Greg Eats a Bug for Health

I was dared too what can I say. And I'm not afraid of any bug!

The Great Places Happy Bear Visited on their tour of Jeollabukdo

Here's Team Happy Bear's Trip Roundup:

Friday

Korea House to eat Jeonju bibimbap.

Korea House

한국집
전라북도 전주시 완산구 전동 2-1
Hangukjib
Jeollabuk-do Jeonju-si Wansan-gu Jeon-dong 2-1
Tel: 063-284-2224

 White Crane Farm: to learn all about organic farming from Lee Hee-Cheon and Park Yang-yoon.

Then off to the collaborating Horong Village, where we made Kimchi and enoyed Hanjeongsik , bossam, and ddeorkkalbi for dinner

White Crane Farm / Horong Village Restaurant

백학농원 호롱마을
전북 정읍시 수성동 1030-8번지
Jeollabuk-do Jeongeup-si Suseong-dong 1030-8 Beonji
Tel: 063-531-7741

After which, we moved on to Song ChamBong Chosun Village in Jeongeup, where we slept in old-style rooms with heated stone floors.

SongChamBong Chosun Village

송참봉조선동네
전라북도 정읍시 이평면 청량 3755
Jeollabuk-do Jeongeup-si Ipyeong-myeon Cheongnyang 3755

http://www.folkvillage.co.kr/

063-532-0054

011-734-4506

Saturday,




We spent some more time at Chosun Village, learning how to make tofu, trying our hands at harvest perilla, and slaughtering and preparing chicken.

Next, we traveled forward in time and visited NunGil Village to make makeolli and side dishes.

NungGil Farmstay Village

눈길 팜스태이 마을
전복 진안군 동향면 증금리 605번지 
Jeollabuk-do Jinan-gun Donghyang-myeon Junggeup-ri 605 Beonji
Tel:063-432-0367
http://www.nungil.org

Exhausted and slightly tipsy, we retired to Demisaem Gyegok Pension, where we spent a bitof time preparing for the morning's meal (and receiving break dancing lessons from one of the dudes on the TV crew) before going to sleep.

Demisaem Gyegok Pension

전라북도 진안군 백운면 신암리 450

Jeollabuk-do Jinan-gunBaekun-myeon Sinam-ri 450

Tel: 063-433-0002

Sunday

We woke up and finished making breakfast at the pension for ourselves and the production crew. 


Then we hustled on to Gunsan to eat flounder and sushi at Saemangum Restaurant.  

Saemangun Sushi Restaurant

새만금 횟집
전라북도 군산시 비응도동 62-12 
Saemangeum Hwoetjib
Jeonbok Gunsan-si Bieungdo-dong 62-12

063-464-1001

 

Then we sped off to the bus terminal, said our goodbyes, went our own separate ways, returned home, and wrote this very blog!  Thanks so much for reading, and, once again, a big "Thank You" to Hansik for putting making it all happen!  And, of course, to the farmers, plants, and animals that fed us along the way.

Conversation with Mike

Solomon Seal Tea (둥글레차)

Happy Bear made this tea for our Sunday breakfast on our tour of Jeollabukdo.

The roots we place in the rice cooker and left on the warm setting overnight. The result was was a medicinal tonic with the body of coffee and with a mild bitter taste.

Solomon's Seal root tea is a good tonic acting on the kidneys, heart and sexual organs as well as soothing the digestive system. The tea can be drunk to stop coughs. It sooth an upset stomach. It will stimulate digestion. The infusion is also useful for cuts and scrapbs.

Personally, I have used it to help the digestion of meat and I have used when I feel my throat is becoming sore and I risk getting a cold.

The Perfect Meal is with People

We planned it to be a thank you to the production crew and Ziyeon our translator for helping take Happy Bear's plans and make them a reality. Also, it gave Happy Bear team an opportunity for the team members to make their favorite Korean foods eaten on the trip.

To do it required team work coordination and an investment of time for recipes that some in the team were unfamiliar with.

We shopped at the Geureum Market for our products.

This is a timeline of our preparation.

10pm:

It started with the rice. Many people think they can not eat brown rice but I set out to prove that anyone can eat and like it by using an ancient technique back when everyone had to eat brown rice. By soaking it in bacteria culture, the anti-nutritive plant defences are broken down and when cooked it will be transformed into something as fluffy and delicious as white rice but all the nutrition remaining. So we soaked it and put a little bit of makeoli to help break down the anti-nutrients in it.

Then Anina and I started the lotus root. To make the lotus root we boiled the root and after boiling we put it in a pot with sugar syup, soy sauce, and water and started to make a reduction sauce. We stopped it to finish the reduction in the morning.

Andy jumped in and started and made his gosari namul.

I prepped the vegetables for the soup I planned on making. Deciding on the soup that I chose was based on what options were available for us. We set out to eat only ethically raised food so at the market without knowing the origin of the pork or the beef, I settled on the mussels and mushrooms available to make a mushroom and mussels stew.

I prepped the Solomon Seal Tea for the morning.

12pm

We were asleep.

6am

Mike and I woke up. I drained the rice and then cooked it in the rice cooker.

I had to time the soup so it would be finished just before our meal.

I put the lotus root on to reduce and finish.

By 6:30am

Everyone was awake.

I steamed the mussels. Anina helped me to sepparate the mussels and add them to the pot. The vegetables, liquid, spices were added and rested.

6:35am

The lotus root was finished.

6:45am

Mike finished the garlic shoots.

7:30

The production crew started to arrive.

7:45am

The soup is heated.

The banchans is plated by the Happy Bear members and put on the table.

7:55am

The soup is finished.

The rice is plated.

The table is set.

8am

The soup pot is placed on the table.

We started eating at 8:05am. The Korean could tell foreigners made it but they liked it. They remarked that Korean would have added more salt. There were misses to be sure but there were hits as well. But what we set out to do was accomplished. We got together to eat a meal we made together and enjoy each others company.

This is something rarely done in the modern world and is quite a rebellion against  modern western eating style, because we were celebritating food made with a respect for the past. It wasn't eaten at a McDonald's driving in a car or eaten in a TGIF but in a home and eaten with a large group of people. Koreans do this all the time so it seems the perfect food style to represent this respect for the past. From that vantage of the past we believe we can move forward.

                       

                                                                           -Greg

Check out our recipe section for the recipes shown here.

                       

                                  Bellflower Root Muchim                           Gosari Namul



\

Garlic shoots by Mike             Sliced Figs

Brown Rice soaked and fermented   and Mushroom and Mussell JJigae by Greg

Pickled Lotus Root by Anina

 









Mushroom and Mussel JJigae

This was a hit at the Happy Bear Breakfast on Day Three of our Trip with the Korean production crew because of its spicy kick. The Westerners would have liked a little less spice for their breakfast, so act according to your tastes.

To make this simple and delicious simple, you will need:

1. 1kg of Mussels
2. 3T of Gochgaru
3. T of Apple Cider Vinegar
4. 10 cups of water
5. 2kg of mushrooms
6. 2 onions
7. 4 cloves of garlic
8. 1 tablespoon of soy sauce
9. Salt to taste
10. 1 medium sized radish cut into 5 cm cubes
11. 5 small potatoes, cut into 5cm cubes

1. Take the mussels and wash them. Sepparate the mussels whos shells are open and dispose. They are no good to eat.
2. Steam the mussells in very little water. In five minutes they will open and be ready.
3. Sepparate the mussels from the shells.
4. Combine all the elements together and cook all together.
5. Eat and Enjoy.

Preparing Brown Rice You Can Actually Eat

From the Happy Bear Breakfast together.

You are what you digest. Brown rice is a healthy part of diet. However, you are what you digest and if the rice isn't prepared properly you will have digestive problems and also you'll absorb less minerals, if any at all. This includes all grains. Grains that are not prepared properly put people at risk for degenerative disease. The link between mineral deficiencies and degenerative disease is well established. I love my wife, parents, sister and her family to much for that.

A traditional way to prepare rice is through fermentation. Everywhere in the pre-industrial world were there were agro-people or hunter-gather people, wild or domesticated grains were fermented because they knew from subjective experience that their health was better.

What we know today is that the fermentation breaks down the phytates. It will help break down the phytates in the rice. The phytates are what block mineral and vitamins from being absorb. They are used by rice to keep creatures from eating them and they work very well on those who don't have the knowledge to remove them and the co-factors to prevent their effects.

When prepared properily brown rice is a great addition to your diet.

This is what you do. Take rice cover it completely with water. Then add a splash of Korean rice wine, whey, or sour dough starter.

24 hours later, remove whatever rice you are cooking with. Save the juices from the fermentation for the next batch of rice. Overtime the bacteria will bulld up in the fermented juice and it will remove more of the phytates from the substance.

Then cook the rice with some kind of fat. Add 2 parts water for 1 part rice into a pot or rice cooker. Then add a fat. I take some organic beef broth from bones that I boil and add it to the rice. You can skip this fat is nothing is available.

I hope this provides you with some help to integrate a whole food like brown rice into your diet.

The change from processed food to whole foods is not easy but the difference is fantastic. I couldn't imagine how much energy I would have when I started this journey or the traps I fell into along the way but it's been a great thing to feel healthier and in a better state of mind from it. Please try this method of preparation for yourself and your loved ones.