KOREAN CORN TEA

Nia S. Amira
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Traveling to Korea (read: South Korea) will give you lots of memory, especially to those who are food & beverages lovers. Some of you per­haps have tried Korean food, but I believe, only few who have tasted Korean Corn tea.

Korean Arts & Culture had been developing and even now Korea is worldwide known with its K-Pop booming,the people still keep and respect their tradition in good way, like respect to their traditional gas­tronomy.

When you have the opportunity to visit one of the Villages in South Korea, you will meet local farmer living in the mountain, outskirt of Seoul, the capital.

The local farmers like most famers in Indonesia, they are very friendly and usually welcome you with tea and if you are their spe­cial guest, they will serve you with particular drink called Oksusu cha or Corn Tea. This tea can be served hot or cold depending on the condi­tion of the weather.

Oksusu cha is a classic Korean beverage. Cha means tea and even­though called ‘tea’, this beverage isn’t tea like the normal tea made of tea leaves. This Oksusu cha is essen­tially boiled corn water. We roasted the Corn kernels slowly until almost blackened and charred, then boiled in water until we smell the slightly nutty flavour of the corn comes out.

Gang-naeng-i is the most often corn tea used by Korean and it is called that because the tea grown in Gangneung, a city in Gangwon province and famous of its special tea. Oksusu cha can be served hot or cold depending on weather’s condition.

But why Korean drink this Oksu­su cha? It is believed that the Corn tea can heal the disease for those with high blood pressure, diabe­tes, and kidney disease. We don’t need sugar as the drink is naturally sweet. Oksusu cha is often com­bined with bori cha or roasted bar­leu tea, as the corn’s sweetness will neutralize the slightly bitter flavor of the barley.

It is recommended to just boil with water the roasted corn that you buy from the supermarket, then refrigerate for your refresh­ment in the middle day of sum­mer time. The Corn tea last long for about a week in the fridge. Young people, the elders even toddlers are Ok­susu cha lovers.