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K-Everything Season 1 Episode 3
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00:11It's so good.
00:16It's such a special feeling to be here at a kimchi festival because it's a food that meant so much
00:21to me throughout my entire life.
00:24Do you like it?
00:26Yes.
00:27When I was younger, some non-Korean friends would come over. They would be wondering what that terrible smell was.
00:33And it made me feel self-conscious about the food that I was eating every day.
00:36But now it's a 180 and kimchi has become a global food that everyone knows.
00:41And it's become a source of pride for the entire country and for people like me.
00:50It's so good.
00:54It's so good.
00:55It's so good.
00:56It's so good.
01:01I'm Daniel Dae Kim.
01:03Hey, Daniel.
01:03Actor.
01:04Daniel, nice to meet you.
01:06Producer.
01:07And proud Korean American.
01:09Alright, we have to stop before I get emotional.
01:10When I was a kid, it was not cool to be Korean.
01:14Then this happened.
01:15Social phenomenon or Korean wave.
01:18Korean wave.
01:19K-pop along with TV dramas.
01:22Now I'm going to South Korea.
01:24It's so good.
01:26Where I was born.
01:27It's exactly what I remember as a kid.
01:30To find out how this small nation in East Asia rose from the ashes of war.
01:35The end of three years of bitter conflict.
01:38Dictatorship and poverty.
01:40Decades of sacrifice, years of success.
01:43To conquer the world.
01:46Parasite.
01:47With its culture in just one generation.
01:56Oh, we can go global now.
01:58Oh, my God.
02:01From K-pop.
02:02They once, we love you.
02:03To K-beauty.
02:04Shake it, shake it.
02:05This is a new world.
02:06To K-everything.
02:08Everything.
02:191029th.
02:231029th.
02:241029th.
02:24Bussan.
02:31Bussan.
02:32Wow.
02:33Wow.
02:34It's big.
02:37Looks like we're going to make a lot of kimchi.
02:39Yeah.
02:41I'm with my mom and dad at a Ginchang festival.
02:46It's an annual celebration of kimchi.
02:49Where families come together to prepare cabbage for fermentation.
02:53A tradition that goes back centuries.
02:56Ah, yeah.
02:56Hello.
02:57Hello.
02:58Hello.
02:58Hello.
02:59Hello.
03:00Hello.
03:02This is a salad.
03:03Yeah.
03:04This is the young yum, the paste.
03:06Cabbage.
03:07This is the Pyeongchang cabbage.
03:09Okay.
03:10Yeah.
03:10It's the most healthy taste in Korea.
03:13It's a good food.
03:13It's a good food, so you just have a lot.
03:15It's a good food.
03:15It's a good food.
03:16It's a good food.
03:18It's a good food.
03:18All right.
03:20It's a good food.
03:24It's a good food.
03:25Mom and dad grew up in Korea, but now live in California.
03:30Dad, this is your first time ever making this, right?
03:32Ever.
03:33Ever, I think.
03:33Mom is a pro.
03:38We stuffed red chili paste mashed with garlic, ginger, and shrimp
03:43into heads of highland Napa cabbage.
03:46Koreans began fermenting kimchi as a means of survival
03:48to eat during the cold months of winter.
03:52Wow, that's very good.
03:54Wow, that's so good.
04:03With over 60,000 visitors, this is billed as the biggest kimjang in Korea.
04:09It's mostly families who've come from all over the country.
04:14Increasingly, some non-Koreans too.
04:17The men in the Kim family, this is their first kimchi.
04:20Very proud of it.
04:21Fine.
04:24Export at kimchi to the U.S. alone have gone up around tenfold since 2011.
04:31Why do you think kimchi is so popular now around the world?
04:46It's a very common story for a lot of Asian Americans
04:50where their lunch boxes were subjects of shame
04:53when they brought them to school.
04:55It was like what we now know is like
04:57hand rolls and kimbap which is rice mixed with like some vegetables
05:02and some meat surrounded by seaweed.
05:04It takes a lot longer than a sandwich
05:06and we used to put that with kimchi in the lunch box
05:09and you know, we learned very early
05:13that we shouldn't bring that to a public school elementary lunch
05:16because we just got made fun of most of the time.
05:20But it's different now.
05:42When I was growing up, most Americans thought Korean food was nothing more than a smoke-filled barbecue beef restaurant
05:48where you had to cook your own food.
05:51Man, how things have changed.
05:55In 2025, the number one restaurant in the U.S. according to the world's 50 best was Korean.
06:03Atomix in New York.
06:06Over the past five years, the number of Korean-owned food outlets overseas grew by 25%.
06:12With more now in the U.S. than any other country.
06:15No surprise for the nearly 10 million residents of Seoul.
06:19We're in a neighborhood called Uchiro.
06:23And what's pretty special about this neighborhood is that, you know, you think that when you're in Korea
06:28that the only thing you'll find is K-BBQ or, you know, noodle shops.
06:34We've got some pork places, we've got some seafood places.
06:38It's all condensed into this little neighborhood.
06:45None of this was here at the end of the Korean War.
06:47In 1953, Seoul was mostly in ruins.
06:52Food was scarce.
06:54Now, Korean is a global cuisine.
06:58How is that possible?
07:00How does a country go from poverty to global K-food craze in just two generations?
07:18Hello.
07:19Hello.
07:20I'm Daniel.
07:21Nice to meet you.
07:22Hello.
07:22I've heard so many things about you.
07:24Good things.
07:25Yes.
07:25Your reputation is very well-regarded around Korea.
07:28Ellie Lee is a food stylist for Korean films and TV.
07:35An extreme job, it was Ellie who trained the actors to make all that fried chicken on camera.
07:42Today, we're making a dish Ellie prepared for the production of Squid Game.
07:47Japchae.
07:48Japchae.
07:49Jap means salted, and chae means vegetables.
07:53So, Japchae, those two letters together is salted vegetables.
07:57So, back in the day, in Joseon Dynasty, we didn't have the noodle when we used to serve this one
08:03to the royal family, to the king before.
08:05So, it was only just different vegetables with meat.
08:08We do all the choppings.
08:13Just like that.
08:14Just like that.
08:15Just like this.
08:19Oh, yeah. This will never cook.
08:20I have to eat this one.
08:22You should.
08:24Try to cut as thin as possible.
08:27I've already failed.
08:29This is a little bit more advanced level.
08:32No. Well, good, because I think I'm ready for the advanced level now.
08:35Good.
08:36I've mastered the basics.
08:42So, since you started cooking, you've seen a big change in the way that Korean food is considered and regarded
08:50around the world.
08:51Absolutely.
08:52I started, like, this cooking classes since 2002.
08:56Around those times, you know, people don't really know where Korea is located.
08:59Mm-hmm.
09:01But then, like, Dejanggem, one of the drama, was so, it's, like, so popular.
09:07That's Jewel in the Palace, a 2003 Korean hit that aired in 91 countries and featured one of my favorite
09:14Korean actresses of all time, Lee Young-ae.
09:17We started having, like, many Japanese and Chinese around those times.
09:22Soon after, K-pop took off.
09:25And then the Gangnam style.
09:27People from around the world, they start coming to Korea.
09:30And then BTS.
09:32You're saying that drama, music, all influenced the way people felt about Korean culture in general, and then also the
09:40food.
09:41Because, you know, when you watch K-dramas and films, you know, there are always eating scenes.
09:54South Korea's leadership saw that connection, too.
09:58I think it started just about 10, 15 years back, and then the government tried to, like, promote Korean food
10:06all around the world.
10:07K-food party, K-food party, come on, everybody, make the smart choice.
10:14In 2011, the government funded this Wonder Girl song. Subtle, huh?
10:19It was part of a $76 million campaign between 2009 and 2012, designed to make the world fall in love
10:27with Korean food.
10:29Okay? Mm-hmm.
10:32How has the government played a role in this?
10:33The government, they are very supportive to the restaurants here in Korea.
10:38We have the government support for the young chefs, you know, like, also some free teaching, like, free lessons for
10:45restaurants.
10:46And then they can have some skills as well.
10:48You're done.
10:50The government also encouraged Koreans overseas to open new restaurants, and offered specialized training.
10:59So what foods did you notice when Korean food started becoming more popular?
11:03At the first place, people were very interested in knowing much more about the kimchi, and then the side dishes.
11:12Side dishes, the banchan.
11:13Because, like, our dining culture is usually with rice, soup, and with different side dishes.
11:22Banchan dishes are shared and generally free at every Korean restaurant.
11:25These small, mostly vegetarian side dishes vary by region.
11:30The tradition dates back more than 1,000 years, when Korea's official religion was Buddhism, which discouraged eating meat.
11:38Mixed with our hands?
11:40Mixed with our hands.
11:41Ah, it is my very first 잡채.
11:44All done.
11:45Look at that.
11:46Yes.
11:46Thank you very much.
11:51I think that's pretty good.
11:53Yeah?
11:53Was it good?
11:54Mm-hmm.
11:55It is so, wow.
11:56Good.
12:06Hi, everybody.
12:07Nice.
12:07You can have the most of these things?
12:10Thefortable ones are really good.
12:12What is that?
12:13It's, isn't it?
12:14It's a whole chicken.
12:15It's a chicken.
12:16Okay.
12:17There we go.
12:17Thank you very much.隆
12:20music is so good. Come take
12:26It's so good.
12:29This is a nice market because it's not as touristy as some of the other markets.
12:34A lot of neighborhood people come here and actually get their full supplies from here.
12:42Coming from Busan, like, these kinds of foods were on my table all the time.
12:45Spiced squid, and it's raw.
12:50This is one of my favorite things. This is little crabs.
12:55That's also excellent.
12:57I love all these foods.
13:03Ah, look at this.
13:09This is one of Korea's most famous street foods.
13:12This is spicy rice cake. It's called 떡볶이.
13:153,000원이에요.
13:18Oh, thank you.
13:25This reminds me of being a teenager.
13:28The first time I came back to Korea on my own.
13:32I was 17 years old.
13:34I didn't have a lot of money.
13:35And we used to go to street stalls all the time to get our lunches.
13:40And I had a lot of this dish right here.
13:44Both during the day and at night.
13:47Every bite here takes me back.
13:54This is so delicious.
13:56And this is...
13:57And this is...
13:58And this is...
14:15Some juice with some sugar.
14:17Now this one...
14:18The fun part about this is the powder on the top.
14:23And...
14:26And the thing you gotta be careful about when you eat these...
14:29Is how much powder you get on your face when you do.
14:33So I'm sure I need a mirror.
14:35But it is fantastic.
14:45So you haven't been here before?
14:46Never.
14:48I'm excited to try a place that you like so much.
14:52I'm with Corey Lee.
14:54I think this is really a food that...
14:57It's hard to find outside of Korea.
15:03Corey's the first Korean chef to achieve the most prestigious award in the culinary arts.
15:08Three Michelin stars.
15:10Cheers, man.
15:12We're at his favorite mom-and-pop style restaurant.
15:15Jinmi Shikdang.
15:16It's famous here for its ganjang gejang.
15:20Or...
15:20Soy marinated crab.
15:22It's raw...
15:24Salty...
15:25Intensely savory...
15:26And one of my all-time favorites.
15:29How's it?
15:30Yeah, that's really good.
15:34First time I ever saw someone crunch into a raw crab.
15:38It was my dad.
15:39And I thought...
15:40Damn, man.
15:40That's savage.
15:45You know, he said, like, when you eat crab, when you eat lobster, any kind of shellfish...
15:49So good.
15:50He said, nothing should go to waste.
15:52Everything is edible.
15:56Here comes with soup and...
15:59Guéran jjim.
16:00Whisked eggs steamed in broth.
16:03So it kind of souffles a little bit.
16:04So it's like a savory souffle.
16:06The table setting in a current restaurant is part of the experience.
16:09There's just an array of banchan that you're sharing.
16:11Almost more than you can eat.
16:13That's like truly family style.
16:18You're not eating.
16:19I think I'm eating all the crabs.
16:22I'm eating.
16:24Like me, Cory was born in Korea.
16:27Also like me, his parents moved him to the U.S. at an early age.
16:31My mom, there were never those parents who made me go to after school classes or scrutinize my grades or
16:40anything like that.
16:41Oh, really?
16:41They really weren't.
16:41They were very, very hands off.
16:43You and I had some different upbringings.
16:48Cory's mom, though, did not want him to be a chef.
16:53My father was a pretty progressive person, especially for a Korean man of his generation.
16:58But my mom's fairly traditional.
17:01And she really opposed to constantly, you know, saying comments here and there about how I should look into someone
17:06else or go to college finally and pursue a real profession.
17:10Right, exactly.
17:11I'm sure you got the same thing.
17:12I did.
17:14Most South Koreans see university as the best path for upward social mobility.
17:19The country even grounds all their flights for 30 minutes during the annual college entrance exam so high schoolers can
17:26concentrate.
17:29Cory skipped college and moved to the U.K. to train in top restaurants.
17:33When I was in London, I think this was one of the reasons why I knew quitting was not an
17:38option for me.
17:39Or going back to my parents and saying, oh, maybe I should go back to school or something.
17:43They would have been happy.
17:44Well, I mean, yeah, but you know what happened in the late 90s here?
17:47IMF.
17:48Oh, gotcha.
17:49South Korea hit the hardest, down more than 19%.
17:52South Korea's financial troubles.
17:55IMF, as in International Monetary Fund.
17:58Essential to overcome a difficult period.
18:02Which is how Koreans refer to the $58 billion bailout the country received in 1997.
18:08following the Asian financial crisis.
18:14Many of Korea's biggest companies went under.
18:17And almost 1.5 million people lost their jobs in just five months.
18:23But it's also when the country realized that cultural exports like food could diversify its economy.
18:29My father ended up retiring earlier than he expected.
18:32It really changed our family's life.
18:35Especially my parents.
18:36But actually, I think that increased my father's support of what I wanted to do.
18:41You know, he said he did all the things he thought he should do.
18:44Go to a university.
18:45Go for a company.
18:46Dedicate your career to this company for decades.
18:48And then suddenly, you know, you're forced to retire.
18:51So you should, you know, pursue your dreams.
18:53And he felt, I think, quite strong about that.
18:56Corey eventually made his way to the highly acclaimed French Laundry in California.
19:01Which is when his mom finally came around.
19:05A newspaper, Chosen Able.
19:07They heard that the head chef of the French Laundry that just got three stars is actually a Korean American.
19:12Chosen Able is, you know, one of the prominent papers.
19:14It's a big deal.
19:15My mother read that article.
19:18And she thought, okay, I guess this is like a real profession.
19:23I think she needed some kind of validation in her terms.
19:27Right.
19:27Because you could be in the New York Times, you could be in Time Magazine.
19:31It doesn't matter as much as it would be like a Korean newspaper.
19:35No, I think that's right.
19:37In 2014, Corey opened the three Michelin-starred Banu.
19:41A contemporary Asian-inspired restaurant in San Francisco.
19:46In 2021, he added San Hoon.
19:50A Korean barbecue restaurant there.
19:53And in 2024, Nao in Singapore.
19:59What do you want for the future for your restaurants and for your cooking?
20:03I'm really interested in taking what I've learned over decades and being able to reach more people.
20:10I've been in the fine dining world for so long.
20:13And really, you're cooking for such a small audience.
20:17We opened a restaurant in Singapore called Nao and I think that we get families come in and kids come
20:22in and people who might not be able to go into a fine dining restaurant.
20:26Experience something that has been prepared with as much intention, as much care as a fine dining restaurant, but in
20:33a much more accessible and affordable way.
20:35For me, that's super exciting.
20:36I mean, seeing kids enjoy your food, it makes them happy, they get excited about it. That's, you know, that's
20:41pretty special too.
20:42That's right. I'll drink to that.
20:44Let's drink to affordable, approachable family dining.
20:48Cheers.
21:02Let's just say, hypothetically speaking, you've got a big night of drinking ahead of you.
21:09Here, there's a solution for a hangover before you get one.
21:14This place is typical Korea.
21:17Quick, clean, ingenious.
21:20GS 25.
21:2225 as in, this place is open 25 hours a day.
21:26It is really good.
21:28So they say.
21:31This is roasted sweet potato.
21:33They have this as a snack here, along with hard boiled eggs.
21:36Who doesn't like a good hard boiled egg?
21:38And I like the fact that they have, like, an entire aisle dedicated to noodles and ramen.
21:44So what you do is you take one of these, you bring it over here.
21:48Grab one of these.
21:52Literally, it's just that simple.
21:55And there you have your iced coffee.
21:57And multiple varieties of Korea's famous hangover cures.
22:04So, Koreans are super into hangover prevention and hangover cures, because there's a lot of drinking that goes on in
22:11this country.
22:12And so, what people will do is take one of these pouches before they drink or the next day.
22:21And it's supposed to get rid of your hangover.
22:23Now, a lot of my friends swear by these.
22:26I've actually tried them a couple of times. Mixed results.
22:44Something tells her.
22:46I'm with Corey Lee and another chef who trained under him, Minggu Kang.
22:50I'm going to give you my coffee and our food.
22:55Traditional Korean rice wine.
22:58Slightly sparkling and milky white. Sometimes red.
23:02Makkali was once a rustic home brew for farmers.
23:05Today, it's trending. And craft makers are all in.
23:11Oh, really?
23:28A word of warning for those who've never been to Seoul.
23:31The scene here can get a little wild.
23:34Cheers.
23:36Shaky shaky
23:36Part ritual, part social lubricant
23:39Korea's drinking culture, I can honestly say, is unlike any other I've experienced on Earth
23:45For starters
23:46Who's the oldest, who's the youngest?
23:48There are rules
23:49I'm sure I'm the oldest
23:51I'm the oldest, I'm sure
23:52One, respect your elders
23:56When the youngest person pours, he pours with two hands
24:05To everyone as a show of respect
24:07Two, respect your boss
24:10And then it gets more complicated if you're in a work situation, right?
24:15Because you have to know the job titles of everybody
24:17Chan, kambay
24:19Kambay
24:21Or...
24:23Wow
24:23Like yogurt
24:25It's like yogurt
24:26And three, come prepared to drink
24:34Now it's a party
24:35Now it's a party
24:36A lot
24:40Hi
24:41Corey's friend joins us, Lucy Cho
24:43We're talking about drinking etiquette, right?
24:46Oh, okay
24:46And who pours for whom
24:48Oh
24:48You know, so we've determined that Chef Mingu is the youngest, so he's been pouring
24:53So he didn't teach you that it's a lady first in Korea
24:56Well, I'll say that
24:58Thank you for breaking up this boys club
24:59Cheers
25:00Cheers
25:05The other thing you should know
25:07Okay
25:07Wow, this looks good
25:09Food and alcohol go together in Korea
25:12Even if you're full
25:14Drinks come with anju
25:16Or snacks
25:17What is this? This is so good
25:18Is this sangtae?
25:19Like dry polak
25:20Dry cod
25:21Yeah
25:22Lucy's an entrepreneur who wears many hats
25:24Owner of a popular Korean soju brand
25:27As well as an award-winning fine dining restaurant in Seoul
25:31People have a huge respect for our heritage
25:35But when it comes to globalizing it
25:38We're still figuring it out
25:40Beyond music and beyond fashion, beyond beauty
25:43How do we actually not just make this popular, make this something
25:49How do we create a global culture for longevity?
25:53That's really interesting
25:54I don't know
25:54It's time
25:56It really takes time
25:57Like when I was a kid
25:58It was not cool to be Korean
26:01You know, in America
26:02You know, people would ask me
26:04Are you Japanese?
26:05I would say no
26:06Are you Chinese?
26:07I would say no
26:07And people would say
26:08Then what are you?
26:10Because they'd never heard of Korea before
26:12We've come such a long way since then
26:16Alcohol in Korea isn't just a pastime
26:18It's part of the culture
26:20In both good ways and bad
26:23The unwritten rules of 회식
26:25Or after work drink sessions
26:27Can mean long, alcohol-fueled nights
26:29That are mandatory for some employees in corporate life
26:35Though many say this tradition is fading
26:37Alcohol is still a big part of society
26:39Where Confucian principles often dictate social norms
26:42And competition is fierce
26:47But for me tonight
26:48It's just a chance to bond with some new friends
27:07I think it's looking up to people who existed before
27:10And made a lot of changes in Korean history
27:13So I know that I'm not the first and I will not be the last
27:17Cooking
27:18Cooking
27:18It's something that you pass on
27:20We inherited all the technique, the knowledge, the know-how
27:24And we try to do our best to add our own sensibilities
27:29And maybe affect it in a positive way somehow
27:31And then we leave it to the next generation
27:46This is your spot
27:47Alright
27:50We're at Eunjujong
27:52A popular mother and daughter run restaurant in Uljiru
27:58We should order
27:59We should order
27:59Ah
27:59Yeah
28:01The bell
28:02I love that
28:03I mean, it's so perfect, right?
28:05This is one of the greatest inventions
28:06I feel like everywhere should have one of these
28:09Yeah, yeah, yeah
28:09You know?
28:10Hello
28:10Do you like 삼겹살?
28:14Sure
28:14Do you like 삼겹살?
28:16Yes
28:20Eunjujong is famous for one dish
28:21Kimchi jjigae, or kimchi stew
28:24Which dates back to Korea's Joseon era
28:27The country's last imperial dynasty
28:31The kingdom ended when Japan colonized the Korean peninsula in 1910
28:36For the next half century, Korea's agrarian economy sputtered
28:41Enduring occupation, World War II
28:43And in 1950, another war with North Korea
28:48Through it all though, this hearty stew remained popular
28:52It's a resourceful way to turn very ripe, sour kimchi into a quick and filling meal
28:59Whenever I think of this soup, I think about Korean history
29:01And the relationship between food, its food and history, right?
29:07It was a poor country for a long time
29:08You know, you look at any great food culture
29:12So many good dishes have been born out of necessity
29:14And I think Korean cuisine is just part of them
29:18And that's what makes it so charming
29:19And that's what makes it so soulful
29:21We still have this core of rustic flavors
29:24That's really at the heart of Korean cuisine
29:26And kimchi jjigae is a really great example of that
29:30Our stew comes with thick slices of 삼겹살
29:33You might know it as pork belly
29:36And plenty of banchan
29:40How is it?
29:42It's good
29:43The kimchi gets this balance of the fat from meat
29:45Mm-hmm
29:46The seasoning of the kimchi with seafood
29:49And the acidity from the fermentation
29:51I think you gotta get that balance right
29:53And that's why it's so tasty
29:56Was there some food trend that you've seen with Korean food that surprised you?
30:00I'll tell you what, Kogi truck, Roy's Kogi truck, that was revolutionary
30:03The latest L.A. must have that has people scrambling to find and waiting hours to buy
30:09He's talking about Roy Choi
30:11Who launched a Korean-American barbecue taco truck in Los Angeles in 2008
30:16A fusion of flavors Choi saw firsthand in L.A.'s Koreatown
30:20Including Mexican and Central American food
30:23What is our kimchi quesadilla?
30:25I think that what he did and how it just took off
30:27And Korean food to people in such a different way
30:30The medium for Korean food was groundbreaking
30:33When you started at places like French Laundry
30:36Was there an awareness of Korean cuisine?
30:39No
30:39Well, yes, but not in the fine dining sense
30:43Right
30:43Like, now, you could argue that there's Korean infusion in so many of the top restaurants of the world
30:50It's been amazing to see
30:54And I can't think of a fine dining Korean restaurant when I first started in the industry
31:00A fine dining Korean restaurant abroad, you know, outside of Korea
31:04Can you?
31:05No, no, not when I was a kid
31:08Korean food was only for Koreans, you know?
31:14Corey's Bennu was among the first to change that
31:18What's something that you were surprised was a huge hit?
31:22Actually, serving kimchi
31:23I think this was probably about a year after we had no food
31:26We made this kimchi kind of cup with an oyster on top
31:30And it was one bite
31:31If he asked me maybe ten years ago when I was in the training period of my career
31:36I would never think that I'd be serving kimchi in a fine dining restaurant
31:39What do you think made it jump to people outside of Korea?
31:44I think that the palate has changed just generationally
31:50And people see food as something different than they did before
31:55It's not just sustenance, it's an experience
31:58You want to try something different
32:02That's a massive change for a humble side dish in a once impoverished nation of over 51 million people
32:08Where some still say hello by asking, have you eaten yet?
32:14I think so much of what makes Korean cuisine unique
32:17Is that it's a small peninsula with extreme weather
32:22Food was not readily available all the time
32:25And they found different ways to survive
32:27And over years, it went from survival to making food that was actually delicious
32:33Food & Family
32:34Food & Family
32:35Food & Family
32:35Food & Family
32:36Food & Family
32:38Food & Family
32:41Food & Family
32:49Food & Family
32:56How are you?
32:57Good afternoon
32:57Good
32:58It's been a pleasure
33:01I'm so proud of you to be here.
33:02I'm so proud of you.
33:03Are you good?
33:06It's so beautiful here.
33:10I'm in the mountains three hours east of Seoul to meet Chef Cho Hee-soo, known as the godmother of
33:17Korean cooking.
33:21Chef Cho has been a mainstay on the fine dining scene in Korea for over four decades, even before there
33:26was a scene.
33:30She tells me that the secret to this country's big, bold flavors lies here, inside these earthenware jars.
33:39Jang.
33:40Wow.
33:42Fermented pastes and sauces that are the foundation of flavor in Korean cooking.
33:47Wow.
33:48Kind of like butter in France.
33:50What is Jang for Koreans?
33:53Jang, kongi.
34:05So it's the center of Korean food.
34:07There's no way to have Korean food without Jang.
34:10Yeah.
34:13Soybeans, water, and salt.
34:16Left in these pots, or ongi, in the cool air of this mountainside retreat for months, even years, to ferment.
34:25A simple recipe that dates back at least 1700 years, so Koreans could store enough food to last the harsh
34:32winters.
34:34Shall we try this one?
34:35Yeah.
34:36Okay.
34:37Goal.
34:38There's kanjang, Korean soy sauce.
34:42I didn't expect that at all.
34:44Usually when I have soy sauce, it's a very specific kind of saltiness, but this.
35:03And gochujang.
35:04A so-called mother sauce that's the key seasoning for many Korean dishes.
35:09I'm officially scared.
35:11I'm officially scared.
35:11Do you eat normally?
35:12I don't.
35:13I don't.
35:14I'm not a cook, so please be easy.
35:18Made with rice wine, malt, and soy bean powder.
35:21I'm going to get a bit of pain.
35:23Okay.
35:23And of course, Korean chili.
35:25Oh!
35:26Oh!
35:26Oh!
35:29That gives it a real kick.
35:33It's got my nose running now.
35:35It's like I'm peeling onions.
35:37How are you doing?
35:43There's no fermented taste to it, right?
35:47Not fermented.
35:48Yeah, so it's spicy and a little bit earthy, a little bit rice.
35:53I taste a little rice.
35:57I don't taste any of the alcohol, though.
35:59We need more alcohol.
36:00Yeah.
36:05You started at a time in Korea, where there were no female chefs.
36:11When I started, it was a woman chef, but it was not a cooking business.
36:21It was a very important job.
36:25It wasn't a cooking business.
36:26It wasn't a cooking business.
36:28It wasn't a cooking business.
36:38Yeah.
36:38Yeah.
36:38That was a cooking business.
36:41In Korea, traditionally women cooked at home.
36:44Restaurants were run mostly by men.
36:48Beyond the kitchen, Korea's workforce today is still largely male dominated.
36:53The country has one of the highest gender pay gaps of all the world's high-income economies.
36:59I'm sure it was difficult when you started.
37:01But even as you were trying to build your career as a female chef,
37:06you must have faced challenges at every step.
37:09Did you ever want to give up?
37:11I understand.
37:18So what made you want to do it?
37:20You knew how difficult it was, but still you wanted to do it.
37:24My life can be able to live well and live well.
37:29I can keep it well.
37:33I've been able to keep it well.
37:35I can't believe that the future will come.
37:40I can't believe that the future will come.
37:42I can't believe that I can't believe.
37:45I can't believe that the future will come and die.
37:48I can't believe that the future will come.
37:50It's a great change.
37:52Our food is so important and valuable.
37:56It's clear that we don't know what we can't get.
37:58It's a bad feeling.
38:03It's a bad feeling.
38:2820 years ago, Korean fine dining wasn't a thing. Anywhere. Now there's places like Mingol's.
38:36Welcome to Mingol's. Where it takes months to book a table. It's very romantic. It is.
38:43Run by my new friend, Chef Mingoo Kang, who trained under Corey at Bennu briefly.
38:50Good to see you again. We're lucky enough to have the place to ourselves. With a tasting menu that Mingoo
38:56says tells the story of a country rapidly changing.
38:59This looks delicious. Like bite-sized, locally sourced flounder topped with caviar. I love that texture. Damn, that's good.
39:09Thinly sliced hanu beef on persimmon. Hanu is Korea's premium beef.
39:15Whoa, that's like a burst of flavor.
39:18Steamed cabbage son. Lightly cooked clam and sliced pear with that fiery mother sauce gochujang.
39:27That's so light and refreshing. And the clam is so soft.
39:31This is the kind of dish that I think, like, fine dining is about. It's delicious and satisfying. Just on
39:37the most basic level, right?
39:38But it really does feel like an original flavor.
39:43The growth of this kind of cuisine is one of the most dramatic changes I've seen here.
39:48Overseas, too.
39:51In 2010, there were no Korean restaurants with Michelin stars.
39:55By 2025, there were 31.
39:58Firmly establishing Korean as one of the world's great cuisines,
40:02alongside French, Japanese, or Italian.
40:06I think that there were many changes in the past 20 years.
40:11And as Chef Corey, the people who were first displayed as a priest,
40:16and opened the door,
40:17the people who were open to the door,
40:18the Korean food and Korean chefs,
40:21the Korean food culture,
40:22the Korean food culture,
40:22the Korean food culture,
40:24I think that Min-Goo was very humble about this.
40:29And I saw Min-Goo bring some of that culture from what he experienced abroad
40:35and bring it back to Korea.
40:36He started inviting chefs from abroad
40:38so they could experience Korean food and Korean culture
40:40and learn from them,
40:41expose Korean diners to foreign food.
40:44That was something that wasn't happening before.
40:46I just saw how he was trying to create
40:49and cultivate this restaurant culture and industry
40:51in a way that has been really positive, I think.
40:54And I think everyone's benefited from that.
40:56Thank you so much for a beautiful meal.
40:58I only have one criticism.
41:00I need more.
41:02It's not.
41:04Okay.
41:05Thank you very much.
41:31Bye, Mom and Dad.
41:31Hi.
41:36This is regular jajangmyeon, not ganjajang, right?
41:39Yeah, regular.
41:39You made it all the time for us.
41:42Perhaps no one appreciates the incredible transformation taking place like my parents' generation.
41:52That's what they say.
41:53You show your host that you really enjoy it by slurping.
41:59When I was younger, you used to make me eat every grain of rice in my bowl.
42:06You used to say something to me in Korean about if you leave over rice, you'll lose all your luck.
42:16My dad was born in Busan in 1940.
42:19Mom in 1942.
42:21They lived through war, dictatorship.
42:24And like many Koreans, my dad, a doctor, hoped to find better opportunities overseas.
42:30That must be Blenheim.
42:34This is when we first immigrated, right?
42:37We moved to the U.S. when I was a little under a year old.
42:41This was our apartment.
42:43Ah.
42:44And the stairs went down there.
42:46Daddy, you have thick hair.
42:48Dad has hair then?
42:51This cupboard, I made it with drapery.
42:56Wasn't always easy being an immigrant in the 1970s in rural Pennsylvania.
43:02You couldn't afford to buy anything, so you bought drapery fabric and sewed them yourself.
43:07Yeah.
43:08This television.
43:09I remember this television.
43:10We bought $600.
43:12Uh-huh.
43:13And we paid for 12 months.
43:16We should have television first because we want to learn English.
43:23This was one of the first pictures I think we have.
43:26I know.
43:26It's so cute.
43:28How old was I at this time?
43:30One, five?
43:31Five, right?
43:32No five-year-old is going to say, I want to pose like this.
43:35Obviously, there was a photographer who told me to do that.
43:39You remember so well, huh?
43:42Yeah, I remember a lot about childhood.
43:43Hmm.
43:53It's almost impossible to pinpoint that one moment that started this global K-food craze.
44:08Maybe it was the 1988 Olympic Games that put South Korea on the map.
44:15Or the World Cup.
44:19Music only made that awareness surge.
44:22The government played a hand too, promoting K-food to increase tourism.
44:28But if you ask me, it comes down to the people.
44:33Generations of chefs, cooks, families, saving recipes, even through times of hardship.
44:40And more recently, talented artists who defied expectation.
44:44You are an artist.
44:46Who didn't listen when society said no.
44:48All right.
44:50Whatever the setting.
44:53Most Koreans will tell you that food is about sharing moments like this.
44:58Which is really sweet.
45:00Yeah.
45:01But with pork at plate.
45:03An emotional anchor for families.
45:07So crisp.
45:09A way of saying, I love you, without a single word spoken.
45:18Every bite, a reminder of resilience.
45:28Of comfort.
45:30So good.
45:32So good.
45:34And the enduring sense of home, wherever you are.
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