2013 Gyeonggi National Rice Cake Masters and Home-brewed Liquor Masters Contests are held in KINTEX on December 7 

In the 2013 Gyeonggi National Rice Cake Masters and Home-brewed Liquor Masters Contests held on December 7, Gyeonggi Governor Kim Moon-soo is having a commemorative photograph taken with the rice cake master Park Dae-wang, the home-brewed liquor master Gang Soon-yeon, rice cake master judge Kim Ok-hee and home-brewed liquor master judge An Byung-hak. ⓒ Gyeonggi G-News Yoo Je-hoon

In the 2013 Gyeonggi National Rice Cake Masters and Home-brewed Liquor Masters Contests seeking Korea’s best rice masters on December 7 in KINTEX, many outstanding rice masters from all over the nation participated. 

Gyeonggi Province has hosted National Rice Cake Masters Contest since 2007 and Home-brewed Liquor Masters Contest since 2010, and these events are known to be the most time-honored tradition and authority in Korea.

These contents are subsidiary events of 2013 Advanced Agricultural Technology Expo, and they began at 9:30 a.m. and went on until 5 p.m. with the awards ceremony.

The National Rice Cake Masters Contest was divided into Masters Division (20 teams), General Division (50 teams) and Students Division (30 teams), while the Home-brewed Liquor Masters Contest was divided into Masters Division (32 teams) and Students Division (16 teams).

The participants made fine and delicious rice cakes and home-brewed liquor using their polished skills. There was more tension in the air than the previous year as there were more visitors. Many products with innovative ideas were submitted this year, and it took over two hours for the judges to select the winners.

Governor Kim Moon-soo is looking around the venue before the awards ceremony to share his views about the submissions. ⓒ Gyeonggi G-News Yoo Je-hoon“We already have enough conditions for our traditional rice cakes and liquor to become the world’s number one,” said Governor Kim. “I expect these contests contribute to developing rice cakes and liquor that are well loved by the whole world.” ⓒ Gyeonggi G-News Yoo Je-hoon

Over 20 officials participated in the awards ceremony, including Gyeonggi Governor Kim Moon-soo, Gyeongggi-do Agricultural Research & Extension Services President Lim Jae-wook, Gyeonggi Green & Agriculture Foundation CEO Kim Jung-han, rice cake master judge Kim Ok-hee, Korea Home-brewery Liquor Academy President Ryu In-soo, and Korea Dduck Food Processor Association auditor Choi Jung-tak.

“It’s great that Gyeonggi hosts contests to promote our traditional rice cakes and liquor every year,” said Governor Kim Moon-soo in the awards ceremony. “There has been a great development since the first contest in 2007, and the level of participants improves incredibly every year.”

He added, “Figure queen Yuna Kim is the world’s number one. I have been providing support for her since she was a middle-school student when I first took office as governor. When she first came to the provincial government with her mother, I never imagined that she would become the figure queen. But now she is an outstanding figure queen who publicizes Korea to the whole world.”

“Rice cake and liquor are  traditional foods that have been loved by our people since thousands of years ago, and many people around the world enjoy them,” he went on. “The techniques and ingredients for rice cake and liquor are currently in fine quality. With these sufficient conditions, there is no reason for them not to be the world’s number one like Yuna Kim.”

“I hope the National Rice Cake Masters and Home-brewed Liquor Masters Contests develop into global contests that attract worldwide interest and participation in the future. I expect you to do your best to develop rice cakes and liquor to be well loved by the whole world.”

◇ Visitors are tasting liquor at the Home-brewed Liquor Masters Contest venue. ⓒ Gyeonggi G-News Yoo Je-hoonThe National Rice Cake Masters and Home-brewed Liquor Masters Contests were held in KINTEX, and awards were given to over 30 people including the Grand Prize. ⓒ Gyeonggi G-News Yoo Je-hoon

The special judge’s awards for home-brewed liquor were given to Gang Ye-na (Students Division) and Baek Woon-yeop (Masters Division). For rice cake masters, Lee Jong-hwa (Masters Division) and Lee Guk-hyeon (General Division) received the awards.

The Grand Prize for rice cake master was given to Park Dae-wang (Masters Division), and the same for home-brewed liquor master was given to Gang Soon-yeon (Masters Division). Grand Prize winners are given a citation from Gyeonggi Governor along with cash prizes: KRW 4 million for rice cake master and KRW 3 million for home-brewed liquor master.

“I’m excited to be the rice cake master,” said Park Dae-wang, who received the Grand Prize this year. “I will make my utmost efforts as a master to promote our traditional rice cakes.”

“I never dreamed of receiving such a great award, as it’s barely been half a year since I began learning how to make liquor,” said Gang Soon-yeon, the Grand Prize winner for home-brewed liquor. “I will study further to publicize our traditional liquor, and also strive for better education.”

“I was surprised to see the skills and creativity of participants that improve every year,” said rice cake master judge Kim Ok-hee. “The only thing I would have liked to see more is rice cake with natural colors. Rice cakes contain shape, taste, nutrition and tradition all at once. I would like to compliment you for your amazing progress.”

“There was only a three-point difference in determining the winner,” said home-brewed liquor master judge An Byung-hak. “This year, the home-brewed liquor is generally characterized by stronger sweetness. Some works by the Students Division lacked harmony due to the use of bold ingredients, but some had skills good enough to participate in the Masters Division immediately. All in all, I enjoyed the process of evaluation as a judge.”

Prior to participating in the awards ceremony, Governor Kim visited Gyeonggi-related booths to encourage the staff at the 2013 Advanced Agricultural Technology Expo. ⓒ Gyeonggi G-News Yoo Je-hoon

ⓒGyeonggi G-News | Lim Se-jin yh48635@nate.com

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