6. Dakdoritang or Dakjjim (Stewed Rooster)
Soy Sauce Rooster Stew – Dakdoritang with carrots, coloured potatoes and inexperienced chili peppers[/caption]
Dakdoritang or Dakjjim is one other meat dish that may be positioned on the desk. This can be a very gentle stewed hen dish with numerous root greens making it a hearty dish.
7. Yakgwa (Honey pastry)
Yakwa/Yakgwa – Korean honey pastry dessert[/caption]
Holidays all the time name for one thing candy, proper? A celebration dessert for Koreans is Yakgwa, a wholesome candy deal with made with sticky rice, dried jujube dates, chestnut, and pine nuts.
Enjoyable truth: This delicacy was created by one in all my husband’s ancestors! You possibly can examine it on this put up. I discovered the standard Yakgwa recipe from my mother-in-law and I created this baked Yakwa recipe in case you don’t need to hassle with frying.
8. Candy Rice Punch (Sikhye)
Very similar to vacation time in different cultures, Sikhye is a vacation time drink and is a traditional dessert drink in my Chuseok recipes checklist. This dessert beverage is comprised of rice and malt barley. It has a novel candy style with melt-in-your-mouth rice grains that come floating within the drink.
9. Dasik (Tea Cookies)
One other traditional deal with that’s not often made at dwelling anymore are these delectable candy Korean tea cookies that our Korean ancestors loved many moons in the past. 😝They are often made with black and white sesame seeds, inexperienced matcha and omija tea. I share under 2 recipe posts that collectively will allow you to make 6 totally different dasik cookies!
Matcha Inexperienced Tea and Omija Cookies (Dasik)
Matcha Inexperienced Tea and Omija Cookies are splendidly wholesome no bake Korean cookies which can be so elegant, stunning and conventional. These delicate cookies are made with nice Matcha powder and Omija tea sweetened with honey. Korean the Aristocracy loved these sweets as snacks throughout their tea time.
Dasik – Korean Tea Cookies for Lunar New 12 months
How one can make conventional Korean tea cookie (Dasik) for Lunar New 12 months’s. Cookies are comprised of finely floor sesame seeds, inexperienced tea powder and extra. Nice melt-in-your-mouth cookie that’s easy to make and pairs splendidly with inexperienced teas.
EXTRA- RICE for ROW1
Though my diagram doesn’t embody rice, some households wish to serve rice and beef soup on row 1 within the middle. You may make rice following my RECIPE HERE.
Effectively, I hope these recipes provides you with a style of the standard Chuseok celebration in Korea.
🍁Pleased autumn!🍁
