Uiyaji Wind Village (의야지 바람마을)!
The Korean introduction to the village often says that it is the village where you can first meet the sun, wind, stars and the moonshine, and also where the purest of snow first falls. While it was not snowing when we were there, I can attest to the wind part- boy was it windy. And we were not even near the windmills.
Uiyaji is not merely known for its windmill- but also for all the natural goodness that can be made from the locally produced dairy, fruits and meat. Below is a mini map of the village and examples of various experential activities that you can sign up for while there!
I did three activities that were not advertised on the map: CHEESE MAKING, PIZZA MAKING and ICE CREAM MAKING~
First up is cheese making! I am a huge huge cheese fan (grilled cheese, cheese cake, cheese platter, cheese flavoured chips... the list goes on) but I have never ever experienced how it can be made. The Uiyaji version of the cheese was ricotta cheese.
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| Windmills in the distant... |
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| The huge barn in which we made our cheese! |
While cheese has had a long history in the world, it is not traditionally a part of Korean diet. However, modernisation and globalisation has brought more exposure to foreign cuisine, and cheese is one which has cemented its place... cheese chicken ribs, cheese tteokboki, cheese ramen, cheese kimbap, you name it, they have cheese on it:)
Since Uiyaji has its own dairy farm, branching out into cheese making was a natural progression. I never thought that my first ever cheese making experience would be in Asia~ Nevertheless, it was a very enriching and educational experience!
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| Our instructor telling about the history of cheese, going back all the way to Mesopotamia. |
So you start off with 2 litres of milk~ bring it to a slow boil on medium heat!
Then while waiting, arrange the edible flowers on the bottom of the cheese mould that is lined with a white cloth.
As it comes to a slow boil, you can see a thin yellow layer (whey) forming on the top.
Add three spoons of a certain power (can't remember its name) that will add the curd forming. There after, add some apple vinegar (or lemon juice if you don't have vinegar). Stir a few times and then stop to let the curds form completely.
Turn off the heat and then as quickly as you can, spoon out all of the curd into the mould (whey included). Then fold the cloth into the mould before using the pressor to get all the whey out.
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| all spooned in~ |
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| With the help of a brick and the entire group to get any leftover water/whey out! |
Once done, the cloth can be unwrapped to reveal the freshly pressed ricotta cheese. Tadaaaaaaa~
Not perfect but very very delectable! We were given some strawberry jam and corn chips to go with it (very interesting combination that surprising works^.^), as well as some wine and juice (for those who don't drink).
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| And this is how you enjoy it: with some homemade jam and in-between two pieces of corn chip! |
As can be seen from the interior of the barn, the farm receives many foreign tourists who come here for the cheese making experience. The lady speaks English, Chinese (thanks to the booming number of Chinese tourists) and Korean so no worries about not being able to get a complete experience.
After cheese making, we proceeded to the other tinier barn for our pizza and ice cream making! We thought we could not eat any more but we were wrong! Our instructor got us so riled up and involved in the process of making the pizza and ice cream, we were ready to eat again!
We started with the pizza since it needed time in the oven to bake...
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| Putting the words Uiyaji in honour of the village! |
Then we sent the pizza into the oven and got started on the ice cream. We were all super shocked when our instructor told us we will be DOING IT BY HAND. And I was even more surprised by how good did tasted.
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| Using premium milk from the dairy farm in the village- so creamy!!!! |
The ice in the bottom bowl is sprinkled in salt to raise its melting point to make it cold enough for the ice cream to form (works like a freezer!). We picked a flavour and then added three tablespoons of it to the milk!
Then we used a hand whisk and whisked AS HARD AS WE CAN, taking turns supporting the bowl and whisking.
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| Halfway there! Ice cream is forming on the bottom... |
And we kept going... until... (I got pink in the face from all the whisking >.<)
We got ice cream! It is not the super frozen kind, but kind of creamy and semi-slushie like. Freshly made goodnessssssss <3
And our pizza arrived! *signalling time for a group shot!*
And we spent the next thirty minutes sampling everyone else's ice cream (since there were three flavours to choose from) and just recovering from the whisking. I also used the chance to take a picture with our instructor, a very lively lady who laughed a lot and who made us come together as teams while we made our ice cream~
And finally, one quick round in the gift shop before I left! Definitely making plans to return in spring to catch the sheep grazing in the fields, or perhaps next winter to go some snow sledging:)
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| No I did not end up buying the sheep- exercised a little bit of self control:) |
With that, we concluded our trip to Gangwon-do and hopped on the bus for a 3 hour drive back to Seoul!
For more information about Uiyaji Wind Village, you can visit:
Buses leave from the Dong Seoul Bus Terminal every hour towards Hoenggye (횡계), the closest terminal to Uiyaji. From Hoenggye, you can catch a 10 minute taxi ride to Uiyaji for under 5000 KRW! If you plan to stay overnight, there are pensions and minbaks in Hoenggye, and reservations are recommended especially if you plan to travel during the peak season (winter).
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