Mogwa(Quince) Ade.

 Because of many historical issues, Korean tea culture became different from other Northeast Asia countries. While other countries are using the word "Cha"; tea only for products from tea plants, Korean tea culture includes herbal teas also as "Cha". Especially Yuja(Yuzu)cha and Mogwa(Quince)cha are the most famous Korean teas. Those teas remind me my mom. She made home-made yuja and quince teas for us when those fruits are in season.



Last fall, our family visited "Andong hahoe village"; The Hahoe Folk Village (Korean: 안동하회마을) is a traditional village from the Joseon Dynasty. The village is a valuable part of Korean culture because it preserves Joseon period-style architecture, folk traditions, valuable books, and old tradition of clan-based villages(Wikipedia).

A beautiful village surrounded by river and mountains

While we were looking around the village, we found so many quinces just dropped on the ground and nobody cares about them. Even villagers!! So we decided to take them and make a tea. All we need to do was just gather them. They were all organic too!!

 My mom and dad are carrying a bag full of quinces. haha

I didn't take pictures while my mom made the tea. Making tea out of quince is so easy. It's just a lot of work. :P All you need to do just cut them thinly like strips and mix with same amount of sugar or honey. And wait for 2 weeks. 

 I was going to introduce this tea today, but seems like the weather is too nice for this tea. Mogwa-cha helps prevent the cold, especially good for Respiratory diseases. It is a very fragrant, and we drink it hot during cold winter. So I made a nice sparkling Mogwa ade instead.

 

Eating with Goroke(Croquette)

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Dissolve one or two tablespoons of Mogwa-cha extract with a little bit of warm water.

Put lots of ice cubes

Pour sparkling water and mix well.

I know this is not even a recipe.    Originally we pour hot water.

Anyway this tea is sweet and so aromatic. I really want to recommend to everybody. You can either make it or you can also buy a jar of Mogwa-cha at Korean grocery store. 

Or you can come to Handol tearoom. 

Croquette or Goroke.

 I made one of my favorite snack that my mom made when I was kid, "Croquette" or "Goroke"(This version sounds more familiar for me). Even though I loved it so much, I couldn't taste it often, because she doesn't like deep frying. Croquette is a western food, but from my experience, it is more popular in Korea and Japan. Croquettes can be found in most of bakeries in Korea and Japan, and there are even many stores just making croquettes. Korean versions are normally stuffed with Japche(clear noodle made out of sweet potato with veggies) or mainly potato, veggies and a bit of ground beef with sweet yellow curry sauce. Japanese basic version is stuffed with potato, vegetables and beef or pork, but my favorite is the one stuffed with sweet white sauce and crab meat.
Korean version uses yest bread dough to cover the stuffs, and then breaded. But my mom only breaded the stuff like homemade European version. It is definitely simpler and less calories. :)

You will need 

1 caned tuna (or grounded cooked beef)

3 tablespoons chopped carrots

3 tablespoons chopped celeries

3 tablespoons chopped red peppers

2 cups mashed potatoes

1 tablespoon mayonese

2 eggs

4 mini baby bell cheese (other types of cheeses are fine)

3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

Dried bread crumbs (I mixed panko and one piece of pumpernickel)

Canola oil or peanut oil (enough to fill pan 1/2")

Cookie cutter (any shapes of mold you want)

Directions

 

1. Chop vegetables and mix with tuna.

(varieties of vegetables make your food pretty and it is good to eat your leftover in your refrigerator:D)

2. Mix 1 with mashed potatoes(salted), one egg and mayo.

(I didn't smash too hard, because I used Onigiri mold that I can press it in.)

3. Use cling wrap for the mold(not necessary)

Fill half of the mold the potato mix(My onigiri mold can be filled with around 6 tablespoons, so 3 tablespoons first), 

and put a piece of cheese(half of mini baby bell) in the middle. 

 4. Cover the cheese with the rest, press it well, and dust it with flour.

5. Dip in the beaten egg.

6. Roll through bread crumbs.

7. Fry each croquette in shallow oil until brown on all sides.

Ta-da!

The color is a lot darker, because I used pumpernickel as bread crumbs. They should be golden brown with regular bread crumbs.

Ooey goey melted cheese inside.

 

I like my Goroke with mayo.

(My husband prefers ketchup)

 

With Mogwa(Quince) ade!!

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