Dotorimuk
Encyclopedia
Dotorimuk or acorn jelly is a Korea
n food which is a jelly
made from acorn
starch
. Although "muk" means "jelly", when used without qualifiers, it usually refers to dotorimuk. The practice of making dotorimuk originated in mountainous areas of ancient Korea, when abundant oak
trees produced enough acorns each autumn to become a viable source of food. Like other muk
, dotorimuk is most commonly eaten in the form of dotorimuk muchim (도토리묵무침), a side dish
in which small chunks of dotorimuk are seasoned and mixed with other ingredients such as slivered carrots and scallions, garlic, soy sauce, sesame oil, red chili pepper powder, and sesame seeds.
Dotorimuk was widely eaten in Korea during the Korean War
, when millions of people were displaced and starving. However, in recent years it has been rediscovered as a health food
.
Despite being a rich source of starch
and protein
s, acorns contain large amounts of tannin
s and other polyphenol
s, which prevent the human body from digesting food properly. As such, the harvested acorns must be properly leached of the tannins prior to consumption. Acorns are either collected directly from the ground or knocked off the branches of trees. The harvested acorns are then opened and their nuts inside ground into a fine orange-brown paste. The paste is then stirred into vats of water such that the fibre in the acorn can be separated from the starch through sieving and settling.
The starch suspending liquid is collected from the fibre and allowed to sit so that the tannins in the starch will diffuse
out of the acorn paste. The soaking time depends on the amount of tannins in the paste, but the process usually requires several changes of water to properly purge it of all noxious substances.
The now tannin-free acorn starch paste should have an off-white colour. This paste is allowed to completely settle to the bottom of the vat. The water is drained away, and the paste is then collected in trays to dry. The dried starch cake is then pulverized and packaged for sale. Dotorimuk is also commercially available in powdered form, which must be mixed with water, boiled until pudding-like in consistency, then poured into a flat dish to set. Corn starch can be added to acorn starch to modify the texture and translucency of the produced dotorimuk.
Korea
Korea ) is an East Asian geographic region that is currently divided into two separate sovereign states — North Korea and South Korea. Located on the Korean Peninsula, Korea is bordered by the People's Republic of China to the northwest, Russia to the northeast, and is separated from Japan to the...
n food which is a jelly
Gelatin dessert
Gelatin desserts are desserts made with sweetened and flavored gelatin. They can be made by combining plain gelatin with other ingredients or by using a premixed blend of gelatin with additives...
made from acorn
Acorn
The acorn, or oak nut, is the nut of the oaks and their close relatives . It usually contains a single seed , enclosed in a tough, leathery shell, and borne in a cup-shaped cupule. Acorns vary from 1–6 cm long and 0.8–4 cm broad...
starch
Starch
Starch or amylum is a carbohydrate consisting of a large number of glucose units joined together by glycosidic bonds. This polysaccharide is produced by all green plants as an energy store...
. Although "muk" means "jelly", when used without qualifiers, it usually refers to dotorimuk. The practice of making dotorimuk originated in mountainous areas of ancient Korea, when abundant oak
Oak
An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus Quercus , of which about 600 species exist. "Oak" may also appear in the names of species in related genera, notably Lithocarpus...
trees produced enough acorns each autumn to become a viable source of food. Like other muk
Muk (food)
Muk or mook is a generic term referring to Korean dishes made from grains, beans, or nut starch such as buckwheat, sesame, and acorns, which have a jelly-like consistency...
, dotorimuk is most commonly eaten in the form of dotorimuk muchim (도토리묵무침), a side dish
Banchan
Banchan refers to small dishes of food served along with cooked rice in Korean cuisine. This word is used both in the singular and plural....
in which small chunks of dotorimuk are seasoned and mixed with other ingredients such as slivered carrots and scallions, garlic, soy sauce, sesame oil, red chili pepper powder, and sesame seeds.
Dotorimuk was widely eaten in Korea during the Korean War
Korean War
The Korean War was a conventional war between South Korea, supported by the United Nations, and North Korea, supported by the People's Republic of China , with military material aid from the Soviet Union...
, when millions of people were displaced and starving. However, in recent years it has been rediscovered as a health food
Health food
The term health food is generally used to describe foods that are considered to be beneficial to health, beyond a normal healthy diet required for human nutrition. However, the term is not precisely defined by national regulatory agencies such as the U.S...
.
Production
Starch
Starch or amylum is a carbohydrate consisting of a large number of glucose units joined together by glycosidic bonds. This polysaccharide is produced by all green plants as an energy store...
and protein
Protein
Proteins are biochemical compounds consisting of one or more polypeptides typically folded into a globular or fibrous form, facilitating a biological function. A polypeptide is a single linear polymer chain of amino acids bonded together by peptide bonds between the carboxyl and amino groups of...
s, acorns contain large amounts of tannin
Tannin
A tannin is an astringent, bitter plant polyphenolic compound that binds to and precipitates proteins and various other organic compounds including amino acids and alkaloids.The term tannin refers to the use of...
s and other polyphenol
Polyphenol
Polyphenols are a structural class of natural, synthetic, and semisynthetic organic chemicals characterized by the presence of large multiples of phenol structural units...
s, which prevent the human body from digesting food properly. As such, the harvested acorns must be properly leached of the tannins prior to consumption. Acorns are either collected directly from the ground or knocked off the branches of trees. The harvested acorns are then opened and their nuts inside ground into a fine orange-brown paste. The paste is then stirred into vats of water such that the fibre in the acorn can be separated from the starch through sieving and settling.
The starch suspending liquid is collected from the fibre and allowed to sit so that the tannins in the starch will diffuse
Diffusion
Molecular diffusion, often called simply diffusion, is the thermal motion of all particles at temperatures above absolute zero. The rate of this movement is a function of temperature, viscosity of the fluid and the size of the particles...
out of the acorn paste. The soaking time depends on the amount of tannins in the paste, but the process usually requires several changes of water to properly purge it of all noxious substances.
The now tannin-free acorn starch paste should have an off-white colour. This paste is allowed to completely settle to the bottom of the vat. The water is drained away, and the paste is then collected in trays to dry. The dried starch cake is then pulverized and packaged for sale. Dotorimuk is also commercially available in powdered form, which must be mixed with water, boiled until pudding-like in consistency, then poured into a flat dish to set. Corn starch can be added to acorn starch to modify the texture and translucency of the produced dotorimuk.
See also
- NokdumukNokdumukNokdumuk also spelled noktumuk is a Korean muk, or jelly, made from mung bean starch. In its most commonly encountered form, it is also called cheongpomuk , which literally means "clear froth jelly," owing to its clear white color...
- made from mung beanMung beanThe mung bean is the seed of Vigna radiata. It is native to the Indian subcontinent.-Description:They are small, ovoid in shape, and green in color...
s - HwangpomukHwangpomukHwangpomuk is a Korean food which is a yellow jelly made from mung beans. The yellow color comes from dyeing with the fruit of gardenia...
- a yellow-colored jelly made from mung beans - MemilmukMemilmukMemilmuk is a Korean food that is a variety of muk made from buckwheat starch, which has a jelly-like consistency. It is light gray-brown in color and is most commonly eaten as memilmuk muchim , a banchan in which chunks of memilmuk are mixed with kimchi, ground sesame seeds, and soy...
- made from buckwheatBuckwheatBuckwheat refers to a variety of plants in the dicot family Polygonaceae: the Eurasian genus Fagopyrum, the North American genus Eriogonum, and the Northern Hemisphere genus Fallopia. Either of the latter two may be referred to as "wild buckwheat"... - KonjacKonjacKonjac , also known as konjak, konjaku, konnyaku potato, devil's tongue, voodoo lily, snake palm, or elephant yam , is a plant of the genus Amorphophallus...
- a Japanese jelly
External links
- Blog showing the commercial process for grinding, detoxifying, straining starch to make dotorimuk
- Blog showing the process at home for grinding, detoxifying, straining starch to make dotorimuk
- Another blog showing the process at home for grinding, detoxifying, straining starch to make dotorimuk
- Blog showing cleaned acorn starch being dried