You can never have too many Yugwa (유과)

Last weekend my 4th Uncle and Aunt from my father's side came to visit. Although it had been raining the week before, the weather turned nice and hot. On the day they arrived, I took them for the traditional summer food - Samgyetang at this restaurant that I rather like in Insadong. It's one of those places that I keep going back to because the service is good, atmosphere is pleasant and the food is good as well as being reasonably priced.

I don't actually know the restaurant's name but it's on Insadong 5-gil or Insadong 오-gil. It's somewhere mid-way along the main avenue of Insadong and there is a street sign identifying the alley. The restaurant is the first one on the right. There are of course plenty of quaint restaurants in Insadong to choose from in the many side streets.

After lunch I took them to try some Korean tea and traditional korean cakes. We ordered Jujube tea and Ginger tea. The latter was quite spicy but it felt good after a full meal. Ginger tea helps reduce gas which is always good. I wanted them to try a type of Hangwa (한과) which the term for traditional Korean confectionary and in particular Yugwa (유과). This particular tea house only has 1 type of serving and that is 16 pieces on a plate!

I think when I exclaimed "Sixteen!!!", everyone in the restaurant turned to look. The cute little waitress then said, "Oh you can pack to take away if cannot finish." Oh well then...

In the end, the 3 of us finished everything. They are so light and fluffy that it is easy to eat. They are crisp on the outside but honeycombed on the inside. So makes eating it very easy and not too filling. I guess that's how we managed to scoff all 16!

Top: Jujube tea; Bottom: Ginger tea; Right: Yugwa

Oh and the best thing is, we realised all the other customers got one each when they ordered their tea. So we could always have just ordered the tea and tried another dessert! In fact that means that we should have gotten 19 pieces of Yugwa!