cha cha cha

At dinner tonight at our favorite neighborhood Korean barbecue place, Toraji, I asked for some hot tea and they brought me a mug of something I had never tasted before. I thought, barley? brown rice? It was definitely some sort of grain. I liked it. So I asked what it was.

And they gave me a whole box of it to take home.
Corn tea. Who knew?

This wikipedia page explains: Oksusu cha is made from dried, roasted corn kernels, so it is pale yellow in color and naturally sweet. The variety of corn most often used is Gang-naeng-i (강냉이), typically grown in the Gangwon province on South Korea's eastern coast, so the drink is particularly popular in that region. It is said to be good for you if you have high blood pressure, diabetes or kidney disease.

Now who wants a cup?