Basic HTML Version
AWINEFORALLTIME
Seoul’s cool
jujeom
bars prove you can teach
an old drink new tricks
In the trendy, youthful areas of Seoul, par-
ticularly near Hongik University and in the
Gangnamdistrict, hip bars called
jujeoms
have taken to serving a very old kind of
alcohol—
makgeolli
, amilky rice wine once
quaffed by farmers—in an unusual way.
They offer the mildly peanut-flavored
beverage alongside fresh fruit juice, or
mix the two together to create brightly
colored cocktails similar to smoothies. We
asked KimEna, a bartender at the wine bar
Wolhyang, how tomake one of the la er.
KIWI
MAKGEOLLI
INGREDIENTS
›
1½ oz. brown
makgeolli
›
3 oz. white
makgeolli
›
3½ oz. tonic water
›
Honey to taste
›
½ kiwi fruit, peeled
Toss the kiwi fruit into a
blender with the other
ingredients. Blend thor-
oughly and pour into a cold
punch bowl or wide-mouth
glass. Serve.
Lee says. “It’s
playing with famil-
iar local cuisine by
adding a creat ive
twist.” This results in
such dishes as tiramisu made with tofu
instead of mascarpone, beef tartare with
caviar marinated in three different-aged
soy sauces, and potato noodles soaked in
a green soy milk broth and topped with
crunchy turnip noodles.
As for the restaurant’s focus on the
soybean, Han says it’s not only a healthy
ingredient, but also pivotal in making old
flavors new. “The diversity of the foods
you can make using soybeans allowed us
to use these newtechniques on traditional
recipes,” she says.
Congdu’s three color-themed prix
fixe menus, meantime, evoke traditional
Asian concepts (energy meridians, feng
shui) while providing a foundation for
molecular hijinks—think foams, powders
and dehydrated bits. Dishes appear in
flights of orange, green or white; however,
as in color therapy, sometimes the actual
colors are only implied. The green menu,
for example, includes the aforementioned
(and quite green) soy milk soup but also a
decidedly fish-colored grilled fish served
with a bowl of green tea. So while all the
offeringsmaynot actually
be
green, they’re
meant tomake you
feel
green—in this case,
happier and more harmonious. And with
harmony on the rise among Seoul diners,
can it be far behind for the city’s genera-
tional divide?
CINDY-LOU DALE (CONGDU)
DISPATCHES
||
FOOD&DRINK
SITTING PRETTY
Congdu’s terrace
overlooks the
former grounds of
Gyeonghui Palace
BOARDING PASS
Get your fill of
Seoul’s rich culinary traditions and tasty
innovations when you hop a United
flight to the South Korean capital. We
offer nonstop service from San Francisco
and connecting service from dozens of
points throughout North America.
For complete scheduling details and to
book your flight, go to united.com.
36
SEPTEMBER 2012
•
HEMISPHERESMAGAZINE.COM