Do you want to celebrate Chuseok in Korea but you don’t know how? Maybe you don’t have a Korean family or this is your first year in Korea? Here is how you can create a Chuseok menu at home using Traditional Markets and learning a few recipes. Let’s go, we promise it will be fun!
About Chuseok
Chuseok, often referred to as Korean Thanksgiving, is one of the most significant and festive holidays in South Korea. However, calling the holiday “Thanksgiving” may feel misleading when you first experience the holiday while living in the country.
Chuseok may feel more like a mix between Mexico’s Day of the Dead and Thanksgiving, but private. This is not generally a day for huge groups of strangers to get together and celebrate, instead, families come together for family-related cultural rituals regarding deceased relatives. Such rituals occur in the home of grandparents and at ancestral grave sites. This often requires people to travel to other parts of the country to stay with family.
Let’s take a deeper look at the meaning of Chuseok traditionally and how such traditions may impact international residents living in Korea.
How Chuseok is Generally Explained
The generic explanation of Chuseok explains that the holiday has an agricultural history. During Chuseok families come together and share a feast in celebration of the harvest season. The Chuseok meal represents abundance and prosperity, but many of its dishes are also steeped in history and symbolism. All of this is true but you need to know more to connect with the holiday while living in South Korea. Also, if you don’t know more you may feel alienated during Chuseok because you feel left out due to lack of invitations to friends’ homes.
The History Behind Chuseok Meals
The history of the Chuseok meal traces back to Korea’s agrarian roots, where the holiday became a way to express gratitude to ancestors for their blessings. As with many traditional holidays around the world, food played (and still plays) a central role in Chuseok celebrations.
Families gather to perform ancestral ‘Jesa’ rites known as ‘Charye,‘ where they present offerings of freshly harvested food to their ancestors. This practice underscores the deep respect Koreans have for their ancestors and the role they believe they play in bringing about a successful harvest.
Invitations to Chuseok Rituals
It’s rare to invite non-family members to Chuseok rituals, but not unheard of. The invitation usually comes from close friends. More often than not, international residents may be invited to a day of cooking but not attend the family ceremony. Koreans don’t avoid inviting people to Chuseok to make people feel excluded. It simply seems odd and uncomfortable to invite a non-family member to share intimate time at the grave of a deceased parent or grandparent. The ritual is part of Jesa.
Even if you don’t attend Jesa, it’s socially important to know about it in detail if you live in Korea. The Soul of Seoul has an exceptional series of blog posts about the Chuseok Jesa traditions. We highly recommend reading all of her posts on the topic. She has lived in Korea for over a decade and is married with a family. The following posts by Seoul of Seoul cover everything international residents need to know:
Invitations to Cook Chuseok Food
As previously mentioned, Koreans may invite their international friends to help with the Chuseok cooking the days before the ritual. However, this invitation may not occur as often as most international residents would like. It often requires a lot of dropping hints or asking for an invitation from a close friend. However, don’t be surprised if your request to help with the Chuseok cooking gets turned down.
Such requests to help cook for Chuseok get denied for good reason. Cooking for Chuseok often takes one or two days in the best conditions. When you invite people to help who have no idea what they are doing, an already hard task feels overwhelmingly exhausting. Not only must you cook the meal but now you must teach a person who doesn’t share your language.
Additionally, as with most cultural rituals around the world, the work for Chuseok falls on the shoulders of women who are exhausted. The thought of managing the language barriers and different cooking traditions of international residents for 12 hours can be too much. They just need the job done without extra work added. They don’t even let their kids help.
To put it in perspective, think about your own family holiday home. Would it “help” your mom cook Thanksgiving dinner to bring home a stranger who doesn’t speak your language, and who has never seen a turkey? No, it’s overwhelming and a lot of work. Consider this if you get an invitation to help with the Chuseok dinner. Korean life is not for cultural entertainment it’s real life with real tired people. Do your research before you show up to help cook and be humble when they tell you that you are doing it all wrong because you are doing it all wrong.
Our invitations to help prepare Chuseok dinner only came after we had learned to cook other things together for a few years. We basically went through a screening process.
Celebrating Chuseok in Your Immigrant Home
So, maybe you don’t get invited into a Korean home for Chuseok but that doesn’t mean you can’t celebrate! You can easily create this holiday meal at home for your family without performing a Jesa. In fact, taking part in the Chuseok meal in your international home can create a stronger sense of belonging in Korea. So let’s get into how you can make a Chuseok meal happen.
About Chuseok Food
The food items on the Chuseok Table Food List will generally be fried or preserved with oil, salt, sugar, and soy sauce. This is because, traditionally speaking, Chuseok food needed to travel well for Jesa ceremonies during a time when people didn’t have refrigeration. Therefore, such food recipes use oil, salt, sugar, and soy sauce which 1) slows how fast food spoils and 2) improves the taste of food over time. Therefore you will need heavily marinated meats, fried foods, and kimchis.
It’s important to know about the high oil, salt, sugar, and fermentation content. Since the Chuseok table tends to be filled with rich food and complex flavors, it may take a few tries to find what your family likes. Just like every holiday table in your country has different recipes for holiday foods, so does Korea.
Start With One Recipe
Start off easy with Chuseok dinner and try cooking only one thing from scratch your first year. You don’t need to cook for 1-2 days to celebrate Chuseok. Since you don’t have family recipes passed down through the generations, you get to start from zero and use simple solutions. For your first Chuseok meal, choose one thing to cook from scratch and source the rest from a traditional market. Below we will provide a list of foods so you can’t pick the item you want to start with and then get the rest pre-made.
Shop At Traditional Markets
Traditional Markets offer everything you need for a simple or complex Chuseok meal. Korea is a modern society with two busy parents who can’t take days off to cook. This means that traditional markets start putting out all their Chuseok dishes in the 2-3 days leading up to the holiday.
Chuseok Table Food List
Now that we understand some of the traditions that inform the Cuseok menu, let’s explore what recipes and foods may go on a Chuseok table:
Jeon (전)
Jeon is a MUST and easy to get at traditional markets. These are savory Korean pancakes made from various ingredients, including vegetables, meat, and seafood, which are coated in a light batter and pan-fried. Historically, Jeon was a luxury item prepared for ancestral rites, as the process of making them was considered time-consuming and costly.
Pro-Tip: Fry Chuseok jeon again when you eat. This style of jeon is meant to be cooked twice. Don’t simply unwrap it and put it on the table. Put a little oil in your pan and finish frying.
If you would like to prepare the jeon yourself your day will look much like this:
Japchae (잡채)
Japchae is deceptively complex to make but many like to start with this popular Chuseok dish. A sumptuous dish of stir-fried glass noodles with vegetables and sometimes beef or mushrooms. Japchae translates to “a mixture of vegetables,” and it’s often served during special occasions because of its rich ingredients and colorful presentation, symbolizing a harmonious life. The Kimchi Rednecks have a great post on South of Seoul for anyone who wants to start with this Chuseok menu item:
Marinated Meats
Koreans often choose the featured meat for the Chuseok menu based on the family’s personal choice or the favorite choice of the deceased. Some popular options that I have experienced include:
Galbi-jjim (갈비찜)
Traditional A hearty braised short rib dish, Galbi-jjim is made with beef or pork ribs simmered in a flavorful mix of soy sauce, sugar, and various aromatic ingredients. This dish represents wealth and opulence, and during Chuseok, it serves as a meaty centerpiece on the dining table. The Kimchi Rednecks have a great post on South of Seoul for anyone who wants to start with this dish:
LA Galbi
We eat LA Galbi regularly for Chuseok menu at our house. LA Galbi, a variation of traditional Korean galbi (grilled ribs), refers to beef short ribs cut thinly across the bone, allowing for quicker cooking. This cut was popularized in Los Angeles by Korean immigrants, hence the name “LA Galbi.” Marinated in a flavorful blend of soy sauce, sugar, garlic, and Asian pear, these ribs are grilled to perfection, resulting in a savory and slightly sweet taste with a tender texture. Popular both in Korea and abroad, LA Galbi is a delightful fusion of traditional Korean flavors adapted to contemporary cooking methods.
Bulgogi
Bulgogi is one of South Korea’s most well-known dishes. The name “bulgogi” translates to “fire meat,” which aptly describes the cooking process of grilling marinated meat slices. Traditionally made from thinly sliced beef, the meat is marinated in a mix of soy sauce, sugar, sesame oil, garlic, and sometimes pureed pear, which not only adds sweetness but also tenderizes the meat. This is easy to find at local markets and might be a great place to start your first Chuseok.
Fried Fish (Gulbi)
Fried fish, especially the yellow croaker, is a prominent feature on the Chuseok menu. Historically, regions close to the sea would catch and dry these fish in preparation for Chuseok, and they would be consumed after frying. The dried fish, known as ‘Gulbi’, is particularly treasured for its crispy exterior and tender inside when fried. The preparation and consumption of fried fish during Chuseok symbolizes abundance and the blessings of the sea. Additionally, it serves as a connection between Korea’s coastal and agricultural communities, showcasing the harmony between land and sea. At least that’s what the internet tells me.
Namul (나물)
Namul refers to a variety of seasoned and sautéed vegetable dishes. Common Chuseok menu ingredients include spinach, bean sprouts, and fernbrake. Historically, Namul dishes have been staples in Korean cuisine, especially during times when meat was scarce. These dishes symbolize sustainability and the vitality of the Korean spirit.
Hangwa (한과)
A traditional Korean sweet treat, Hangwa includes various sweets made from rice flour, honey, fruits, and roots. These treats are not only delicious but are also visually stunning, often crafted into artistic shapes and designs. Hangwa symbolizes happiness and the wish for a sweet life. These are nice to have on the Chuseok menu but maybe just a few.
Songpyeon (송편)
Arguably the most iconic Chuseok dish, Songpyeon is a type of rice cake made from glutinous rice. These small, crescent-shaped cakes are typically filled with ingredients like sweetened sesame seeds, red beans, or chestnuts. Once filled, they are steamed over a bed of pine needles, which imparts a distinct aroma. Songpyeon represents the wish for a bountiful harvest and a bright future. Its shape is said to symbolize the half-moon, heralding the full moon, which is a prominent symbol of Chuseok.
Fresh Fruit
Finally, having a bunch of Korean apples, pears, and/or grapes also makes the Chuseok menu feel complete. We know that such fruit may cost a fortune but it also tastes delicious and balances out the meal. Make sure to cut them up to share.
The Final Result
After you have compiled your Chuseok meal, your international Chuseok table may look a little different than a Korean family table. This is because you also want to honor your family ancestors. For example, my older “Korean sister” who helps us with Chuseok (let’s be real, she makes the magic happen) actually added Salmon sashimi to our Chuseok table in honor of my Alaskan culture.
Honestly, once you start your own Chuseok meal tradition you will not want to stop. When you leave Korea, you can take the tradition with you as a time to tell stories together about your times in The Land of the Morning Calm.
Other Chuseok Information
I hope you feel inspired to celebrate Chuseok at home this year. Here are a few more blog posts to help you feel confident:
Lanae Rivers-Woods moved to Korea in 2011 where she lives in the countryside with her family, friends, and puppies. She holds a BSSW (Bachelor’s of Science in Social Work), a MAIT (Master’s of Arts in International Teaching), and registered by the Pyeongtaek Korean Times with the Korean government as a Cultural Expert.
Ms. Rivers-Woods used her 15 years experience as a social architect, UX/UI designer, and technology consultant to found South of Seoul in 2015. South of Seoul is a volunteer organization that leverages technological tools to mitigate cultural dissonance in multi-cultural communities.
Through South of Seoul, Ms. Rivers-Woods works with independent volunteers, non-profit organizations, businesses, local & federal government, universities, and US military organizations to develop solutions to support English speaking international residents in rural South Korea.
Additionally, Ms. Rivers-Woods founded the South of Seoul smart phone app available for Google Play and iPhone. The app provides information a resources for those living and traveling in South Korea.
When she isn’t in South of Seoul development meetings or working her day job, Ms. Rivers-Woods loves to be outside at skate parks, the beach, or playing in the mountains.
