K is for Korea

Rr is for Rice. Koreans serve boiled rice at every meal as part of the main course. Rice is also the main ingredient in rainbow-coloured rice cakes, crunchy snacks and sweet drinks. Noorungji, a crunchy rice scraped from the bottom of the cooking pot, is a traditional Korean snack, and everyone likes to drink noorungji boiled with water at the end of their meal. Ss is for Samulnori - percussion music played on four instruments. Each instrument makes a weather noise: a hand-held gong makes the sound of thunder, a large gong makes the wind, a drum makes the moving clouds and an hour-glass-shaped drum makes rain. The musicians dance as they play, shaking their heads and jumping sideways in a circle - which often makes the audience jump too! Excerpted from K Is for Korea by Hyechong Cheung, Prodeepta Das All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.