Unlike candy that breaks when you apply force with your molars, yeot(taffy) turns soft when melted in your mouth, giving you a happy mouth feel. Yeot, which contains the subtle sweetness of grains and does not make you feel tired of eating it continuously, has become a representative traditional Korean snack for passing the university entrance exam because of its sticky properties. However, on Jeongwol Daeboreum(the first full moon day of the lunar new year) in the past, it was called “bokyeot(fortune taffy),” a high-quality snack that was made and eaten in every household to pray for health and abundance. Grand Master Kang Bongseok has been promoting the taste to this day by retracing the taste of sweet yeot that he tasted, while sitting on his grandfather’s lap when he was a child, and keeping to the traditional method. 
This journey of tracing the taste of 150 years ago is to preserve someone’s sweet childhood memories.  

Article by. Kim Seunghee, Photo by. Kim Jiwon

Q. It is a custom that is disappearing now. However, in the past, there was a custom of eating bokyeot with gwibalgisul(ear-sharpening wine) on the first full moon day of the year. What was the meaning of our custom of “eating bokyeot?”

When I was young, on the first full moon day of the year, my grandfather would make more yeot than usual, and distribute it to family and neighbors. I was so young back then, so I didn't even know it was a custom, but I think he gifted “bokyeot” to welcome the first full moon. At that time, yeot was a precious snack made and eaten only by wealthy households. Since rice and barley, the main ingredients, had to be simmered for a long time, devotion alone was not enough. It was time to start farming around the first full moon day, so I think it was a way to awaken the vitality of the body that had been withdrawn during winter by organizing the storeroom where bureom, dried vegetables, and five grains before the holiday, and sharing them with the neighbors. The sweetness of yeot stimulates one’s palate, and helps one recover his or her strength. I believe that the role of “bokyeot” was to solidify the relationships between neighbors, and share a strong bond by sharing sweet food. 
 

Q. At first glance, Korean traditional yeot looks like candy, but we can find different characteristics in terms of nutrition and taste.

When I was a kid, I didn't like candy. When you put yeot in your mouth, its deep nutty flavor and scent remained, but candy was just sweet, which was somewhat boring and tasteless to me. When my grandfather made yeot, he always called me in and let me taste the cooled jocheong(grain syrup) in the iron pot. At the time, I thought he was doing it because I was his cute grandson, but, later, I found out that he did it so I could remember the taste of jocheong and yeot. It was a type of what we call early education now. I remember the taste, and make jocheong and yeot. I do it because I think what suits my palate is the traditional taste. There is no sugar in our traditional yeot and jocheong. Yeot was a snack made to enjoy the sweet taste at the time when there was no sugar, and the natural sweetener added to sweeten food was jocheong. Malt is made by sprouting barley buds, and the amylase of this malt is the enzyme that breaks down the rice starch into malt sugar. Barley adds sweetness to the nuttiness of rice. If the sugar content of the candy is 100, the sweetness of jocheong is about 60. It is said that in aristocrat households, they fed jocheong to young children before the morning education. It was a great snack even at the time, as its subtle sweetness cleared the head and relieved hunger.

Q. In the time of COVID-19, Korean food is attracting attention from people around the world. Korean food is known mainly for being tasty and healthy. Our yeot and jocheong are also getting a positive response in the global market. What flavor has captured the palates of people around the world?

As I said before, I think it is because of the deep sweetness that cannot be imitated with the sweetness of sugar. There was an occasion when the excellent taste of Doorechon's yeot and jocheong were recognized internationally. At the International Taste Institute’s Superior Taste Award held in Belgium in 2021, our six food products, including our yeot and jocheong, won the International Superior Taste Award. This award, which was launched in 2005, is an annual event that evaluates and certifies the tastes of food and beverages around the world by forming a panel of 200 judges. Prominent chefs and sommeliers from the chefs’ associations and sommelier associations in 15 European countries evaluate the tastes. Experts, however, do not set the standard of the popular palate, but if our products fascinated the palates of fastidious experts, I think it is not long before our jocheong and yeot will become the snacks of the people of the world. 

Q. There seems to be an ironclad rule that you adhere to when making yeot to realize its traditional taste or to differentiate it. 

Many notable people have been making yeot in the traditional way in Korea. Even if they don't have the title of “grand master,” they are continuing a long tradition in their own ways. So, I can't say mine is better, but if there's one thing I insist on, it's using our rice and barley, and making malt on our own. Almost all the processes of making yeot are done manually, and it is difficult and arduous to repeat the process no matter how I gained experience over the course of many years. However, if I skip one or two steps because it is difficult, the taste becomes strangely different. It is a process that must be kept to preserve the taste of the ancestors, and has continued for 150 years. The environment and water and Chungju and devotion have to be put into it to bring out the taste of what I ate as a child. I am a third-generation maker, and my son and grandson are to continue the business. I believe that establishing the standard is a must, so that my grandson can maintain the same taste when he makes it. It is the only way to continue a great tradition, and is the secret to being sought by many people.

Q. Please tell us about any memorable anecdotes or experiences related to the old taste of our yeot that the master has been continuing

The export route has been open for several years, and our yeot and jocheong are being introduced to Canada and Australia, where many Koreans expats live. One day, I got a phone call from a Korean expat. When she saw our yeot being sold at a Korean mart, it reminded her of the old days, so she bought it. She said in a choked-up voice that it tasted delicious just like the one she used to have when she was a child. Then I realized it again, “This is indeed our taste.” And I promised myself that I would keep the taste that I remember. I think that the yeot products I make could be someone’s memories that they don’t want to forget. When you make yeot, you can make it in two types of facilities: “open-type” and “vacuum-type.” The vacuum-type is where you simmer yeot with the lid closed like a pressure cooker, which costs less fuel and is easy to make. I tried it to save on costs and labor, but it didn’t taste the same so I gave up. This is why I keep the “open-type” process that my grandfather taught my father. 
 

Q. You only use domestic ingredients to retain the taste, right?

Of course. First, imported rice does not suit our palate. Domestic rice is glutinous, making it perfect for making yeot. All food must first have good ingredients, and, second, the maker’s mindset is important. Strangely enough, even if you imitate other techniques, it doesn’t mean you will have the same results. I want to share my skills with as many people as possible. If I hide the skills that I have learned so that only I will own them, the hard-trained traditions will be cut off. I once went to a company before because they wanted to learn how to make yeot. A few days' training was not enough, so they invited me to come and make it together with them. I went and made it, but the taste wasn’t the same. It wasn’t something that could be learned in a few days by repeating the same process over and over again. Do you think they all had the same mindset? I think it is this mindset that cannot be imitated. The devoted mindset makes the taste. If I do the process of making malt in a conventional way, it takes 15 days. I need to check the level of soakage(soaking) of barley and the amount of water it needs every day, and I need to germinate it properly to get the desired sugar content and taste.

Q. Though you have such a clear food philosophy, you didn't think of succeeding the family business initially.

I hated going to the mountain to gather firewood. I couldn't think of anything other than “It’s hard.” I couldn’t think about doing it over and over again. I wanted to run away from the hard life, so I started working for a company in Incheon. That is, I ran away from home. At the time, I had a chance to talk with a Japanese employee who came to hand down techniques to the company. He was younger than me and making more than I did, but he said that after one or two years, he wanted to go back home and take over the family business. His firm belief moved me. I realized the value of continuing the family tradition passed down from generation to generation again. Later, I worked for the company for about four years more, and went home to tell my father my will. I expanded the business, and opened “Jeil Yeot Factory.” We were working in the city center at first, but there were many restrictions, so we moved to this Doorechon 15 years later.  

Q. Doorechon directly purchases agricultural products through the contract cultivation with 130 local farms, and it reminds us of “dure,” our old farmers’ cooperative group. How did you come to form such local community? 

All you need is rice and barley to make yeot and jocheong. At first, I bought rice and barley, and used them. The vendors said the ingredients were organic, but I was skeptical. Since I didn’t have confidence on the quality of the ingredients, I didn’t like the finished products. So, I thought about getting the ingredients through contract cultivation with local farmers. It started by making a promise with my neighbors to produce healthy agricultural products. And my son played a big role in this. All I could do was “work hard,” and I had to find a way to expand my family business. Thus, I established a rural convergency industry management system that operates the 6th industry. It is to directly procure raw materials through contract cultivation with local farmers, and to discover various sales channels by making jocheong, yeot, and gangjeong(sweet rice puffs) and meeting with consumers. Moreover, we have prepared our own traditional experience center so that people can try making their own yeot and jocheong.

If my son has developed the business to fit the contemporary time, my grandson is taking the lead in pioneering overseas markets. While steadily increasing sales through the social commerce platform, Amazon, the window of the global market, we plan to take the lead in discovering export routes so that we can meet more Koreans. Korean celebrities are active on the global stage. Doorechon will also add to our strength to let people know that Korea is a small but wonderful country with our Korean sweets and cookies, yeot, and jocheong. 
Yeot and jocheong are honey made by human hands. We are confident that it contains good nutrition, and its taste is next to that of honey. We hope you will visit us often, so that yeot and jocheong can become world-class snacks. I wish you good health in the coming year.