A few months ago I happened to be indulging in some mind-numbing TV watching of the music video persuasion. The video in question, “Like A G6” was a chart-topper by American Asian electro hop quartet Far East Movement. What compounded my interest in the usual presentation of stereotypical hip hop images was a scene where a group of people were doing Soju shots at a restaurant. It wasn't the champagne popping in all its bling glory, nor the promise of travel by a private jet that got my attention.
It was a humble little green bottle that made me sit up and take notice. Soju had made its MTV debut.
Anyone who knows me will tell you I do enjoy a happy hour slurp on weekdays. I like to think of it as a 'reward' for the hard work put in during the day. Happy hour sessions with like-minded individuals are great as they usually lead to dinner, and then before we know it, it's time to head home.
But back to that Soju for a bit. I'm often heard promoting the awesomeness of this Korean spirit as a favourite kick-start beverage of mine. The faces of the uninitiated will usually wrinkle with distaste and most will (wrongly) immediately liken it to nasty tequila or some such drink even before even trying it, simply based on its appearance. In actual fact, this distilled rice spirit carries no fragrance or aroma. I'd say that Soju mostly resembles a much softer, subtler version of neat vodka. Alcohol content varies between 18.5% to 45%, though due to cost production, the alcohol by volume commonly hovers around 20%.
Soju dates back to the 13th century Mongol invasion of Korea. Having acquired brewing and distilling techniques of arak from their Persian invasion in 1256, the Mongols brought this knowledge with them and set up distilleries in the city of Kaesong in North Korea. Interestingly, Soju is often still referred to as arak-ju in and around the Kaesong area.
Soju is served ice cold, is best enjoyed with hearty, meaty (usually Korean but I experiment regularly) meals and I personally find it to be a wonderful accompaniment to cut through anything oily. Similar, I suppose, to how Scandanavian Aquavit is said to ease digestion after particularly heavy foods.
I remember my very first taste of Soju. It was August 2009 and my cousin R was in town on a short vacation. We celebrated his visit by pretty much eating and drinking everything that popped to mind. A hedonistic pursuit of belly filling and Bacchus worshipping to be sure.
However, even with the best of intentions beer (and even wine) does get a little boring and predictable - if you'd had as much as we did you'd be nodding along in agreement.
It was at this point that R told me he had taken a shine to Soju. He was keen and I was curious to give this a shot so we stopped by a Korean supermarket and he picked up a few bottles for us to kick back with at home.
My first taste left me spluttering, red-faced, teary-eyed and wondering how on earth anyone could enjoy this. After shot number 3, and once my taste buds had acclimatized, I was officially in love.
Fast forward to April 2011: I'm still in love and I've successfully managed to pass the 'Sojuness' along to friends who had never previously considered giving this deceivingly innocent looking libation a go, and who now enjoy a bottle or three, on occasion.
Image property of Shan Sandhu
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