Shiitake Mushrooms’

Special _ Chuseok
Historically, each region in Korea has its own way
Korean-style shish kebab, it’s made in a similar way to
of making songpyeon, with the ingredients that are a
hwayangjeok, but in the last step the skewered ingredi-
specialty of the area. People in the coastal area in
ents are covered with flour and egg) and yuldanja
Pyeongan-do, now in North Korea, used to make
(made by applying honey and boiled chestnut crumbs
clam-shaped rice cakes in the hope of digging out
onto round cakes made of glutinous rice flour).
ample amounts of clams. In Jeolla-do, people make
Of course, alcoholic drinks cannot be ruled out of
crescent-shaped rice cakes that are high in nutritional
the festive food list either. Liquor drunk on Chuseok
value, colorful, and look like a flower. Those who re-
is called baekju (, literally “white liquor”) and
side in Chungcheong-do make songpyeon using
nicknamed sindoju (, literally “new rice
sweet pumpkin as a main ingredient, while people in
liquor”) as it is made of freshly-harvested rice.
Gangwon-do cook the cakes using acorn and potato
that are the principal agri-products of the region.
Among a variety of festive dishes on Chuseok, taro
A Variety of Plays, Games, and
Performances for a Bumper Harvest
soup does not fail to be on the memorial service table
for the ancestral rites. The best way to appreciate the
On Chuseok Koreans enjoy numerous traditional
taste of the soup is to cook it by boiling dried kelp
plays. Ganggangsullae (a traditional Korean circle
mixed with beef. Some other delicious foods of the
dance game performed by women under the full
season are hwayangjeok (beef and vegetable kebab,
moon), juldarigi (tug-of-war), ssireum (traditional
made by seasoning, stir-frying, and skewering mush-
Korean wrestling), and so-nori (cow play) are just
rooms, balloon flower roots, and beef; nureumjeok -
some of them. These are not just to entertain, but to
wish for a good yield and celebrate the abundant harvest
in advance. Ganggangsulae was inspired by a full
moon, which symbolizes abundance. On the night of
Chuseok, around the time when the full moon comes
up, young girls used to enjoy singing while dancing in
a circle, hand-in-hand, in a broad yard or a lawn.
Juldarigi, tug-of-war, was enjoyed by all the people
in a village. They often divided into two teams symbolizing
the female and male forces of the natural
world. The game is considered an agricultural rite to
“Ganggangsulae”
is the Korean traditional
play inspired
by a full
moon, which
symbolizes abundance
Toran-guk (taro soup)
Songpyeon
augur the results of the year’s farming. Thus, if the
team representing the female concept won, it was
thought that the harvest that year would be rich.
Ssireum is one of the Chuseok plays in which men
can show off their strength. In the past, the competition
took place on a lawn or sandy beach and drew a
lot of spectators. The final winner of the tournament
would gain the title of “Jangsa” and was awarded cotton
cloth, rice, or a calf.
As for so-nori, it is a funny performance in which
people used a straw mat to disguise themselves as a
cow and called from door to door for all to get together
and share foods.
46 Korea AgraFood
Issue192 Sep. 2011
47