00:00Pulling these mossy green threads by hand is the only way to harvest gamtae.
00:08And after hours of washing, shaping, and drying, they will be transformed into one of South
00:16Korea's rarest seaweeds.
00:22When Joo Hyun Song started her business, Padasuk, gamtae was mainly harvested and eaten raw
00:27by locals in the Sosun region.
00:31But turning this small industry into a thriving business presented a challenge.
00:42So she worked to get this earthy and sweet seaweed to people outside the region.
00:49Not just to anyone, but to the culinary world's biggest players.
00:54All while navigating unpredictable harvests and rising prices.
01:10So how did Joo Hyun take gamtae from local delicacy to worldwide sensation?
01:15And why is it so expensive?
01:38But before reaching restaurant kitchens, gamtae's journey starts on the freezing cold western
01:43shoreline of South Korea's Garurim Bay.
01:47Unlike other types of edible seaweed, like nori, that can be farmed, gamtae can only
01:52grow in the wild on mudflats, coastal wetlands that form when ocean tides wash in sediment
01:59and mud.
02:20Because of this, gamtae can only be harvested by hand.
02:24Any other way could destroy the root of the plant, impacting the supply for next year.
02:38Since gamtae can go bad if exposed to high temperatures for too long, harvesting happens
02:43from December to March, when the sea is the coldest.
02:47For these four months, Joo Hyun and her team must collect as much gamtae as possible to
02:54meet demand from buyers for the rest of the year.
02:57They can spend six hours a day pulling gamtae from the mudflats.
03:18The intense harvesting process is only the first difference between gamtae and more common
03:24nori seaweed.
03:25Compared to nori's dark green color and slightly coarse feel, gamtae's bright green, fine strands
03:32have a more delicate texture.
03:36This laborious process is just one of the reasons gamtae costs so much more than other
03:41seaweeds.
03:43And relying on the rhythms of nature means supply can be unpredictable.
03:53Recently, warming sea temperatures have disrupted the growth.
04:07To make up the difference, Joo Hyun buys gamtae from local fishermen who collect it.
04:22Gamtae also has a richer, more pungent flavor than nori.
04:37But that flavor comes with a price tag.
04:40An eight-sheet pack of gamtae costs $16.
04:44Fifty sheets of nori can be bought for the same price.
04:49But whether it's harvested by workers or locals, all the gamtae has to be washed back at the
04:55factory.
04:57It's the most crucial part of processing, because any mud, debris, or critters left
05:02on the seaweed could affect how it tastes in the end.
05:24Years ago, workers would have done this completely by hand.
05:28But this washing machine can clean 100 kilograms in less than 10 minutes.
05:33It's just one of the changes Joo Hyun made to the gamtae processing techniques she learned
05:38from her father.
05:52Like many locals, Joo Hyun's father, Jeol Su Song, grew up eating gamtae.
05:58But one day, he was struck with a new idea for processing it.
06:20Joo Hyun and her team of 15 still uses techniques to process gamtae at Badasup.
06:35Workers use a technique called harrowing to form the gamtae into paper-thin sheets.
06:42They submerge a handful of the seaweed in fresh water and mold it on top of a bamboo
06:47mat.
06:49While it may look simple, this technique can take three years to master.
07:15Joo Hyun uses this press to remove excess water from the gamtae.
07:30The sheets dry the rest of the way in these dryers.
07:37Badasup sells gamtae sheets either raw or roasted at 230 degrees Celsius for 10 seconds.
07:54Badasup produces 3,500 sheets of gamtae in a single day, and exports roughly 500,000
08:02each year.
08:04But carving out a market for gamtae outside of Seosan was anything but easy.
08:22Joo Hyun knew the only way to create a market for the seaweed was to teach people about
08:40it.
08:44She focused on promoting it to the high-end market, sending samples of gamtae to Michelin-starred
08:50chefs and writing articles describing its unique taste and texture.
08:55Eventually, her years of tireless promotion paid off.
09:00Joo Hyun says she began getting inquiries from chefs around the world.
09:28One of them is Chris Chipolone.
09:30He's the chef-owner of the restaurant Francie in Brooklyn, New York.
09:35It's one of several Michelin-starred restaurants that sources gamtae through badasup.
09:48Chris has been using gamtae in his dishes for the last 10 years.
09:52It's a key ingredient in one of the restaurant's signature dishes, conchiglie.
10:13Chris mixes the seaweed into the pasta dough.
10:27The pasta is then cooked in a buttery wine sauce and topped with clams.
10:43While Chris could opt for cheaper types of seaweed, he says gamtae's one-of-a-kind flavor
10:48is worth the price tag.
10:54Chris isn't the only one willing to pay.
10:57Badasup provides gamtae for high-end restaurants in Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Dubai, as
11:05well as Belgium, France, and Germany.
11:09But this new demand has caused raw gamtae prices to rise.
11:14Joo Hyun says since 2020, more producers have popped up.
11:44But there is a silver lining.
11:46Joo Hyun says this new market for gamtae is helping local communities in Suseon.
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