- 7 minutes ago
Our Ocean Table - Season 1 Episode 3
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TVTranscript
00:07This is our food table.
00:09Seafood is the foundation of so many of our favorite dishes.
00:14And we love eating.
00:17Oh my gosh!
00:18Fortress.
00:19Oh my God!
00:20I'm Sonia.
00:21I'm a filmmaker and ocean nerd.
00:24I live on Vancouver Island and my favorite place is underwater.
00:29I'm Hannah.
00:30I'm a journalist and producer in Toronto and I was a reporter on MuchMusic in the 2000s.
00:37Have you ever had anything fly from the ocean like this before?
00:40Oh, they're from material.
00:43Koreans around the world are tied to the ocean through food.
00:48But overfishing and climate change threaten our oceans.
00:51What does it mean for our culture if our favorite foods disappear?
00:55Together, we're traveling across Western Canada to meet the harvesters and chefs behind some
01:01of the most iconic Korean dishes.
01:04Dive in as we learn more about the science, sustainability and culture behind our favorite foods.
01:10Welcome to our ocean table.
01:19When I think of Korean food, I think seafood, bubbling soups and stews with shrimp and seaweed and oysters.
01:27Many Koreans use oysters in savory pancakes and soups and also eat them raw.
01:34I've eaten a lot of oysters in Korea.
01:36They're as Korean as...
01:38Fried chicken?
01:39Cheers!
01:40Cheers!
01:41Okay, I guess when I think about Korean food, I also think chicken.
01:46But if fried chicken is Korean food the same way oysters are Korean food, what is Korean?
01:53Koreans love fried chicken.
01:55But is it Korean food?
01:57What is considered Korean food?
01:59What is authentic?
02:01What is traditional?
02:02And not only for food, but also am I Korean?
02:06Am I Canadian?
02:07I don't feel Korean enough, but I'm also like...
02:10So I was born in Korea.
02:12My family immigrated to Canada when I was six.
02:15The only way I knew how to survive was really downplay my Korean-ness.
02:21All I wanted to do was fit in.
02:24I was born in Canada, in Toronto.
02:27I was able to integrate into Canadian society in a way that my mom really wanted for me to do.
02:35I think there's a classic story about Asian kids not wanting to take their food to school
02:40because people would say their lunch is stinky.
02:42My mother did not want me to take some food to school that would be deemed stinky.
02:48My mom also stopped putting garlic in our kimchi.
02:52She did not want us to go to school with garlic breath.
02:55I think that adapting your foods is about survival.
03:00Moving to Canada means adapting Korean food to Western palates.
03:04But also, adapting Western food to Korean palates.
03:09Korean fried chicken is my favorite example of this.
03:12And oysters are an example too.
03:14When my mom immigrated from Korea, she would use local oysters to make our dishes taste more like home.
03:21Oysters are a shellfish that start their lives as tiny swimming creatures.
03:26Then they settle on the ocean floor where they filter water for food and live for the rest of their
03:32lives.
03:33Aquaculture in BC gets a bad reputation from open net salmon farming that has impacted our wild salmon stocks.
03:41But can oyster farms change the narrative of aquaculture on the west coast?
03:46Have you ever been on an oyster farm?
03:48I don't know what that means, an oyster farm. I just know that I like to eat them.
03:52I'm excited to find out. Let's go to the island.
03:56I am an Ontario gal, but I spend a lot of time on the west coast because it's where my
04:00husband's family is.
04:02I'm actually very familiar with Fanny Bay oysters as oysters that I eat, but that was all I knew about
04:08them.
04:14If you want to lead the way.
04:16All right.
04:18This is just a little access path to one of our farms.
04:21I like your commute.
04:23It's very west coast.
04:26So what you're looking at is a freshly laid bed of oyster seed.
04:33So what we think is a beach is actually a farm field.
04:38We treat it like a farm field, absolutely.
04:42What kind of oysters are these?
04:44That's a Pacific oyster, Chrysostria gigus.
04:47How long did it take for it to get to this size?
04:49That's about a one-year-old oyster at this point.
04:54How old does it have to be by the time you harvest it?
04:57That's going to be another nine months from now.
04:59I'll let this one grow.
05:00Have fun, grow nice and pretty.
05:03Can we see an oyster ready for market?
05:05Sure, we can take a look at some.
05:07And how many of your oysters are on this beach?
05:11On the three tenures and ships point, it's well over 100,000 dust.
05:15I can't do that math.
05:171.2 million.
05:18Wow!
05:191.2 million oysters here.
05:22Five dollars a dozen.
05:23Still can't do that math.
05:26So you were wondering about market-sized oysters,
05:28so that patch of seed in six to nine months is going to look something like those.
05:33Hmm.
05:33Whoa.
05:34Wait, this gets to be this in only nine months?
05:39Wow.
05:40This is considered aquaculture?
05:42Yes.
05:43Aquaculture on this coast gets a bad reputation, and I feel like not all aquaculture is made the same.
05:48I'd have to agree with you with that.
05:51There are big differences between, say, salmon pens and broadcast oysters on the beach.
05:56There's not a lot of detritus coming out of this. There's few inputs. There's no antibiotics.
06:01We do do a fairly intensive monoculture, somewhat contained, and we're using beaches that are underutilized by other species.
06:12Winter storms will move them around. We'll pick them up, get them back to where we want them.
06:16And other than that, you're collecting the essence of the ocean.
06:19You're really kind of eating the ocean when you're eating an oyster.
06:22The ocean's health truly is about our health, and our health is about the ocean's health too.
06:27The oyster is such a perfect microcosmic item, food, animal, to let us know that.
06:33So the species of oysters is not actually native to this coast?
06:37That's correct.
06:38One might think that it's a problem to have a, you know, introduced species all along a beach.
06:43Can you tell me if there is an impact?
06:46My understanding of the potential impacts of Pacific oysters in B.C. are minimal.
06:51They were introduced to B.C. waters from Japan in the 1920s and 30s, and they spawn naturally in B
07:00.C. waters now.
07:01The Pacific oyster is the largest percentage of cultured oysters in the world.
07:08Would you say that this location is one of the locations where it's been bred the longest?
07:12Places like Korea and Japan, they've been culturing oysters for centuries now.
07:18Our people.
07:19Our people.
07:20That's why we think it's so delicious.
07:22And yet we're learning from you.
07:24I love it.
07:24I think it's pretty incredible to learn that these oysters originally came from my people.
07:29They're immigrant oysters.
07:30I love that.
07:32Can we taste one right off the beach?
07:35We'll pick an easy one here for you.
07:37Okay.
07:39Oh, I messed up.
07:41Slice it.
07:42Yep.
07:43Ta-da.
07:44You got it.
07:45Would you hire me?
07:45Pretty good.
07:47Pretty good.
07:55Briny.
07:58That's delicious.
07:59Thank you, oyster.
08:02How do you feel about us stepping on your oysters?
08:06Once they get to this size, they're fairly robust.
08:10They can take a little bit of foot traffic.
08:11They are surprisingly resilient animals.
08:15There's something comforting to learn that the oysters my mom used to make our meals feel more Korean
08:20are the same species we ate in Korea.
08:23These oysters also had to adapt and survive from the other side of the Pacific.
08:29With the resilient outer shell and an oceany inside,
08:33these oysters are a perfect metaphor for the immigrant experience.
08:41The more I look to the ocean, the more I learn what it means to be Korean.
08:49When I first immigrated, you know, like...
08:53Get it! Get it!
08:56It's such a juicy mosquito!
08:59Oh, you got it!
09:03Growing up with my Korean family friends, I was always told like,
09:06why are you studying marine biology?
09:09It's not a very Korean thing to do.
09:11When did you first learn about the hainyo?
09:13Hanyo are ocean harvesting women, primarily on Jeju Island.
09:17These women are free divers who can hold their breath for many minutes to harvest for seafood
09:22like abalone, sea snails, octopus, and other shellfish.
09:26This harvesting tradition is decreasing in Korea because most of the hainyo are seniors,
09:32but all of them are badass Korean women.
09:35It was so exciting to learn that there are other Korean women free diving in the ocean.
09:40What they do is so connected to the earth and an ancient way of doing things that is just
09:48naturally sustainable because it doesn't come from a capitalist industrial way of feeding ourselves.
09:55They just have this extreme, like, confident ajumma energy.
10:01That's what I want.
10:02I want confident ocean ajumma energy.
10:04Oh my gosh, yeah.
10:05That's all I want.
10:08We're back in Vancouver to try our local oysters at a Korean restaurant.
10:15At Jinni, Chef Jay is balancing tradition and adaptation with a menu that mixes imported
10:21Korean seafood with some that is Canadian harvested locally.
10:25I've always been good for the food and cooking.
10:28I'm very famous for the food and seafood.
10:31It's very tasty.
10:32It's great because I've been putting food and cooking in that area.
10:37I thought I was going to be doing fusion.
10:40What do you think of Freiheit's shape?
11:00¡Gracias!
11:22¡Gracias!
11:23¡Gracias!
11:23Ok, I want this whole row.
11:26We just get another whole row.
11:28It's very interesting to take on traditional Korean flavors.
11:31Like the idea of a Korean pesto on top?
11:35It's very cool.
11:47A fusion dish like this is a way for Chef Jay to introduce Korean seafood flavors to Canadian palates using
11:54Canadian ingredients.
11:57But the real star of this restaurant is a Korean dish I've never tried before.
12:03which is a raw crab marinated for 48 hours in a house-made soy sauce.
12:09This wasn't a part of my own family's food growing up.
12:12So the first time I ever saw it was when Sonia sent it to me on social media.
12:18We've come a long way from when my mom had to make our food publicly acceptable.
12:25Now, restaurants like Jinmi can serve food that is Korean, unapologetically.
12:32So when I lived in Korea, my very vivid memories is just like eating seafood and one of them is
12:37this.
12:38My grandma used to make this at home.
12:40This version and like a spicy sauce version.
12:43I haven't had it since I was six.
13:06You do the Instagram squeeze thing.
13:08Yeah.
13:10I'm nervous.
13:12Okay.
13:12Okay.
13:13Yeah.
13:14All right.
13:14Are you ready?
13:15Yes.
13:16Cheers.
13:17Cheers.
13:32Oh my god.
13:34Wow.
13:35What do you think?
13:36It tastes like the ocean.
13:37It tastes like my childhood.
13:38Mmm.
13:40It's so sweet.
13:42It's so sweet.
13:42Mmm.
13:43There's a lot of flavors happening over time in my mouth.
13:46If it weren't for you, I would never have heard of this dish.
13:48Mmm.
13:50Mmm.
13:51Very good.
13:52I approve.
13:53Yay.
13:54What does the chef think of Korean food?
13:58The traditional food from Korean food is the food that we've been given from our ancestors.
14:04They don't have to disappear in the middle of the middle.
14:07They're not a lot of Korean culture.
14:10They don't have to leave.
14:14They don't have to leave.
14:18They don't have to leave.
14:20They're trying to keep going.
14:21They're trying to keep going.
14:25At Chef Jay's restaurant, we could taste the ancestral connection.
14:30For the first time since my childhood, I could taste my Haimony's crab.
14:37I was told my ocean career made me not Korean.
14:41But the ocean runs deeply through our bodies, through our ancestral history and food.
14:46Even though I'm learning that caring about the ocean is actually a very Korean thing to do,
14:52I still have never been in the water with another Korean woman.
14:56So I actually love being in the water.
14:58I love swimming.
14:59But I have never done any diving.
15:02When she started to bring up, would you like to dive?
15:05I thought, is this required?
15:07What does it mean to dive?
15:09Am I capable?
15:10Welcome aboard!
15:12It's like getting into your worst formal palm dress, but even worse.
15:19Oh no.
15:20Oh yeah.
15:21This is how this fits.
15:21Oh my god!
15:22It's extremely cozy.
15:25Like, oppressively cozy.
15:28You look like a henna.
15:30That's cute.
15:31Yeah, you can see what happens when I get in the water.
15:34Can I tell you my nightmare?
15:36Yeah.
15:36It's that, um, a little piece of seaweed wrapped around my ankle.
15:40Just pretend it's like a little nice hug from my tail.
15:44Not scary.
15:44Nice hug.
15:45Gotcha.
15:46But I think it's okay.
15:47You're allowed to be nervous.
15:48Okay.
15:49Let's get in.
15:49Okay.
15:50Yeah.
15:51Yeah.
15:52Oh my god.
15:53It's so funny.
15:54I need to take a breath before I can go.
15:57Yeah.
15:57Thank you.
15:59Mommy's stressing me.
16:03Let's go again.
16:04Ready?
16:04One, two, three.
16:13You okay?
16:14Whoo!
16:17It's cold.
16:19Confirming.
16:21She was so nervous about going in the water.
16:24I think she was lying because she got in the water and she was so comfortable.
16:31And it made me feel so good that she was such a natural at it.
16:37Being underwater felt so freeing.
16:41The kelp was so beautiful.
16:45It felt like why have I not explored this realm?
16:51If only everybody could do that.
16:55Being underwater like this was the highlight of the entire journey.
16:59I felt so free and connected to the ocean and curious about the kelp and creatures around me.
17:09And how cool to see Sonia gathering urchins and harvesting.
17:15Maybe Sonia wouldn't agree with me but in my eyes, she's already a henyo.
17:22The notion of being Korean enough, it didn't really feel like I didn't fit the box.
17:28I felt like I didn't know what that box was.
17:32And then a few years ago, I got into BTS.
17:36I met Hannah.
17:37And around that time, I learned about Henyeol.
17:41I've been finally learning what being Korean means to me.
17:44But through that journey, I still wanted to be in the water, free diving with other Korean women.
17:50Getting to experience that with Hannah was so special.
17:55For most of my life, I felt like I was abandoning who I was as a Korean to connect to
18:00the ocean.
18:00But it turns out, connecting to the ocean connects me to being Korean.
18:30I get to eat!
18:45I have to eat!
18:46I have to eat!
18:46This is something else.
18:48These traditional plates with the stone bowl with the nice view.
18:55Oystres de Fanny Bae.
18:58Spapranes en suendubu.
19:00Este es mi mamá.
19:02Ya sabes, con mucha comida de korea está siendo popular en las redes sociales.
19:07¿Qué es auténtico? ¿Qué es tradicional?
19:09Creo que cualquier cosa que los korea que hacen y disfruten es auténtico.
19:13Si es una nueva trenda de comida, que es, ya sabes,
19:17que está subiendo la nación de korea durante el año pasado,
19:20o algo que representa muchas generaciones.
19:23Como una persona de korea, o una persona de korea,
19:27pero realmente soy una persona canadiana,
19:30me gusta simplemente llamarlo comida.
19:32Si me encanta y me hace,
19:33entonces es auténticamente korea comida también, ¿sabes?
19:36Creo que es una buena manera de decirlo,
19:39porque a veces no me siento como un auténtico korea.
19:42Pero tú dijiste que es una reminder de mí que
19:45puedo ser korea, como quiero ser korea.
19:48Puedo ser canadiana, puedo ser korea, puedo ser...
19:50...o sea, lo que sea, lo que sea, lo que sea, lo que sea.
20:07Lo que sea, lo que sea, lo que sea, lo que sea.
20:37Lo que sea, lo que sea, lo que sea, lo que sea.
21:16Lo que sea, lo que sea.
21:31Lo que sea, lo que sea, lo que sea, lo que sea.
21:33Me gustaría que me guste siempre.
21:35Y tú, me guste siempre.
21:38Y tú, me guste siempre.
21:39Y eso para hacer,
21:40lo que sea sea mejor para el mundo.
21:42Y tú, me guste siempre.
21:45¡Gracias, gracias!
21:47¡Gracias!
21:47¡Gracias!
21:48¡Gracias!
21:50¡Gracias!
21:52¡Gracias!
21:54¿Quieres un nidbo?
21:56No, nunca he visto.
21:58No, nunca he visto.
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22:38¡Gracias!
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