Domestic Goddess

Food, Glorious Food (as sung by the prehistoric vultures in Ice Age 2) Steamed and then Grilled Corn Crispy Pa-Jeon (Vegetable pankcakes) - I wanna fish out that tentacle and munch on it. Fiery-hot Ddeokbukki Japanese bean cakes. Deep-fried pork strips Roasted pig... (tummy rumbling with hunger now) And we have the restaurant tents... This kind gentleman giggled as I took his picture. He said he like being a "food model"

Fondant Cakes There was a cake booth with lots of colorful display cakes exhibited. Fondant high heels, anyone? A bed cake... A baby cake for a little girl. Petit fours? A chocolate creation... A pair of parrots with a rabbit. An island girl? Woodland animals... I see a monkey, a dolphin and an elephant on this cake.

More rice cakes and desserts... Twisted Multi-colored Ddeok Pepita Squares (Squash Seeds) Flower sweets with Pine nuts Sliced Ddeok with Walnut and Sesame Seeds Rice cakes with pressed design There were also various cooked rice with mixed ingredients. Like these rice balls with red bean. Steamed rice with squash... Steamed rice with peas... Rice with minced mushrooms. Yum! And steamed with chestnuts. Different grains used to mix with rice. From the left, we have mixed grains (peas, barley, millet, etc), barley and black rice. Here's a delightful way to present rice. Steamed in a squash. I have no clue what this rice bowl contains. Cooked in a stone pot with ginko nuts, dates and ginseng. This one looks like it has chinese ingredients in it: carrots, leeks, mushrooms, etc. Wrapped in lettuce leaves. A bibimbap bowl. Rice with sweet potato cubes. Then there were more stuff on display for mixing with rice to make it more nutritious. Like millet grains. Hmm, anyone got an idea on what these grains are? Black rice or what we call "pirurutong" in the Philippines. Plain rice grains. Let's end this session with an elegant table display.

Rice cake with tea sets plating and presentation Cakes in this delightful iron duck. Lined up in this graceful ceramic boat. Nestled in this glass swan. Isn't this so pretty? Now we get to the jook (rice gruel/porridge) presentations. These porridge has chestnuts in it. And we have more rice cakes. Pardon the glare as all the exhibits had clear wrap around them. Hmm these are preserved lotus root. And I think this is peanut brittle. Rice puffs! Candied apple peel rosettes. More rice puffs! I love the sesame coated ones. An elegant tea presentation. Candied ginseng

Ichon Rice Products Here's one of the most popular rice brands in Korea - the Ichon Rice. The logo actually has a korean king on it to signify that this kind of rice was used exclusively for the king and the royal family's consumption in the olden times. Unhusked rice grains. Husked and polished rice. Displays of rice plants in different growth stages. When you have rice, you make rice cakes. I've seen rice cakes all over (Philippines, China, etc.) but have never seen such prettier rice cakes than the ones in Korea. Will you look at those tiny grape designs? Ricecake with pumpkin rose garnish. Masquerading as persimmons... Some of these look like pretty pin cushions. Another one that is literally a cake. Whenever this is served in a birthday party, I usually hoard the black ones - my favorite! Pretty folded ones. Decorated with cherry blossoms. And more pretty cakes... Hmmm... I wonder how they cut these cakes up? Rice cakes are pretty sticky and hard to cut.

Sheena - I tasted one of the pumpkin yut and it stuck in my upper molar for a minute before vigorous tongue wrestling managed to unstuck it for me to just melt in my mouth. Seisei - my hubby actually whined "are you gonna post ALL those pictures? Do you really HAVE TO? LOL Peter - Billy kept asking me to call you to bring Serena to the rice festival. He was disappointed to find that you guys already left Korea. Milgwimper - my mother loves celadon but could only afford a small vase. I could only afford a chopstick rest.

Part Three of my Report The Modern and the Old... A rice polishing machine, I guess this is the small portable kind. There was a huge exhibit of antiques. Here are farm implements and a still-working loom. Jars, a pump handle, and more farm implements. I love the wooden carry-all. Machetes, saws and mortar & pestle... Brass (?) rice pot with small rice bowls with covers. I adore the look of worn, well-used wooden spoon. Like a dozen grandmas have used it to stir and scrape the pot. Charcoal irons! I remember we had one of these when I was growing up and our maid would actually prefer it than the electric one. Of course, when the charcoal spits glowing embers, it leaves a soot-blackened hole on your shirt. An old phone, old lamps and I have no idea what those tiny teapots on the stick at the back are for. A chinese medicine cabinet. A wooden parasol and a delightful dresser. They even had a display of old korean currency.

More Sights and Sounds Remember I said that the Rice Festival is held at the same venue for the World Ceramic Festival? Well, there were ceramics on display. See those teapots at the front? I love the functional handles on them. The green celadon vases at the back have the flying crane motif. My mom absolutely adores it. Now we go to the Kimchi booth. Yes, you heard me, Kimchi. Did you know that a lot of traditional mothers and grandmothers would use rice washing as an ingredient to make kimchi. That's the cloudy water that you get when you swirl the rice in in the pot. These bags cost about $10 each. Free kkaetogi kimchi for tasting. Kkaetogi is made out of radish cubes. My parents brought home a couple of kilos of these kimchi when they last visited me. Of course, we got the common napa cabbage kimchi. They also had a kimchi making tutorial with ingredients ready made. Like the red-hot chili paste. Ingredients usually include ground chili powder, minced garlic, anchovy fish sauce, etc. Cabbages soaked and washed with rice washing water. The soaked cabbages thoroughly drained and rubbed with the evil-hot chili paste. They were also selling tangerines there for a couple of bucks per bag. I bought one for Billy and I to share on the bus ride home. I spied Billy in front of several pumpkins, entranced by something. He was mesmerized by this - a taffy pulling machine. It was a booth selling pumpkin taffy candy. Here's the taffy candy rolled into logs and dusted with that roasted soybean powder. So we went on further into the fairgrounds and came upon a booth showing how a rice paddy environment supports the ecosystem. They had frogs, eels and bugs in this little rice paddy showcase. Here is Billy trying to get one of the eels. Other kids joined in the splishy-splashy fun. One of the kids caught an eel and shows it to Billy. All the fun stopped when an official came over and told the kids that they couldn't catch the eels. Oops. Next: Antiques and so much more

Nakji - I do know about sneaking off and paying the bill. If I don't do it, my korean friends would do it all the time. LOL Milgwimper - no worries, and thanks for the t's and p's for hubby. Sheena - aaah so that is roasted soybean powder. I see bags of that sold in the grocery stores here.

More pics and report tomorrow. Hubby's complaining that I've been in here for hours.

The next booth where we went to was the woven-rice products. These were manned by sullen geezers who refused to smile at any greeting. This is the weaving machine that they use. Grinning totem poles leer at me. And Billy leers at these woven animals' behind. Traditional woven slippers with no size for me. I think this a horse and a tiny cow and farmer vignette. A woven man guards the entrance of the booth. The cape on display catches my eye. I could imagine a 16th century farmer garbed with this woven garment, bent under the pouring rain. A rice keeper? I have no idea. Beside this booth was a model of a korean house. Oksana poses with Minseogi (you can see my little rascal peering behind them).

Sights and sounds around the Rice Festival If you do get tired walking around the festival grounds, you can always hitch a ride on this ox-cart. While Billy and I was walking we spied this huge rope made out of rice straws. Hmm, I wonder what it was for? It was for a game of tug-of-war! There was an announcer who called on all adults to participate. Yeah, they also manage to get some foreigners to join in. My son unfortunately was distracted by a frog that got caught on bundle of straw rope. A friendly pair of hands help catch the slippery amphibian for Billy. 1-2-3 and away they go! Our side lost on the first round. After a brief rest, round two started and our side won! The older generation thought it would be best to cheer on the sidelines, with a glass of fermented rice wine. Acorn jelly with garlic/chili sauce plus kimchi made up for tasty accompaniment to the wine. Whenever one approaches a table like this, you can be sure to be offered a glass. By this time, Billy has wandered off and found another fun thing to do. And for the historic fashionistas, there's even a booth where you can dress up as a princess or benevolent prince. We decided to move to another part of exhibits and found more fun stuff to do. Like pounding rice. Or milling the grains the old-fashioned way. I had to take a picture of these giggling adjumas (aunts) who was having a heyday threshing rice. There were several stages for performances in the festival. Dancers with traditional drums... In another stage, there were puppet shows for the kiddies. For those who want a portrait of themselves, there were about a dozen artist ready to whip up a drawing in less than an hour. Next: Displays and exhibits

Just near the entrance of the festival was a metal-works booth. I was fascinated with this gentleman who was intently working on a ring of metal. That's a clay kiln where he would sometimes insert the metal to bring it up to red-hot state. Knives and sickles to entrance Freddy Krueger. Iron pots beside metal hoe attachments (on the left) Aaah, more metal sharp thingies. I fell in love with these metal teapots. Next to the metalworks booth was the ricecake booth. And they had an authentic rice-pounding ceremony. One of the men from the crowd volunteered to weild the heavy wooden mallet. The women who hold the cloth where the pounded rice is kept pull the corners together to mix the pounded rice up. Eventually the pounded rice turns into this. It is really nice, soft and sticky and coated liberally with this bland powder (somebody, help?). I dare anyone to whistle after eating a mouthful of these rice treats. And yes, that is a plastic plate that the server is using to cut the hug ricecake slab. They were also selling these common rice cakes. Logs for deokbokki, ricecake with beans, soy beans & nuts and nut-paste filed ones. Also on display were these gift sets costing about $60 per box. I was so glad they had freebies... The ladies giving the freebies wore these lovely hanboks (Korean Traditional garment).

Like what I promised earlier (and to Peter), we hightailed it to Ichon City yesterday (Oct. 26) to experience the Ichon Rice Festival. My Russian friend Oksana and her little boy Minseogi went with me and Billy on our trip. We took the Festival's shuttle bus to the event. Here are Oksana and her boy. The event was held at Seolbong Park, the same venue of the Ichon Ceramic Festival. The Festival was jumping with people from all walks of life. In the shuttle bus, we were outnumbered by dozens of senior citizens who cackled and gabbed all the way. I just had to take a picture of these cute preschoolers. This huge mound of rice stalks were shaped like a hut with two huge rice scoopers. There were also a booth were one can don rice capes, skirts and hats. Billy thought it was funny to pose with him. Of course, I couldn't go to a local festival without getting a souvenir for my knickknack-crazy mother. I got her one of this tiny lucky rice scoopers to hang on the door. I got one with chili peppers attached to it. Next: metal works & ricecake-making

Here are the Peppero boxes that I got for Billy and me. The original Peppero. This one is coated with crushed almond and chocolate. This is Billy's favorite... the inside-out Peppero. As the name suggest, the chocolate is in the inside of the cookie stick.

Milgwimper - hubby feels a little better (still not out of the woods yet). Thanks for the positive thoughts. I bought 3 kinds of Peppero today and will post them tomorrow. It's past midnight here and we're all pooped from a long day at the Icheon Rice Festival (which warranted an unexpective trip to the ER because of a dogbite).

LOL I've been following this blog too with a lot of interest. I can't wait for more.

Hubby got this from one of his 5th Grade student today. It was really sweet of her since hubby wasn't feeling well today. Peppero wannabe in a box. It actually said "Chocolonglong" on the side of the box in teeny-tiny letters. The peppero sticks are about 4 inches long. There will be more peppero hauls in the coming days.

Hear, hear! Third food mantra is PORK is good.

Ce'nedra - I got this fabulous recipe from this site: Confessions of a Pioneer Woman cinnrolls Suzilightning - my hubby says the icing is VERY important. Like what SIF said, you can't never have too much of it.

Johnny - thanks for the wonderful report and the fabulous pics. That post about salughtering the deer left me filled with mixed emotions. It was wonderfully written. Hubby's drooling over the grilled ribs. Again, maraming salamat!

Supper today was Grilled Boneless Porkchops with Fried Rice (cherry tomatoes on the side as a palate cleanser) Cinnamon Rolls for dessert.

Smooth for the entire family. Either Skippy or Peter Pan.

Thanks for the food report and pics Hiroyuki! Can't wait for the next batch of pictures.

PLK, ditto on the peanut butter with jelly stripes. I for one only want the peanut butter, only hubby and youngest son likes PB&J sandwiches.