Happy Chuseok (Thanksgiving Day) 2017.

The Korean Thanksgiving Day (Chuseok) is around the corner. This year it falls on 4th October 2017. There's a typical saying in Korean which literally translates as "one does not wish for more or wish- but they rather wish it was Chuseok everyday."  It is one of the biggest holiday break for workers and people in the country. It also means season for harvest and part of the Autumn festival. The festival begins on October 3rd and stretches until October 9th which marks the Hangul day (Korean alphabet). Most people will start travelling home to spend Chuseok with family and relatives.

The traditional foods were served in families are songpyeon (half moon rice cake), tteok (rice cakes), jeon (pancakes), Japchae (glass noodles) and bibimbap (stone hot price rice). And of course most of the dishes are always served with the staple dish - kimchi.

Memorial services are held to honour and respect their ancestors. Rice cakes and alcohol are part of the ritual to offer to ancestors. Some families often visit the graves to pay their respects.
There are abundance of games and activities during Chuseok. Mask dances, traditional wrestling, circle dances are mostly performed during this time of the year.

                            

For those who wish to learn to make songpyeon (half moon rice cake), here is the recipe:

Ingredients:

• Hot water
• Short grain rice powder
• Pine needles
• Fillings- green bean/ red bean or cinnamon powder, sesame seeds, salt
• Food colouring for the rice cake (red, green)
• Sesame Oil 

Steps:

1. Sprinkle salt on the rice powder and sieve. Divide it into few portions. Mix each part of rice powder with each colouring stuff. Sieve again.
2. Sprinkle salt on the fresh green bean and set aside. Grind half of the fried sesame seeds, mix with honey, sugar and salt together. Set aside.
3. Wash the red/green beans and soak them in 7 parts volume of water for 8 hours. Skin by rubbing before rinsing in water, (60 g).
4. Rinse pine needles in water and drain water.
5. Knead each coloured rice powder with hot water with strong force for long time.
6. Boil water for steaming. Layer damp cotton cloths on the bottom of the pot. Put the red/green beans in the pot and steam for 25 minutes. Mix the steamed beans with salt and sieve, then mix with honey, salt and cinnamon powder thoroughly. 
7. Pull off around 15~16 g of rice powder dough, roll it into a small ball and make a dent in the center. 
8. Put the fillings in and close up the edges and make it into a half-moon shape.
9.  Boil water for steaming.When it boils, layer pine needles on the bottom. Place the shaped rice cake and steam for 20 minutes on high heat. 
10. Take out the steamed rice cake and quickly run through cold water. Remove the pine needles, drain water and coat with sesame oil.

Note: If your dough tends to dry off, remember to cover it with wet cloth.

In some countries, it is very difficult to find pine needles, you can use baking paper to prevent the rice cakes from sticking on the plate. 

To all South Koreans wherever you are, have a safe and happy Chuseok.

추석 즐겁게 보내세요. 
건강하세요!

And for the Chinese, Happy Mooncake Festival! 中秋节快乐，万事如意，心想事成！
Happy Mid-Autumn Day, may all things go well and bright future ahead!