11.11: The Origin of Pepero Day and Garaetteok Day
Every year on 11th of November Koreans celebrate Pepero Day. It is a day similar to Valentine’s day but falls in autumn and is named after a stick candy.
Pepero was manufactured in 1983 for the first time by a company named Lotte that is now a well-known conglomerate. The candy is similar to the Japanese stick candy called Pocky that was introduced by Glico. Pepero is a chocolate covered stick biscuit that is long and thin. It is a quick snack that can be dunked into your coffee and the perfect candy to test your chances with someone you like!
Over the years, the flavors of this candy have advanced from its basic biscuit and chocolate coating to 10 flavours. Now it comes in strawberry, almond, Tiramisu Cheese, Peanut and more. But in the beginning, it did not have the kind of hype it has now. In fact, it was only after 10 years of introducing the candy that Pepero Day was born.
There are many legends behind how Pepero Day started, but one famous one is of the two school girls from Yeonnam. According to this story, the two girls ate Pepero on the 11th of November in 1994 with the hope of becoming tall and thin like the candy. Their logic was that eating a candy that was shaped like a stick on a day that is written like sticks would also make them tall and slim like the sticks.
And so, the story passed around many others and became so famous that everyone in Korea started eating Pepero on 11.11 of every year. After this in 1997, Lotte officially created the Pepero Day.
A special Pepero Day challenge was also introduced where you had to eat 11 packets of Pepero after 11 seconds passed from 11.11 a.m. and 11.11 p.m. on the 11th of November.
Pepero Day is celebrated to show your appreciation and love to those you care deeply about. On this day Koreans gift their friends, colleagues, family and loved ones’ chocolates or specifically Pepero. A box of Peperos costs only $1.30 and on Pepero Day they are specially packaged in a combination to form the shape of a heart. Unlike other days, the usual package designs of Pepero are changed for this day and some premium Peperos are sold at $50 too!
Another special day that is celebrated on 11.11 is the Garaetteok Day. It is also known as the Korean Rice Cake Day and was initiated by the government in 2006. This day celebrates the farmers of Korea, and rice, which is a staple diet of Koreans.
Garaetteok are long cylindrical sticks of white rice cakes that resemble the double ones of November 11th, making it the reason to choose this day. It is made by pounding steamed rice flour with a wooden hammer and dividing the dough to form flexible long white sticks. When it is produced in mass, special machines are used in the process to give the rice cake its unique shape.
Garaetteok can be eaten plain without any sauces or cooked into different dishes. The famous Tteokguk that is eaten every year on Seollal to celebrate the dawn of a new year is also made using Garaetteok. It is used as a main ingredient of Tteokbokki and Tteok Kkochi and added into Budae Jjigae, Dakgalbi and more.
So this 11.11 whether you are into chocolates or rice cakes, make sure to show your loved ones how much you appreciate them.
Happy Pepero Day and Happy Garaetteok Day!
