Try It with Our Alcohol and Rice Cakes Together

It is very good as an appetizer

When grocery shopping, I often buy tteok (rice cakes). I freeze them in the freezer and take one out when I feel a bit hungry or want a simple breakfast. Not only as a simple meal or snack, but they also pair especially well with traditional liquor, often enjoyed as an anju (drinking snack). Today, I paired the frozen jeolpyeon, chapssaltteok, and yaksik with some wonderful traditional liquors purchased from a traditional liquor bottle shop. If you have received tteok as a gift or have some sleeping in your freezer, try pairing them with traditional liquor for a delicious time.

Gamak Mountain Meoruju

Gamak Mountain Meoruju from Sanmeoru Farm is a liquor that undergoes a three-year aging process in an underground maturation tunnel. Its enchanting color, similar to wine, captivated me even before tasting it. The aroma is also similar to wine. However, the taste is a bit different. It has less astringency and is not sour. Rather than bitterness, it has a strong sweet flavor. As you enjoy one glass after another, you find yourself deeply immersed in the soft aroma of meoru (wild grape). The alcohol content is 12%.

What to pair it with? I prepared mild mugwort jeolpyeon. Surprisingly, these two go much better together than expected. The subtle mugwort flavor does not interfere with the meoru aroma that fills the mouth, and it enhances the sweet taste. The chewy texture is also excellent. If you grill both sides until crispy, it tastes even better. It would also pair well with plain jeolpyeon or lightly grilled garaetteok (cylindrical rice cake).

Kkulsaem 16

To break the stereotype that "traditional liquor is old-fashioned," Sulsaem produces hip and sophisticated Korean liquors. If you are interested in traditional liquor, you might have seen their products like Ihwaju, Drunken Monkey, and Purple Gin. Among their impressive lineup, I chose Kkulsaem 16, a 16% alcohol liquor brewed with natural honey. Kkulsaem 16 has a similar alcohol content to soju but with less alcohol harshness and a rich honey flavor. It is sweet but finishes cleanly. It contains ginger, but the sharpness is not prominent. It goes down smoothly and pleasantly.

What to pair it with? I paired it with yaksik, a sweet rice dessert containing pine nuts, jujubes, and chestnuts. The cinnamon aroma from the yaksik is gently wrapped by the sweetness of honey. It also pairs well with the sweet jujubes and savory nuts. It feels twice as good knowing you are drinking healthily(?). Choose yaksik with less sugar rather than overly sweet ones.

Omija Ale

Located in Mungyeong, Ganadara Brewery produces Korean-style craft beer. They create special beers using local specialties like Gyeongbuk blueberries and Mungyeong apples. Omija Ale is a white ale brewed with omija (five-flavor berry), a representative specialty of Mungyeong. When you take a sip, you get a slight bitterness followed by a subtle tartness. If you expected a beer with waves of omija flavor, you might be a bit disappointed, but it is good for light drinking. The alcohol content is 4.5%.

What to pair it with? I once tried omija tea with chapssaltteok at a cafe and realized for the first time how well omija and chapssaltteok go together. In that sense, I chose chapssaltteok filled with red bean paste as the pairing. The slightly bitter beer with sweet and chewy chapssaltteok is truly a perfect match. The feeling of fullness comes quickly, making it a bit unfortunate that I cannot eat more.

Tteok as an anju, a glass of liquor?

Photo by Bomi Kim

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