Issue 06: Happy Lunar New Year with Jennifer Ban from Rice Blossoms
Let's celebrate Seollal with tteok, events, and all the good wishes!
Hi KP!
Seollal is right around the corner and it feels timely that we welcome Jennifer Ban, the founder of Rice Blossoms. I met Jennifer at Woori Show’s Seollal fundraising event in NYC last year and immediately fell in love with her beautiful and creative iterations of traditional tteok. Fascinated by her innovative approach, I took Jennifer’s Songpyeon Workshop a few months later. Jennifer is a born teacher who has a knack for guiding anyone with ease and confidence, no matter how inexperienced or clumsy they might be with their hands and rice flour (a.k.a. me). I walked away with a beautiful box of tteok I couldn’t believe I made. I hope you taste Jennifer’s quiet confidence in this interview and channel it whenever you need a dose of bravery.
Flavor of the Week: KP Q&A with Jennifer Ban
As a new mom, Jennifer struggled to find healthy snacks for her daughter. At the same time, she was itching for a creative outlet after leaving her professional interior designer job. In her search for inspiration, she stumbled upon the art of crafting Korean desserts which were healthy, creative, and tasty. Since then, Jennifer founded Rice Blossoms with a mission to create and spread modernized Korean desserts that are steamed with love. Rice Blossoms has been featured on Bon Appetit, Thrillist, NBC NY, and many more. When not working, Jennifer enjoys yoga, running, going out with friends, and spending time in nature with her family. Learn more about Jennifer and Rice Blossoms at riceblossoms.com and follow her on IG @rice_blossoms.
Introduce yourself more personally in 2-3 sentences.
Hi, I am Jennifer Lee Ban, aka Mama Ban. I have a small business called Rice Blossoms - we steam various rice cakes with a mission to spread K-desserts! I am also a proud mama of two young girls, a wife, and a fun friend who enjoys everything about life. I love a nice cocktail or wine, too. ;)
Where are you from?
I am originally from Korea, but also from all over the place, the midwest & west coast, etc, but currently I live in Jersey City.
No, where are you REALLY from? (Haha!)
I don’t know if you will be ready for this, haha. But here we go - I was born in Korea, and at the age of 3, our family moved to Wisconsin for my father’s grad school. We lived there for about 5 years, and then, we all moved back to Korea for my dad’s job. It was a difficult transition for me as a 2nd grader. (I still vividly remember Korean kids making fun of me at school or at the playground for not being able to speak Korean.) Anyways, I got over that and adjusted to Korea very well. In the middle of 8th grade, we moved back to the states, to Indiana (again for my dad’s job, but also for our education). We were definitely the minority. I found my clique at school and had a fun high school experience. My family ended up going back to Korea but I went to UT - Austin for college, studying Architecture and Interior design. Another great 5 years went by, and I landed with an amazing job opportunity in LA. Since then, I still moved a few more times - to Singapore, where I met my husband (he is a typical Korean-American Komerican guy from LA and was working in Singapore at the time) and had my first daughter. After marriage, we lived in LA together for a couple years, now we are here in Jersey City (since 2022) as a family of 4!
What’s your sign?
Libra, but I don’t know much about Zodiac signs!
How would you describe yourself in five words?
genuinely caring likable social butterfly (So embarrassing to say that but I hope my friends agree, haha!)
What do you love about being Komerican?
I have a difficult time identifying myself as neither Korean nor American. My Korean-American Komerican friends say I am more Korean, but when I go to Korea, my family or friends say I am too American. I’d like to think I have the benefit of being able to “fit in” and enjoy both cultures!
And of course, what are your favorite Korean foods?
So many of them but I can’t ignore rice cakes (tteoks), kimbap, 제육볶음 (spicy pork), and rabbokki (ramyeon + tteokbokki).
What was your childhood like and what has it taught you?
Overall, I would say my childhood was pretty dynamic… I was more of an introvert as a child back then, probably because of all the changes we had to go through and deal with. But because of it, I was (and still am) quick to adapt and adjust to new environments and situations - or maybe it is more survival instincts?! It also taught me how to be more open-minded, and become more extroverted.
Can you share something exciting that you’re working on now?
I have our Rice Blossoms’ pop up happening on the Lower East Side in NYC starting February to May! This has been a dream so I am very excited but nervous at the same time. Please come visit us at Nimbus Kitchen on 196 Stanton Street, and see how we create our rice cakes, sample taste, and shop on site! :)
What do people underestimate about you?
Because I am pretty petite, people tend to think I am physically weak. But they don’t know how much and how long I have been doing yoga (and working out), so I am a bit stronger with a little more muscle than people actually think. I also have a good grip from making lots of rice cakes by hand. ;)
Share your proudest moment in the past year.
2024 just started, and I am proud of doing this pop up. When the opportunity came, I did not hesitate, but got right on it to make it happen!
What was your hardest moment in the past year?
The last quarter of 2023 was very intense with heavy workload, events, school and family events and activities. Juggling between work and family/kids is always very difficult and it does not get any easier!
We’ve all been hurt in some form or fashion. What are you healing from?
This question was the hardest to answer, as I am not an emotional person. I had to really think for a bit… So, I lost two of my grandmas (in Korea) pretty recently, one during the pandemic, and one right around Christmas 2023. I couldn’t, or should I say, didn’t, make it to their funerals. I have been feeling terrible, selfish, and sad for not being able to say goodbye to them in person. I was their very first grandchild (to both), and I know how much they loved me. I am still grieving internally, and I am still hurting for not only losing them, but also not being able to be there for them and my family. Every time it hurts to miss the big occasions (good or bad), because I am physically so so far away from my family and relatives.
How do you love yourself?
I try to give myself some time off by committing to hot yoga twice a week - that is my version of self care and love - meditation and sweat. Also, alone time and shopping therapy is always nice but it doesn’t happen often…:(
How do you love others?
My love language to others is quality time. Spending quality time with family and/or friends is a way for me to show how much I care and love for them.
What five things can you not live without?
Hot yoga, a good cocktail, family, friends, and music. I always have music on.
What’s your favorite dance song?
Hmm I don’t know actually… I am not a dancer so I don’t have a favorite dance song, but I guess I used to dance to EDMs?! ;)
What’s your favorite kind of pie?
Not a big pie person but if I were to choose, I always choose pecan pie!
H Mart Happiness: What’s your favorite product and why?
“I love getting dooboo from Hmart because I think Korean dooboos are so much tastier than the other ones I find from non-Korean supermarkets.” - Esther L.
What’s your favorite H Mart product? Leave a comment and share the love!
Crispy Crust: A Touch of Jeong - Uplifting illustrations that delight
Wish everyone a very happy new year!
Love, Aram
Korean School: 새해 복 많이 받으세요! Happy Seollal!
Fun facts, idioms, translations and history
설날 (Seollal), the Korean name for the Lunar New Year’s Day, is one of the two biggest national holidays in Korea along with 추석 (Chuseok), the Korean Mid-Autumn celebration. Seollal literally means “unfamiliar day,” and it is the first day of the new year using the calendar that follows the moon cycle.
The greeting for seollal, 새해 복 많이 받으세요 (se-hae bok ma-ni ba-du-se-yo), literally means “May you have a lot of New Year’s fortune (blessing).” You can use this greeting for Seollal, as well as when the new year starts by the Gregorian calendar on January 1st. Basically, Komericans get to celebrate the new year twice! This has always been my favorite part of celebrating Seollal in the U.S. - we get twice the fun!
Sweet & Salty: A list of the tastiest treats satisfying all the senses
Korean Cultural Center NY is holding its first-ever family festival to celebrate Lunar New Year in its brand new home where Hyesu Lee recently completed a beautiful mural along its new staircase. Register to join dynamic programs on Saturday and Sunday, February 24th and 25th, such as live performances by Woori Show, tteok-making experience with Rice Blossoms, and storytime with Aram Kim. Can’t make it to the event? Download and print the free activity kit created by Aram in collaboration with the Korean Cultural Center to celebrate Seollal!
Kim’C Market in Brooklyn sells Tteokguk Kit every year around Seollal. The kit includes rice cakes freshly milled in-house, with either white tteok, or five colored tteok, ghim (toasted seaweed topping), as well as a flavorful bone broth for anyone who might not have a fully stocked Komerican kitchen. Just add your own egg for the gomyung topping.
Serving complimentary tteokguk on Seollal (both January 1st and Lunar New Year’s Day) has been a tradition among Korean restaurants in the U.S. for many decades. Much of the tradition vanished during the pandemic, but Baekjeong branches will carry this tradition on this Seollal. Check their event page for locations, whether you need to make a reservation, or can walk in for a warm bowl of tteokguk for your body and soul!