Friday, April 20, 2012

Trip to Seoul (Sprin 2012 - Day 2)...Makgeolli Tour!


It was sunny and beautiful on our 2nd day here, and we were very excited about all the activities which were going to happen.  We had a private tour to go to Pocheon City to visit a brewery of makgeolli (or "makkoli" - Korean cloudy rice wine).

Photobucket Photobucket Photobucket
Pocheon is almost 2 hours from Seoul by car, situated in a far north-eastern mountainous inland region of Korea, so it’s much closer to the border with North Korea.  On our way there, we enjoyed our conversation with our tour guide, Yoo-san.  Once we were closer to Pocheon, the scenery turned into a beautiful mountainous countryside with lots of nature.  Yoo-san said Pocheon is historically known for its mineral-rich pure quality spring water, so there are traditional makgeolli producers there. 

Photobucket Photobucket Photobucket Photobucket Photobucket Photobucket
We got to the makgeolli brewery, Sansawon, and had a tour of its property.  There were hundreds of big vases to ferment makgeolli in the wide-spread outdoor area.  The view was really beautiful.

Photobucket Photobucket Photobucket
It was my dream to take a bath in makgeolli!

Photobucket Photobucket Photobucket Photobucket Photobucket Photobucket
Inside of the building is a Korean liquor museum, where many traditional liquor and rice wine equipments as well as historical documents are displayed.  After the museum tour, we were taken to a tasting room, where there were about 2 dozens of makgeolli and rice wine/ liquor products to taste!  There were also traditional snacks to sample along with makgeolli, including makgeolli-pickled vegetables.

Photobucket Photobucket Photobucket Photobucket
I enjoyed tasting all the makgeolli drinks.  There were many interesting kinds, including grape makgeolli, dandelion rice wine, herb rice wine, etc.  My favorite among all the makgeolli we tasted was raw makgeolli, which was just bottled a day before.  It was so rich and extremely fresh!  It was such a fun tasting, and we even got bottles of different makgeolli as souvenirs.

Photobucket Photobucket Photobucket Photobucket Photobucket Photobucket
Next stop was a fresh tofu restaurant which was not far from Sansawon.  We got to try making our fresh tofu in the traditional way by grinding soybeans (to make soymilk) in a stone grinder by hand.

Photobucket Photobucket Photobucket Photobucket Photobucket
Once the soybeans were ground to soymilk, it was heated, and nigari liquid was added at the table to make tofu.  The fresh warm tofu was so comforting.

Photobucket Photobucket Photobucket
We also got to cook our own kamja jeon (potato pancakes).

Photobucket Photobucket Photobucket Photobucket Photobucket Photobucket
Our lunch also included make-your-own bibimbop with barley rice, freshly-pressed tofu, and cheonggukjang (fermented soybean stew).  And, we had more makgeolli!  It was a lovely rustic lunch.

Photobucket Photobucket
On our way back to Seoul, after tasting good amount of makgeolli, both Mom and I had a nice nap in the car.  Our next stop was Kimchi World in Insa-dong district in Seoul.  We took a cooking class there.

Photobucket Photobucket Photobucket
We made kimchi again.  The style of kimchi we made was different from the kimchi-making class we took last year, but it was also fun and interesting.

Photobucket Photobucket Photobucket Photobucket
We also made traditional tteokbokki(rice cake) dish.  The kochujang sauce was hot and tasty.

Photobucket
Our full-day private tour ended with shopping for some souvenirs.  What a great tour it was…we had a blast, and also had great experiences learning about Korean culture!