| Yonghwa & Seohyun = WGM’s Yongseo “Sweet Potato/Goguma” Couple Images: smtownjjang.wordpress.com & YongSeo Couple Facebook fan page |
While most girls her age are probably chocoholic, Girl’s Generation (SNSD) star Seohyun has a unique food obsession — goguma (in Korean) or sweet potato. Thanks to numerous encounters with the starchy root crop, she and We Got Married (WGM) partner Yonghwa of CN Blue earned the tag The Goguma or Sweet Potato Couple in the 2010 reality series.
Let’s do some reminiscing of Seohyun’s best “sweet potato” moments. As a bonus, we’re sharing with you our very own easy-to-do recipe of goguma cue (known in the Philippines as the candied sweet potato street food/snack camote cue).
Health-conscious and overly disciplined, Seohyun maintains a lifestyle some people may find strange. This includes her healthy snacking on dried apples instead of chips and regular drinking of herbal tea. Her ultimate favorite that fans and even virtual husband Yonghwa find amusing is the inexpensive goguma (sweet potato). As seen in her WGM stint, she loves the sweet potato in all forms.:)
Goguma or sweet potato is rich in beta-carotene, potassium, vitamins B6, C, D and E. Aside from antioxidants, goguma is also known as a fiber-rich vegetable. The nutritional value of this starchy treat makes up for its high calorie content.
Here, let’s do some backtracking of Seohyun’s random goguma moments.
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| YongSeo’s sweet potato-planting for Hyun’s birthday. Yong gave her a portion of a sweet potato field in the farm. Images: We Got Married 2010 screenshots |
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| Yong & Hyun tried out some goguma chips in a specialty store offering a wide variety of sweet potato snacks. Images: We Got Married 2010 screenshots |
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| Hyun was so excited about this goguma ice cream and raved about it later on declaring it tasted like real goguma. Images: We Got Married 2010 screenshots |
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| After having some chips and ice cream, the YongSeo couple ate another goguma-flavored frozen dessert later that day. Hyun referred to that moment as being in “sweet potato heaven.” This led Yong to coin the term “Gochun” combining the words goguma and chunguk (heaven). Images: We Got Married 2010 screenshots |
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| The virtual couple bonded over some goguma snacks and alcohol. Images: We Got Married 2010 screenshots & YongSeo Couple Facebook fan page |
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| The couple finally harvested the fruits of their labor from the sweet potato field. They packed the harvested goods and labelled them for distribution. Images: aigoochingoo.wordpress.com |
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| Yong & Hyun enjoyed their harvest in a restaurant. They fed each other with roasted goguma.:) Images: We Got Married 2010 screenshots |
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| During a guesting with her group SNSD, Seohyun had an ambush bag raid at the comedy show Haha Mong. The comedian-host was surprised to find a resealable plastic bag with steamed goguma. Images: aigoochingoo.wordpress.com |
Too bad we missed the National Sweet Potato Month by a week! But that’s okay, Sweet Potato Day which falls on the first Monday of April is coming up. We’ll have a good excuse to celebrate a la Seohyun with a goguma treat. If you don’t mind the carbohydrate loading, go ahead and have this snack on any day. Read on and follow Random Republika’s easy-to-do recipe.
RANDOM RECIPE:
GOGUMA CUE
(Candied Sweet Potato)
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| Image: (fan art) from the Yongseo Couple’s Facebook fan page |
INGREDIENTS:
Sweet potatoes
Cooking oil
White or Brown sugar
PROCEDURE:
- Peel and cut the sweet potatoes (crosswise) into 2-cm thick slices.
- Heat your frying pan with cooking oil enough to cover the sweet potato slices.
- Over moderate flame, put half a cup of sugar.
- Wait for the sugar to start caramelizing a bit and then drop the sweet potato slices.
- Allow it to cook for 5-10 minutes making sure you turn the slices over from time to time to avoid burning the sugar.
- Take them off the heat one by one and insert a barbecue stick. 2-3 slices will fit into a regular stick.
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Check out The Seohyun Series Part 1: KERORO 🙂
