③ESSAY

Have you ever heard about Gwang-Ju? Gwang-Ju is in jeollanam-do. It takes 4 hours from Seoul to Gwang-Ju by car. I know it's too far. But if you take KTX, you can go to Gwang-Ju in 2 hours. My hometown is Gwang-Ju, so I want to introduce my hometown to you. I love my hometown, now I miss it. Because of university, I take apart with my family and hometown. Gwang-Ju is famous for foods sights and history. But today i'll introduce foods of Gwang-Ju. In Gwang-Ju, we have 5 favours. ① DUCK STEW : As Gwangju duck stew is cooked by putting much perilla flour and fresh water parsley, so the taste is cool and delicious. A bowl of porridge cooked by putting chestnut, jujube, ginseng, antler, and glutinous rice etc into a duck or a mallard is the best as a nutritional food. ② KIMCHI : Namdo kimchi in Gwangju area is specially famous for the taste. It is salted sufficiently and filled with salted fish and many ingredients including the pepper. Its taste is hot and cool. Every year since 1994 Gwangju Kimchi Festival has been opened and now developed as World Kimchi Festival, which takes the initiative role of telling the excellence of Gwangju Kimchi domestically and also to the world and growing the Kimchi industry. ③ HANJEONGSIK : Hanjeongsik is a food table integrating the flavor, style and warm-heartedness of Namdo and all foods produced from the land get together. The table is filled with many cooked wild herbs and vegetables such as Aster scaber, bracken, balloon flower root, deodeok (mountain herb whose roots have restorative properties), bean sprouts etc and many kinds of Kimchi like napa cabbage kimchi, pickled young radishes, watery plain kimchi, Korean lettuce kimchi, and mustard pickles etc. However, the preeminence of Namdo Hanjeongsik is salted fish more than 10 kinds. ④ BORIBAB : Boribab (boiled barley) mixed with all kinds of fresh vegetables newly produced in every season, hot gochujang (red pepper paste), and sesame oil arouses our taste and gives us great nutrient, so it is easily digested. Many tourists visit Boribab restaurants around Mt. Mudeung. Boribab with cool dongdongju (suspended rice-wine) after finishing the mountain climbing is the best of sumptuous feasts. ⑤TTEOKGALBI : There are many Tteokgalbi signs here and there in front of Gwangsan-gu District Office. The Street of Songjeong-dong Tteokgalbi started from 30 years ago. Currently Tteokgalbi made in the square shape like injeolmi (Korean traditional rice cake made from the glutinous rice and coated with bean flour) has special taste as food and a relish taken with wine. The delicious fragrance of Tteokgalbi marinated by mixing many parts of meat and beef rib with smashed garlic, ginger, and sesame oil etc catches the epicures. I eat all of them and all of them are really delicious. While writing this report, I keep thinking of these foods. This week, we have Chu-Seok, so I'll go my hometown Gwang-Ju. And i'll eat all of them.