By Honorary Reporter Theresia Kurniawan from Indonesia

Photo = Korea Tourism Organization

I started an hour-long lesson in making makgeolli (milky rice wine) and a brewery tour at Shin Pyeong Brewery in Dangjin, Chungcheongnam-do Province. Since 1933 and over three generations, the brewery has specialized in making the wine. 

I saw how Shin Pyeong's famous version of makgeolli was made. At the end of the tour, the teacher spoke of regional food that goes well with the wine, namely dishes of Dangjin-style home cooking like kimchi stew and soybean paste stew with a variety of side dishes and ureong ssambap (soybean paste stew with freshwater snail).

After the tour, it was back to the cooking studio to learn how to make homemade makgeolli taught by master brewer Heo Shi-myung. He started the class by introducing the basic ingredients of makgeolli: water, steamed rice and nuruk, a fermentation starter usually made from wheat, rice and barley. He showed the production process step by step, checked on students' progress and shared useful tips. 

The students finished the class by sharing testimonials. Everyone agreed that this program made them feel like they were in Korea for a makgeolli-making class. The teacher in closing named haemul pajeon (seafood pancake) his favorite dish when consuming alcohol.

The real-time makgeolli-making class was taught by master brewer Heo Shi-myung. 

The basic ingredients of makgeolli are steamed rice and nuruk (traditional fermentation starter) but the latter can be substituted with yeast and barley. 

Ureong ssambap (soybean paste stew with freshwater snail) is a specialty of Dangjin, Chungcheongnam-do Province.

It takes at least 1 1/2 hours to drive to Dangjin from Seoul, but attending the class was easier because it was done on a videoconferencing app for students in countries like Indonesia, Canada, the U.S., the Philippines, Malaysia and Croatia.

This virtual brewery experience was hosted by OME Cooking Lab and presented by the Korea Tourism Organization (KTO) as a pre-launch event for the Korea International Travel Expo, which ends on July 13. 

The program has three virtual tours. The first is a cyber visit to Gyeongbokgung Palace in Seoul; the second is for those interested in soju and cooking matching anju; and the third is about makgeolli. More than 100 people abroad were selected as the tours' first participants in a giveaway on the KTO's official Facebook page.

kalhong617@korea.kr

*This article is written by a Korea.net Honorary Reporter. Our group of Honorary Reporters are from all around the world, and they share with Korea.net their love and passion for all things Korean.