Chuseok - A Korean "Thanksgiving"

Audrey Young

Thanksgiving in America is an iconic holiday. Even many non-Americans would recognize well-known dishes like the classic roast turkey, stuffing, and pumpkin pie that grace the holiday table. With Thanksgiving just around the corner, I wanted to shed light on a lesser-known “Thanksgiving” celebration—in South Korea. While the food eaten in Korea may be different from typical Thanksgiving dishes, both harvest celebrations center around community, gratitude, and sharing.

Chuseok (추석), commonly referred to as the “Korean Thanksgiving,” is Korea’s mid-autumn harvest festival. The holiday gives my family full of workaholics a forceful, yet much needed break. Once a year, we pack up just our necessities and take a five-hour road trip to Gwangju, my mom’s hometown, to see our extended family on my mom’s side. Like many other Korean families, my family follows an important Chuseok tradition every year: we all gather at my grandparents’ house to prepare and enjoy jeon (전). Jeon is a Korean fritter made by battering all sorts of ingredients, commonly including beef, mussels, and vegetables. My family specializes in yukjeon (육전), or beef fritters. The process is done in an assembly-line style: an adult cuts the raw meat and hands it to one of the kids, who coats it in beaten egg mixture and passes it to another kid, who coats it in flour breading and hands it off to my grandmother, who pan-fries it while another family member adds hot peppers on both sides as she flips it. Sometimes, my grandmother lets one of the older kids take a stab at frying the jeon—transitioning from one station to the next every year was like a rite of passage of a sort. The cooking process, which includes multiple generations, is a fun way for everyone to contribute to the family’s meal.

The family-oriented way is not limited to cooking—it directly mirrors the dining traditions during Chuseok, and in Korean culture in general. Once the jeon and other foods are prepared, we place them in the center of the table and gather around. Then, we begin communal dining, sharing the food from the same bowls. Communal dining is a crucial part of Korean culture, stemming from the Confucianist influences emphasizing collective good and togetherness. The arrangement emphasizes the significance of family and relationships during this time of giving thanks. It fosters a sense of belonging as everyone shares the same food, where everyone is included. Additionally, this setup encourages conversation as we naturally look toward each other even when grabbing the food. We are able to catch each other up on our lives since the previous Chuseok meal, whether in congratulating my younger cousins’ report cards filled with all A’s or listening to my mom’s newest business venture—everyone, no matter the generation, is considered and celebrated. There are also practical reasons for communal dining during Chuseok; it is customary to make an almost obscene amount of food, including jeon, which makes it convenient to dine family-style. My personal favorite dishes, along with jeon, of course, include yukhoe (육회), raw seasoned beef, and an assortment of namul-banchan (나물 반찬), seasoned vegetable side dishes.

Communal eating has even influenced the Korean packaged food industry. One example that comes to mind is the SsangSsangbar (쌍쌍바), an ice cream bar featuring two ice cream sticks connected with a crease down the middle, making it easy to split in half. This design allows two people to easily enjoy the dessert from one package, transforming ice cream into a social experience. I have the fondest memories of splitting one with my sister after a satisfying Chuseok meal—the perfect way to end the holiday while embracing the spirit of sharing once more.

Although calling Chuseok “Korean Thanksgiving” makes it easier for non-Koreans to visualize the celebration, the title makes it easy to gloss over the holiday’s unique aspects. While giving thanks to those in our community is at the heart of both holidays, the title oversimplifies the cultural contexts and customs involved. Chuseok is a powerful reminder of the values indicative of Korean culture—togetherness and sharing—expressed through practices such as communal cooking, dining, and snacking. Chuseok is a wonderful holiday that exemplifies the power of food as a unifying tool, for individuals, generations of families, and a cultural body as a whole.