You too can be Korean if you like

There is more to Korean culture than Psy and K-dramas. For those interested in the country’s traditions, the state-run Korea Cultural Heritage Foundation is launching a tourist programme to promote Korea’s food, music, dance and more.
Titled “Han Style”, the programme features the traditional Korean hansik cuisine, hanbok costume, hanji paper and Hangeul writing system, as well as dance and music.
When the programme is introduced next month, participants will be able to join a cooking class to learn to prepare Korean royal-court cuisine. Those who watched “Jewel in the Palace” on television will be familiar with what they get to cook, since the dishes – sungchae dumplings and seasoned bamboo shoots with ripe persimmon – were shown in the 2003 period-drama series.
Sungchae dumplings are wrapped in Chinese cabbage leaves instead of the typical skin made by rolling out flour dough. In the drama series, its protagonist Jang Geum (played by Lee Young-ae), who is an apprentice cook for the royal family in the Joseon palace, makes dumplings for the king with cabbage leaves after her flour is stolen by a co-worker.
Han Bok-ryo, holder of Intangible Cultural Property No 38 in the culinary arts of the Joseon royal court, helped the organisers create the cooking programme. Han served as a food consultant for “Jewel in the Palace”.
“In order to learn about Korea’s traditional cuisine, you have to understand Korea’s natural environment and the four seasons,” Han said at a pilot class last week.
“The Korean Peninsula is surrounded by the ocean, with mountains along its east coast and most of its rivers flowing westward,” she said. “We get plenty of seafood, as well as freshwater fish from the rivers, and a lot of other ingredients from the mountains and the fields. That’s why we have so many different kinds of food, aside from bulgogi and |kimchi.”
In September, participants will learn how to make bossam – reportedly Psy’s favourite dish – in which steamed pork is wrapped in lettuce or perilla leaves and topped with soybean paste or hot pepper paste. The organisers said they chose to include bossam because Psy recommends it whenever he goes overseas.
Those who participate in Han Style can also have |their pictures taken wearing |hanbok, learn how to write their names in Hangeul, and watch traditional dances including buchaechum, which is performed by a group of women with folding fans.
The programme takes place at the Korea House in Pil-dong, central Seoul, a traditional building designated to |promote traditional culture among both locals and |foreigners.

Han Style continues until December, every Sunday, Monday and Thursday at 4pm.
Tickets cost 30,000 won (Bt836).
Find out more at www.KoreaHouse.co.kr or www.CHF.or.kr.