Korea, Bulgaria: far apart, but quite similar
By Korea.net Honorary Reporter Alexandra Taseva
Photos = Wikipedia
The fact that Bulgaria and Korea are among the most eastern countries on their continents is not the only similarity between them. While studying and looking deeper and deeper into both countries we can find interesting similarities in terms of food, drink, music and more. Today, I will tell you about three of those similarities.
Drumming the rhythm of the heart
The drum as a musical instrument dates back to 4000 B.C. in Egypt. Drums made with alligator skins have been found at Neolithic sites located in China dating to a period of around 5500 to 2350 B.C. In literary records, drums manifesting shamanistic characteristics were often used in ritual ceremonies. The traditional Bulgarian drum and Korean drums are similar.
In Bulgaria, the drum was brought back in the 10th century. It became very popular in traditional folklore music. The instrument is present in the music of almost all folklore regions, except for around the Rhodope Mountains. There are two varieties by size: medium and large. The folk musicians called the middle-sized drum just a "drum" and the larger-sized drum a daul. Something interesting, about the daul: it can only be found in the folklore of the Macedonian region and in Turkey.
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| The larger-sized drum is known as a daul. |
Elitsa Todorova and Stoyan Yankulov represented Bulgaria at the 2007 Eurovision Song Contest in Helsinki with the song "Water." Here, you can see and hear traditional Bulgarian drums.
One of the most common mistakes is the affiliation with the big drums used as part of a drum kit in symphonies and brass bands. While they have similar appearances, the differences in setting it up, the sound and timbre are essential. In other words, they are different instruments.
Far to the east in Korea, you can find something really close and familiar: the Korean drum.
Korean drums play an important part in traditional Korean music, ranging from folk music to royal court music. There are a wide variety of shapes and sizes, for use both in accompanying other instruments and in special drumming performances.
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| Drums are quite often found in traditional Korean music. |
In the traditional Korean classification of instruments, drums are grouped with the hyeokbu, or instruments made with leather. A notable type of these leather drums are Korean barrel drums, or also known as buk. The buk is used in court music and are usually fixed with nails on the rims, while the ones used in folk music are usually tied up with leather straps to form the shape.
While there are 20 types of buk used in today's traditional Korean music, the most commonly used buk are the jwago to perform the samhyeon yukgak or six-part band, the yonggo for marching music, the gyobanggo for a bukchum, also know as the drum dance, the beopgo for Buddhist ritual ceremonies, the sogo used by namsadang and street musicians, the soribuk or gojangbuk for pansori, the maegubuk (or nongakbuk) used for agricultural and farming music, and the motbanggo used by farmers while they work.
The Five Drum Dance is from 'The Sensation Concert,' as aired on Arirang TV. Here you can see and hear beautiful traditional Korean drums.
Taste the world
Food may be the main similarity across the whole world. No matter where you are or what you do, you need to provide nutritional support for your body. One of the biggest groups of food in the world is vegetables, and in this case I will tell you more about cabbage.
The health benefits of cabbage include frequent use as a treatment for constipation, stomach ulcers, headaches, obesity, skin disorders, eczema, jaundice, scurvy, rheumatism, arthritis, gout, eye disorders, heart diseases, aging and Alzheimer’s disease. Did you know that the inexpensive, humble and widely used cabbage can practically work miracles?
In the cold winter mounts here in Bulgaria, we make sauerkraut. For those of you of you who don’t know, sauerkraut is a food product obtained by fermenting the heads of cabbage in a specially prepared brine, mainly under the influence of lactates.
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| Bulgarian sauerkraut is delicious. |
To make a long story short, here is how the sauerkraut is made. Sliced or whole cabbages are soaked in water with salt, preferably sea salt, in a ratio of about 40 grams per liter. The mixture should stand for some time and if you are making a larger amounts, you need to decant it a few times. The larger the amounts is, the slower the process of fermentation. At lower temperatures, the fermentation is also slow. In the mixture you may add additional seasoning, like apples, quinces, beets or horseradish. It is also possible to add corn for the juice to be slightly sparkling or red cabbage for coloring.
This is how we make sauerkraut.
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| You can make a Bulgarian salad with sauerkraut. |
Here is an easy way to make a sauerkraut salad.
You will need:
300 grams sauerkraut
1 tablespoon of paprika
1/2 cup of cooking oil
Instructions:
The first step is the selection and preparation of the cabbage. Choose a medium cabbage. Half of it should be enough for a salad for four servings. Cut the sauerkraut finely and place it in the container in which you will serve the salad.
Sprinkle it with red pepper and pour on oil to taste. You can replace the oil with olive oil so that your salad will become more aromatic. There's no need to add salt as the sauerkraut is already salty enough.
Voila! The recipe for a sauerkraut salad is now accomplished! It’s super easy to make and really tasty and healthy for the cold winter days.
I’m sure you all ready know what the Korean dish I will talk about now is. Yes, that is the well-known kimchi.
As you may or may not know, kimchi is a traditional fermented Korean side dish made of vegetables. In a traditional preparation, kimchi is stored underground in jars to keep cool and unfrozen during the winter months. There are hundreds of varieties of kimchi made with napa cabbage, radish, scallion, garlic, ginger or cucumbers as the main ingredients.
I will give you an easy and fast recipe for a home-made kimchi.
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| Kimchi is delicious and can be made at home. |
Ingredients:
1 medium head (2 pounds) of napa cabbage
1/4 cup sea salt or kosher salt
water
1 tablespoon grated garlic (5 to 6 cloves)
1 teaspoon grated ginger
1 teaspoon sugar
2 to 3 tablespoons seafood flavor or water
1 to 5 tablespoons red pepper flakes
8 ounces Asian radish or daikon, peeled and cut into matchsticks
4 scallions, trimmed and cut into 1-inch pieces
Instructions:
First, slice the cabbage. Cut the cabbage lengthwise into quarters and remove the cores. Cut each quarter crosswise into 2-inch-wide strips. Salt the cabbage. Place the cabbage and salt in a large bowl. Using your hands, massage the salt into the cabbage until it starts to soften a bit, then add water to cover the cabbage. Put a plate on top and weigh it down with something heavy, like a jar or can of beans. Let it stand for one or two hours. Rinse and drain the cabbage. Rinse the cabbage under cold water three times and drain in a colander for 15 to 20 minutes. Rinse and dry the bowl you used for salting. Set it aside.
Now make the paste. Combine the garlic, ginger, sugar, and seafood flavor (or 3 tablespoons water) in a small bowl and mix to form a smooth paste. Mix in the red pepper flakes, using 1 tablespoon for mild and up to 5 tablespoons for spicy. Combine the vegetables and the paste. Gently squeeze any remaining water from the cabbage and return it to the bowl along with the radish, scallions and seasoning.
Mix thoroughly. Using your hands, gently work the paste into the vegetables until they are thoroughly coated. Gloves are optional here, but I highly recommended you use them to protect your hands from stings, stains and the smell.
In the end, pack the kimchi into a jar, pressing down on it until the brine rises to cover the vegetables. Leave at least 1 inch of space at the top. Seal the jar with the lid. Now you need to wait. Let the jar stand at room temperature for one to five days. You may see bubbles inside the jar and brine may seep out of the lid. Place a bowl or plate under the jar to help catch any overflow. Check the kimchi once a day, pressing down on the vegetables with a clean finger or spoon to keep them submerged under the brine. This also releases gases produced during fermentation. Taste a little at this point, too. When the kimchi taste is ripe enough for your liking, transfer the jar to the refrigerator. You may eat it right away, but it's best after another week or two. Hope you like this easy kimchi recipe.
Drink at the end of the day
Rakia is a traditional strong alcoholic drink prepared not only in Bulgaria but in all the Balkans, such as Macedonia, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro and Croatia. Initially, rakia is colorless. However, it can acquire a yellowish to brownish color with aging in a barrel or after the use of various additives. It tastes like Korean soju, Japanese sake, Russian moonshine, Mexican tequila or U.S. brandy. It's prepared by distilling fermented fruit. The most common ones are grape and plum. Industrial spirits -- also called store-bought -- are normally 40 percent alcohol, but homemade moonshine can reach 60 percent. The technology of preparation is not complicated and raw materials, like fruit, sugar and water, are readily available and inexpensive. In the winter, Bulgarian rakia is popular to drink warm.
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| Traditional Bulgarian rakia is one of the best drinks in the world. |
Rakia is produced by the distillation of fermented fruit or wine. The raw material is called marc or chimney. The distillation process is called boiling or baking. The distillery is called a "boiler." It's preferred to be a copper boiler. The boiling is over wood and the cooling is with water. The first flow is clear. It's called parvak, which is rich in methyl alcohol. This is not for drinking. The alcohol content of the spirit is typically about 50 to 60 percent when removed from the head. The drink gradually wakens to under 38 percent alcohol.
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| A boiler is used to brew rakia. |
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| There's a famous rakia distiller in the town of Toryan. |
As I'm sure you know, there's a drink in Korea called soju. Yes, this is the third similarity between Bulgaria and Korea. Soju is a distilled beverage containing ethanol and water. It is usually consumed neat. It's considered to be Korea's most popular alcoholic beverage. Most brands of soju are made in Korea. While it is traditionally made from rice, wheat or barley, modern producers often replace rice with other starches, such as potato, sweet potato or tapioca.
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| Chamisul soju can be sold with a branded glass. |
Soju is clear and colorless. Its alcohol content varies from about 18 to 45 percent, but traditional Andong soju is 20 percent. By using freeze distillation, the alcoholic percentage can be increased to the desired amount.
Soju is traditionally made by distilling alcohol from fermented grain. Modern soju manufacturers produce it by purchasing ethanol, diluting it with water and adding sweeteners. The end product is marketed under a variety of soju brand names.
Distilled soju usually has 30 to 35 percent alcohol, whereas soju from diluted ethanol may range from 21 to 30 percent alcohol.
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| Vats in the center of a traditional town are still used to make soju. |
I hope this little trip was interesting. If you travel to both countries, see if you can find any more similarities.
wisdom117@korea.kr
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