December 2021
December 2021
As winter sets in Korea, it¡¯s common to see rows of drying persimmons strung along the eaves of a countryside home. The resulting dried persimmons or gotgam add flavors and texture to a host of wintry snacks and beverages such as gotgam walnut roll and sujeonggwa. These dishes continue to evolve, however, as Koreans add new ingredients and techniques to develop creative iterations of their beloved gotgam.
Written by
Cynthia Yoo,
contributing writer
Photographed by
Studio Kenn
The development of gotgam dishes began in earnest during the Joseon Dynasty. According to the Encyclopedia of Korean Culture, while there were mentions of persimmons in Goryeo Dynasty medical texts, there was no written text on dried persimmons until the Joseon Dynasty when it became one of the fruits featured at the jesa table. Early 19th century texts such as Juyoungpyeon described its importance at the ceremonial table. The 19th century Gyuhap Cheongseo roughly translated as ¡°Women¡¯s Encyclopedia,¡± gave detailed instructions on how to source persimmons in late summer, dry them during fall, and store them throughout the year.
This ceremonial importance of gotgam to Koreans is still evident when one strolls through stores selling honsu (marriage preparation items) at Gwangjang Market. Alongside stores selling Hanbok and blankets, there are businesses specializing in the traditional paebaek ritual that follows the main marriage ceremony. Visitors to these stores will notice display shelves filled with plastic wrapped food towers, pyramids of various dried fruits and dried meat. They include gotgam and gotgam walnut rolls that are part of the group of nine foods that symbolize the couples¡¯ lifelong union. During paebaek, these food towers cover the table in front of the seated parents who accept their newly married children¡¯s bows and wish them long years of prosperity and happiness.
Ingredients of gotgam walnut roll and sujeonggwa.
While gotgam is an important food in traditional ceremonies, Koreans can now enjoy it throughout the year. They are delicious on their own, but Koreans also enjoy dried persimmons with walnuts or use them to make sujeonggwa, a spicy beverage made with cinnamon and ginger. Making the gotgam walnut roll is simple, as it requires only two ingredients, flattened dried persimmons and walnuts. That and ¡°strong fingers¡± are needed, says popular K-food YouTuber, Maangchi, to tightly squeeze the dried persimmons wrap around the walnuts. Another Maangchi¡¯s tip is to spread a bit of honey inside the gotgam if it is too dry. The sticky sweetness of the gotgam pairs deliciously with the crunchy walnuts, and the rolls can be stored in the freezer for a long while. A recent variation on the recipe is spreading a layer of cream cheese or soft cheeses before adding the walnuts. Before serving, slice up the roll into bite-sized pieces. They pair perfectly with sujeonggwa, a spicy punch flavored with cinnamon and gotgam.
sujeonggwa¡¯s spicy flavors are created by boiling water with cinnamon and ginger. The mixture is filtered and then boiled again slowly with sugar or honey. After the second boil, sliced up gotgam add more complexity of flavors into the punch. In fact, during the Goryeo Dynasty, the beverage was called baekjeho (white milky beverage) because of the white sugary crust of the gotgam added to the drink.
These days, sujeonggwa is usually chilled before serving, but it can also be heated up as a wintry afternoon tea. It¡¯s easy enough to make at home but commercially made versions are widely available. However, its flavors are not for everyone. There¡¯s a Korean saying that enjoying sujeonggwa is a sign of reaching adulthood as young children often do not enjoy the intensely spicy notes of the beverage.
To make gotgam walnut roll, just roll walnuts in gotgam and cut the roll into appropriately sized slices.
Bartender Demie Kim has been creating a stir with his K-cocktails using local seasonal ingredients. One named ¡°Stay Here¡± won him the prestigious La Maison Cointreau competition in 2018. This was a cocktail twist on sujeonggwa, using a rum base and gotgam infused sujeonggwa syrup. The cocktail was garnished with an exploding ¡°water bomb¡± created using molecular gastronomy technique. It was a labor of love that took him more than three weeks to develop.
Kim has tips for the home bar enthusiast to make a simpler version of his cocktail. He suggests using store-bought sujeonggwa and boiling it down with sugar at a one to one ratio to create the sujeonggwa syrup. Kim based his cocktail on the classic ¡°Old-fashioned¡± so he says to use an ¡°old-fashioned¡± glass and add one teaspoon of the syrup to 45ml of rum with two dashes of aromatic bitters. For the more ambitious home bartenders, Kim recommends infusing the rum with gotgam by adding slices of dried persimmons for at least two days. This version of sujeonggwa is sure to add more than enough spice for the upcoming winter evenings.
You can drink sujeonggwa with pine nuts or gotgam, depending on your tastes.
