The Chuncheon Makguksu and Dakgalbi Festival will run for six days from Aug. 26 to 31.
Makguksu, a Korean buckwheat noodle and dakgalbi, a Korean style chicken dish, are two typical dishes of the Chuncheon area, highlighted through this annual festival each summer.
The festival will have a main performance stage, exhibitions, and free food sampling at Subyeon Park, Samcheong-dong, and will also feature other local specialties from around the world. There will be cookery classes as well as Asian food promotion to showcase similar dishes from China and Japan, together with fusion dishes. A singing contest will be open to the participation of adults, children and foreigners alike. Children can also enjoy themselves at Maemil (buckwheat) Playground, playing with a traditional buckwheat mallet, trying tuho (arrow throwing) and other activities. Other events for the kids will include balloon art, a quiz and characters. Makguksu (guksu means noodles in Korean) is one of the most simple noodle dishes that can be made at home, simply by kneading basic buckwheat flour dough and forcing it through a noodle press and then boiling it immediately. Simply add water from kimchi or dongchimi (watery radish kimchi) for flavoring. It would taste even better if you add vinegar, mustard and beef stock together with a mixture of vegetables and some seasoning.
Makguksu, or Mak-noodles In Chuncheon especially, buckwheat flour is kneaded with hot water to be pressed out from the noodle press. The noodles are then boiled and cooled down with cold water three or four times. Kimchi, usually the white, watery kind, is added, together with sliced and salted cucumber. A bit of powdered sesame and hot pepper is sprinkled on the top. Another added bonus to makguksu is that, thanks to the nutritious buckwheat, it is good for blood circulation and strengthens capillaries, among other health benefits. While at the festival, you can visit the Makguksu Experience Museum nearby. Dakgalbi, meaning “chicken ribs” is chicken meat immersed in hot sauce and fried on a large frying pan or skillet, together with vegetables. Back in the 1960s, thanks to Chuncheon being rich in chicken farms, the dish quickly became popular among college students and others that prefer a good hearty, meal that is relatively cheap in price. Also, most people are quite familiar with the nutrition of white meat, which is relatively high in Vitamin A and protein, and less in fat and salt than other meat. Nowadays you can also see such restaurants in any area in Korea.
Dakgalbi dishContests to be held at the festival are a makguksu eating contest, a dakgalbi slicing contest, rooster call impression, tossing eggs between couples and makguksu noodle measuring contest. Visitors will get to purchase frozen chicken products and other agricultural specialties of Chuncheon at reasonable prices. All the while music will continue to resound from the main stage. The Chuncheon City Choir, Taegeuk percussion group, a cappella performance, belly dancing, guitar and saxophone soloists, electronic orchestra and more will come on stage to show their best. Foreign performers will also be at the festival. A day for Japanese traditional performances is scheduled for Aug. 28 and Chinese performances on Aug. 29. The festival, which is in its second year, is expected to be much bigger in scale than last year, thanks to extra funding from the Ministry for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries in accordance with the government plan to globalize Korean food. The project aims to develop 100 brand names for Korean food to make local cuisine one of the top five foods in the world.Visit the homepage: Chuncheon Makguksu and Dakgalbi Festival (Korean) or Chuncheon English Website. For more details, contact 033-250-4347~8 (Korean). For free interpretation service call Korea Travel Phone: 1330 (Korean, English, Chinese, Japanese). By Kim Hee-sung Korea.net Staff Writer
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