Dong dong ju

[Kent Wang]

I had a terrific bowl of dong dong ju at Oe Gad Gib in Annandale, Virginia, a suburb of Washington, DC and one of the largest Korean enclaves in America.

I haven't found much information about this stuff online other than it's an unfiltered rice wine popular in Korea. There don't even seem to be many producers of it. Where can I buy it? Do restaurants make it themselves?

Was is the usual alcohol content? I downed that whole bowl of it myself (about half a liter) and just got a little tipsy.

[jkim]

I don't know about where you can get it, but you can probably get PET bottles from your local Korean importer. The PET bottle variety are usually 8 - 9% alc / vol.

[milgwimper]

I don't know about where you can get it, but you can probably get PET bottles from your local Korean importer.  The PET bottle variety are usually 8 - 9% alc / vol.

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You could just go to the local korean grocery and they usually carry at least one brand of the stuff. If you can real korean you can try making your own,

only in Korean 1 link

Only in korean but with some nifty pictures.

[Peter Green]

All right! I'm hitting up the Korean supermarket next time I get to Houston.

(I've got a feeling that it'll be harder to find in Canada.)

[milgwimper]

You could just go to the local korean grocery and they usually carry at least one brand of the stuff. If you can real korean you can try making your own,

Real = read

Anyways here is an english recipe for making Dongdongju.

English recipe for making dongdong ju scroll down.

Peter Tell me if you have any luck. I know my mom can find a bottle in California.

I have not seen it here in Germany.

[jkim]

You can definitely get them in L.A. There's a huge Korean community there. Also try asking for "mak gol li".

[Joon]

This is one of my favorite drinks of all time! Also see: tak-ju, mak guli.

[Soup]

how was the resturant? what did you have other than the DDJ?

[Kent Wang]

It was fantastic, everything that the Fearless Critic review said it was. You can see more photos and some commentary in my Flickr set.

[Kent Wang]

I've been getting bottles of Hyang Yuen rice wine. It seems to be fairly widely available at Korean markets and restaurants. It tastes pretty much the same as the dong dong ju I had. It's 6.5% alcohol, $7 for 1L. Ingredients: 80% backmi, 20% somackbun (I have no idea what those are, and Google didn't turn up much either). Imported by E-Dong.

I ordered it at Bon Ga in Houston. The owner was surprised that I ordered it and said in Korea only old people drink it, the young preferring soju and whiskey.

I love this stuff. It's cheap, and goes great with food, especially sushi. It's ricey and subtle, so doesn't overwhelm sushi.

[nakji]

I love dong dong ju! There are several great tea rooms in Seoul in the Insadong area that specialize in selling different kinds, like pine-flavoured, and so on. I love the little bits of millet that float around when you reach the bottom of the bowl. It goes especially well with Korean drinking food like salt-grilled mackerel, kamjajeon (potato pancake) or haemul pajeon (seafood pancake). Even just a bit of radish kimchi is a delicious counterbalance. It's a smoother alternative to the chemically-bland taste of soju, and who doesn't love drinking out of bowls? I'm told that the right kind of housewife still makes her own blend at home, and quite frankly, I wish I knew how.

[ZenKimchi]

I think I've had that one too. It was Makgeolli, though, with pine needle dust on top. I've also had another interesting one in Insa-dong that has ginseng in it. Earthy on top of earthy flavors.

I'd caution about making your own makgeolli and dong dong ju. Unlike beer and wine, the process for making these has a high risk of going fatally foul. Just this summer there was a story of a group of people dying from a bad batch of makgeolli.

[Joon]

My mother grew up on a farm in Korea, and she was telling me their family used to make gigantic barrels of this stuff for all their workers. She says it's actually pretty easy to make, but I guess she already has the experience and know-how. I'm trying to convince her to start a makkoli brewery here (NJ).

[Kent Wang]

I had the Kooksoondang brand makkoli which has a bit of carbonation in it. Quite good. Does all makkoli have carbonation?

Wikipedia has some more information about makkoli: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Makkoli

[nakji]

I always found the bottled stuff was more likely to be carbonated than bowls I was served in a restaurant. I'm not sure why, but I quite enjoyed the carbonated effect. How do you drink your makkeolli? Neat? With food? I couldn't imagine drinking it without a nice kimchi pancake on the side.

[Joon]

I had the Kooksoondang brand makkoli which has a bit of carbonation in it. Quite good. Does all makkoli have carbonation?

Wikipedia has some more information about makkoli: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Makkoli

Makkoli is normally not carbonated, but I'm seeing more and more that are. I personally like it not-carbonated.

[Joon]

I think I've had that one too. It was Makgeolli, though, with pine needle dust on top. I've also had another interesting one in Insa-dong that has ginseng in it. Earthy on top of earthy flavors.

I'd caution about making your own makgeolli and dong dong ju. Unlike beer and wine, the process for making these has a high risk of going fatally foul. Just this summer there was a story of a group of people dying from a bad batch of makgeolli.

My mother says they used to make it on her farm all the time...and she used to make it for large parties even in the city. She says it's pretty easy and I'm pretty sure she hasn't killed anyone yet..

[jkim]

Ingredients: 80% backmi, 20% somackbun

Backmi: usual spelling: baek-mi, 백미, 白米

Refers to refined rice, or white rice. (korean/japanese medium grain).

Somackbun: usual spelling: so-maek-bun, 소맥분, 小麥粉

Refers to flour (whole grain wheat flour).