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What’s the best way to survive Korea’s long and cold winters? Try a freshly roasted sweet potato or one of the countless other snacks sold by Korean street vendors. Don’t forget to stock up on kimchi by participating in gimjang, the yearly kimchi-making ritual that takes place right before the bitter cold sets in. Read on to learn more about how to eat yourself to health and happiness this winter!

Traditional Winter Foods

• Gimjang Kimchi

  

  Kimchi is the quintessential Korean food, and comes in numerous varieties. Wintertime Kimchi-making is known as ‘gimjang,’ a time during which households (typically housewives) in Korea prepare and store kimchi in massive quantities for the winter months. Several decades ago, the kimchi made during gimjang was the only vegetable available in the winter; if you didn’t make your kimchi during the ‘gimjang’ period, you would have to go without vegetables until the following spring. Each year, the fall’s final harvest includes the major ingredients for kimchi – Chinese cabbages and radishes. Thanks to modern farming techniques, vegetables are now available throughout the year; however, this annual tradition of pre-winter kimchi-making remains strong.
  
  An important part of gimjang is the storing of the final product. To allow for proper fermentation, gimjang kimchi is best kept near 0℃ with minimal temperature fluctuation. In the past, special holes were dug in which kimchi jars were covered buried and covered with straw mats to ferment during the winter. Today, most Korean households have two refrigerators. One is just your average refrigerator while the other is a uniquely Korean appliance used exclusively for kimchi storage.
  
  ☞ Related Column: Kimchi, the Fundamental Korean Food
  ☞ Kimchi Recipe

• Red Bean Porridge of Winter Solstice

  

  The winter solstice is the shortest day of the year and has the most hours of darkness. After the winter solstice, typically on or around Dec 22, the days gradually become longer, slowly chasing away winter as the sun regains its strength.
  
  A traditional Korean winter solstice event is making and eating red bean paste porridge (called ‘patjuk’ in Korean). Red beans are boiled and small balls of glutinous rice are added, making a thick and sweet porridge. Red beans symbolize the chasing away of evil spirits, and the rice balls symbolize new life. Therefore, eating a delicious bowl of patjuk on winter solstice was believed to chase away all illnesses. Also eating the same number of rice balls as one’s age symbolizes the successfully passing of the year.
  
  In the olden days, Koreans would sprinkling red bean paste porridge around the yard and share the dish with neighbors to chase away evil spirits. At the time, many also believed that a warm winter solstice meant the coming of disease and death while a cold, snowy winter solstice meant a prosperous New Year.
  
  Although the winter solstice is not a major Korean holiday like Chuseok or Lunar New Year’s Day, Korean families do get together to enjoy a sweet bowl of red bean paste porridge and wish each other a healthy and prosperous New Year. These days, numerous porridge restaurants offer patjuk anytime of the year. A bowl usually costs 5,000 to 8,000 won.
  
  ☞ Patjuk Recipe

• Manduguk (Dumpling Soup)

  

  Mandu-guk (dumpling soup) is a dish that is regularly eaten by Koreans in the winter. Dumplings are filled with minced beef and vegetables, put in a broth along with sliced rice cakes, and boiled to perfection. You may even find restaurants that serve pink and yellow dumplings colored with natural dyes. Although eaten throughout the year, manduguk is especially savored in the winter and is traditionally served on New Year’s Day. It is best enjoyed with gimjang kimchi (kimchi prepared during the winter) or mul-kimchi (watery kimchi served cold). Manduguk usually costs 4,000 to 7,000 won per serving.
  
  ☞ Manduguk Recipe

• Tteokguk (Rice Cake Soup) on Lunar New Year's Day

  

  Without tteok-guk it doesn’t really feel like Lunar New Year's Day. In the morning, the whole family gathers around to have tteokguk, make New Year's resolutions and wish each other a healthy and prosperous New Year. In recent years, tteokguk has also become a popular food for Solar New Year's Day as well. Of course, it doesn’t need to be a holiday for you to enjoy a great big bowl of tteokguk!
  
  To make tteokguk, garaetteok (long, cylinder-shaped tteok) is sliced into thin pieces and placed into a soup stock seasoned with a pinch of salt or a drop of soy sauce. One interesting thing about this dish is that different regions of Korea slice Garaetteok into different shapes, meaning that you can guess the hometown of your cook if you have a keen eye. These days, sliced Garaetteok is widely enjoyed in a range of soups including manduguk (dumpling soup) or ramen.
  
  ☞ Tteokguk Recipe

• Ogokbap (Five-grain Rice) of Jeongwol Daeboreum (Jan. 15th by lunar calendar)

  

  Ogokbap Rice, a special food originating from the Jeongwol Daeboreum (first full moon) festival, is a type of cooked white rice mixed with five grains: glutinous rice, glutinous millet, red beans, glutinous kaoliang, and black beans. Depending on the region, some grains are replaced with substitutes. This healthy tradition may have even led to more households adding grains to their white rice. Another tradition of Jeongwol Daeboreum is to enjoy dried wild vegetables from the previous year. Bureom, a selection of nuts including pine nuts, chestnuts, walnuts, and peanuts, is also enjoyed to wish for good luck in the coming year.
  
  ☞ Ogokbap Recipe