Markolli and Soju

Wintermute · Post by **Wintermute** » Sun Mar 26, 2006 7:32 am

Hey guys, newbie and all, what's ya' poison? Just thought I'd share a tale of drunken fun here in Asia. I'm an English teacher here and if you've ever met an ESl'er you'll know we're partial to the occasional cocktail (as a mate once put it 'work just gets in the way of my drinking time'). So I met the lads, my regular drinking crew, a Russian, an Indian, a Canadian, a New Zealander and me, a NZ/Australian. We went to my favourite restaurant here, a cheap pork BBQ place where you cook your own meat at the table and grab that shit hot off the plate with chopsticks. There's also a drink here called soju, 22% alcohol and about $3 a bottle. Needless to say that we ate a heroic quantity of meat and got through way to many bottles of soju. A decision was then taken to drink the traditional local alcohol called markolli. It's made from rice and other stuff (got a bottle of the soy bean shit in the fridge at the moment, been there for months and will stay there as a buffer against undrunkenness. It's really bad). It can be horrible or fantastic, depends on the brewer. Luckily we're in sweet with a local waitress whose mum brews it at home and the stuff is like liquid-sediment filled-gold. It comes in a beat up old kettle and the 'glasses' are crappy old aluminium bowls which have seen better days to say the least. The locals shit themselves seeing us drinking 'their' alcohol, it's only for workers and uni students, not the lilly white pussys they think we are. We've all been here for a while though and some of us can speak back at them in their own language. Gotta love the expression on the face of a grizzled old shipworker as he's invited to drink with the table of wierd assed foreigners. So I digress. We finished up there and went to the local foreigner's bar but the vibe just wasn't there. Ended the night drinking markolli back at the same place. From all reports I actually crawled outta there at some stage (I wasn't the only one on all fours though). Somehow I managed to ride my bike home which explained various drunk injuries the next day. I still haven't managed to totally get the blood stains outta my jacket and my bed, but it was all worth the blood. The photos from that night have gone down in legend.

George_Pourwell · Post by **George_Pourwell** » Sun Mar 26, 2006 10:31 am

I had bottle of soju last week...got it at the local packie, just to try something new. Not a big fan tho I'm sure it grows on you.
Tasted kind of like potatoey butt to me tho. >;}

Palmwine Drunkard · Post by **Palmwine Drunkard** » Mon Mar 27, 2006 4:56 am

Welcome!
It's good to have another Asian area Drunkard on board. I think that makes 3 of us.
Where are you?
I'll take a bottle or your Markolli in trade for a dirty plastic pitcher of Tuak, ok?

Wintermute · Post by **Wintermute** » Wed Mar 29, 2006 8:49 am

Hey George, 'tastes kinda potatoey to me', definately does, it's made outta sweet potatos among other things. It's always tasted sweet to me, I'd been drinking the stuff for 9 months before a newbie teacher with a guide book informed me that I'd been drinking sweet potato alcohol. My response? Stop reading and start drinking, it grows on you, costs about $1 a bottle and most importantly it gets you utterly blasted. A 3-5 bottle hangover can be a life changing event.

Wintermute · Post by **Wintermute** » Wed Mar 29, 2006 8:52 am

Hey PD, what the f**k's Tuak? If ya' drinking palm wine I'd say I'm to the north of you in South Korea. Tuak sounds interesting and I've got holidays coming up in a few months. A swap is possible.

Celtic · Post by **Celtic** » Wed Mar 29, 2006 9:42 am

while i generally don't like to read long-ass posts without any carriage returns,

yours was entertaining.

welcome, and CHEERS!

(by the way, i'll have a hogshead of whiskey, please!)

Palmwine Drunkard · Post by **Palmwine Drunkard** » Wed Mar 29, 2006 3:30 pm

Wintermute wrote:Hey PD, what the f**k's Tuak? If ya' drinking palm wine I'd say I'm to the north of you in South Korea. Tuak sounds interesting and I've got holidays coming up in a few months. A swap is possible.

Yeah, tuak is palmwine, and I'm in Sumatra.
Tell us more about the Markolli, never hear of it before but it sounds intriguing.

Plumber · Post by **Plumber** » Wed Mar 29, 2006 3:40 pm

Had Soju at Frank's batchelor party, kind of sneaks up and punches you right in the monkey brain, then things get kind of fuzzy...

Wintermute · Post by **Wintermute** » Wed Mar 29, 2006 9:01 pm

Hey yeah, carridge returns. There's always next time. Markolli is the most traditional alcohol here in Korea. It's made with a variety of things but the best IMHO is the one made from rice, 'Sal Markolli'. It's a very basic wine, just rice, water and yeast I suppose.
I'm working on obtaining a recipe and will be happy to post it here for those interested, it seriously can't be that hard to make. It is harder to make well though.
It's a milky light brown drink usually, utterly full of sediment. If you leave it for a few minutes it starts to settle, just stir it with a chopstick and it's okay though. It's a bit of an aquired taste, some of my mates despise it, some love it. I like it as it's slightly sour and goes really well with hot Korean food, although when your drunk mates conspire to put a whole baby octopus in your bowl while your back's turned it's a different story.
It's really gaining in popularity again here, it was seen as a funny old-fashioned drink for years, but these days there are lots of little markolli places springing up, serving it in the already mentioned kettles and battered bowls.
You usually drink it with cheap Korean country style food served by hardassed old ladies. It's not a bad drink and at the same strength as beer it's about a third of the price and much more authentically Korean. It you're ever in this neck of the woods it's well worth trying.

Palmwine Drunkard · Post by **Palmwine Drunkard** » Thu Mar 30, 2006 2:02 am

Thanks!
Soundds like a fair trade although I'm willing to bet it doesn't ship well.
I know for a fact that tuak doesn't last for more than a day or so.
I'll just have to go to Korea some day.
Cheers!

Martini Time · Post by **Martini Time** » Thu Mar 30, 2006 2:06 am

Wintermute wrote:...if you've ever met an ESl'er you'll know we're partial to the occasional cocktail (as a mate once put it 'work just gets in the way of my drinking time').

'

HA HA HA!!! I attended a party this past weekend for a bunch of current and retired ESL teachers. Holy shit!!! They put me to shame. I haven't seen that much wine consumed at a private party in quite some time.

Welcome aboard, Wintermute. A Beefeater™ & Tonic, if you would be so kind. To scare away both malaria and scurvy.

Cheers!

Wintermute · Post by **Wintermute** » Fri Mar 31, 2006 9:32 pm

An update of sorts. I'm REALLY hungover today, last night's soju/markolli/beer fuelled insanity got a bit outta hand. Several tribal laws were broken.

Markolli and Soju

Markolli and Soju

Re: Markolli and Soju