Black Sesame, Mugwort, Red Bean, Chestnut... Food and Beverage Industry 'Holic' on Traditional Ingredients

CooCat 'CooCat Market Night Glutinous Rice Cake'.

[Asia Economy Reporter Moon Hyewon]Ingredients traditionally associated with foods like rice cakes or Korean sweets, such as black sesame, injeolmi (rice cake coated with powdered soybeans), and mugwort, are capturing the tastes of younger consumers including the MZ generation, riding the wave of the retro trend.

According to the industry on the 8th, ‘Geundae Golmok Danpatppang,’ a bakery specializing in old-fashioned bread and recognized as one of the ‘Top 3 bakeries in Daegu,’ recently launched a new menu called ‘NEW Mammoth Bread 4 Types.’ This menu is a modern reinterpretation of the ‘Old Mini Mammoth Bread,’ which is sold exclusively on Market Kurly by Geundae Golmok Danpatppang. The popular Mammoth Bread, known for its generous size and fully packed filling, has been combined with traditional ingredients such as peanuts, injeolmi, black sesame, and mugwort, which offer great texture and flavor. When you take a bite, the subtle sweetness of the handmade red bean paste, which Geundae Golmok Danpatppang prides itself on, fills your mouth along with the savory and aromatic cream made from traditional ingredients. The finely crumbled texture unique to the crisply baked soboro bread is also exquisite.

The varieties include ‘Peanut Sando Mammoth,’ ‘Injeolmi Mammoth,’ ‘Black Sesame Mammoth,’ and ‘Mugwort Mammoth,’ all available for order at the Geundae Golmok Danpatppang main store and official online mall.

Cookat, a food mall specializing in ready meals (HMR), has launched ‘Cookat Market Chestnut Glutinous Rice Cake.’ The highlight is the cream made from chestnuts, a traditional ingredient, which fills the inside of the glutinous rice cake, allowing you to fully enjoy the sweet and rich flavor of chestnuts. Inside the soft chestnut cream, almonds are topped, providing a balanced experience of savory taste and a crunchy texture.

The rice cake skin, which determines the texture of the glutinous rice cake, is also special. Well-soaked domestic glutinous rice is steamed in a steamer basket and then kneaded evenly to achieve a chewy texture along with stickiness and sweetness. Individually packaged, this product is convenient to take out one by one not only for a light tea time but also during busy mornings.

Paik's Coffee 'Ssuk Ssuk Latte' 'Ssuk Ssuk Paik's Chino'.

Paik’s Coffee introduced ‘Ssuk Ssuk Latte’ and ‘Ssuk Ssuk Paik’s Chino,’ both using mugwort. Known for its slightly bitter flavor that gently captures the unique taste of mugwort, which is said to help blood circulation, warm the body, and aid detoxification, these drinks can be enjoyed without any burden by anyone.

The Ssuk Ssuk Latte is a menu that pairs well with cold weather. The subtle mugwort aroma combined with smooth milk creates a richer, more savory, and satisfying fullness. The Ssuk Ssuk Paik’s Chino is a blended drink made with mugwort powder, milk, and ice, and can be enjoyed even sweeter by adding soft ice cream according to preference.

Ogada has re-released two latte drinks, ‘Black Sesame Latte’ and ‘Sweet Pumpkin Latte,’ this winter following last winter. Using Korean traditional ingredients black sesame and sweet pumpkin, these drinks capture both savory and sweet flavors simultaneously.

The Black Sesame Latte is a premium grain latte combining representative black food black sesame with smooth milk. It stands out for using domestically grown black sesame, which offers a more savory taste and aroma compared to imported varieties. The Sweet Pumpkin Latte is a menu that pairs the rich sweetness of domestic sweet pumpkin with savory milk, featuring a liquid base rather than powder to allow full enjoyment of the color and aroma of the pumpkin ingredient.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.