Garaedok

Date: 12/18

Last week, one of the teachers brought in a huge box of ...something.  I later found it is called "Garaedok"--although I've also seen it spelled "garaetteok." They are basically very fine rice cakes -- as in the rice is pounded very finely.   They are used in cooking and they actually have a lot of history.

You eat these rice cakes usually in a soup on New Years and it's called tteok guk.  Ms Kim told me that when you eat tteok guk you age one year.  (In Korea, everyone has a giant, mass, country wide birthday on the New Year and you all turn one year older.)  She laughed and said when she was younger she ate two or three bowls of tteok guk so she could become older quicker, and now she doesn't eat tteok guk because she doesn't want to get any older.  It made me smile.

Last week, two of the teachers made a bet about who would win a volleyball game between the students.  I think each teacher is a homeroom teacher.  The unfortunate thing--one of the teachers is the gym teacher.  His class won.  Sooo, the other teacher had to bring a treat for his office staff--which meant that I got to snack on some garaedok!

It was not in a soup--just the rice cake.

In a big box....

You grab one of the ... rolls?  Maybe that's the right word...?  I have no idea. 

Peel it apart from the rest of the garaedok.  They cooked by steam so they are sticky.

 They are basically just a non-glutinous rice powder steamed together to make this long tubes.  So it doesn't really have much taste (Read: none).  Well, I guess there is a taste of rice, but its not like Rice-A-Roni or Spanish Rice or any flavorful rice like in the States.  Its steamed rice, like you would get in Japan or Korea. I always used to call it Sticky rice because it was...well...sticky.  Anyway, not really any flavor.  I've been told that in Japan the rice was used as sort of a palate cleanser between bites of food.  Eat some sashimi, eat some rice to clear off the taste so you can fully enjoy the taste of whatever new delicious gourmet Japanese food you attempt to eat next.  I don't know if that's particularly true, but it makes sense and helps explain that lack of taste that is sticky rice.

Anyway, back to blog:   Since the garaedok doesn't really have any flavor, you can dip it in sugar.  It's just white sugar.  The teacher who lost the volleyball game bet actually brought in a whole bag of sugar. You just dip one end of the garaedok in the cup of sugar and bite.

The Koreans are not really concerned about double-dipping...

The Koreans really seemed to love it.  I don't know if they just have really good memories of garaedok so it tasted good to them.  I could eat about 3/4 a tube and then couldn't really make myself eat any more.  It just hard to chew and I felt like my stomach was going to start leaking rice cake...

There are no such things at "too big a bite" in Korea.  You basically stuff your face most of the time. 

Mrs Kang on the left and Mrs Park on the right.  Both are my English co-teachers.

My other two co-teachers: Ms Kim in the back and Ms Lee in the front in the yellow turtle neck and red-ish jacket.
See...big bites!

I usually don't eat a very big breakfast.  I don't have time to really make anything at my apartment and the coffee stores, to my dismay, do not open until after school starts.  I don't have a toaster (it's on my list of investments) so can't easily do toast or a bagel--I've tried.  (I tried putting the toast/bagel over the open flame of the gas grill--not a smart idea.  Won't be attempting that one again).  So I usually have a small thing of yogurt, and drink a lot of water/tea to try and keep myself full.  But more often than not, I am feed at school.  Random people bring things in so I never really go hungry.  And I actually enjoy not knowing what's going to end up on the "group food sharing" table.  It makes the morning an adventure.