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Our Ocean Table - Season 1 Episode 1 englishsub watchfull🍿🍿
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00:07This is our food table. Seafood is the foundation of so many of our favorite
00:12dishes. And we love eating. I'm Sonia. I'm a filmmaker and ocean nerd. I live on
00:24Vancouver Island and my favorite place is underwater. I'm Hannah. I'm a
00:30journalist and producer in Toronto and I was a reporter on MuchMusic in the 2000s.
00:36Have you ever had anything live from the ocean like this before?
00:40No, we've heard material.
00:43Koreans around the world are tied to the ocean through food. But overfishing and
00:49climate change threaten our oceans. What does it mean for our culture if our
00:54favorite foods disappear? Together we're traveling across Western Canada to meet
00:59the harvesters and chefs behind some of the most iconic Korean dishes. Dive in as
01:05we learn more about the science, sustainability, and culture behind our
01:09favorite foods. Welcome to our ocean table.
01:21This is Sundubu Jigae, which means soft tofu soup. It's a spicy broth that has big chunks of soft,
01:28silky tofu. And one way we love to eat it is full of seafood. Go to any Korean restaurant in
01:35North America and you
01:36can easily find Sundubu Jigae on many menus. Koreans have been eating it for hundreds of years since
01:42the Joseon dynasty.
01:47It captures key flavors of Korean food in one pot. Salty, spicy, and piping hot.
01:57It looks really good.
01:59It smells good. That is good. This is my cozy comfort food.
02:05Yeah. When it's raining, go for this. When it's cold, go for this.
02:10When it's hot. Absolutely. You go for an even hotter stew.
02:15Absolutely. Very Korean thing to do. I'm pretty sure this is what you ordered the first time we met.
02:20Do you remember? We had lunch in Toronto. Oh, yeah. Being asked by Sonia to be a part of this
02:28project
02:28and to come along for the ride, it means everything to me because it's about our stories, you know,
02:34and sharing them from our perspective. Koreans have a lot at stake when it comes to ocean conservation,
02:41and it's unfair that we're portrayed that all we're doing is pillaging the ocean.
02:47When I was living in Halifax, I didn't have a lot of choices when it came to going out for
02:53Korean food.
02:54Whenever I was craving Korean food, this is what I would make.
02:58This whole journey started when I was making sundubu jjigae.
03:02I was learning about people's relationship with the ocean, and I was like, damn,
03:08must be nice to have an ocean culture. While I'm throwing in seafood, squid, shrimp, mussels, clams,
03:15still contemplating, where does my connection for the ocean come from? And then I realize,
03:21oh, this is where it comes from. It's from Korean food.
03:25The ocean is in this bowl. The ocean is in this bowl.
03:32Growing up, I just loved white people's food. Like, that's all I wanted. I watched a lot of TV.
03:37I wanted to eat lasagna because I read the Garfield comic strips. I wanted to eat cabbage rolls.
03:43I do not know why, but now all I want is the Korean food.
03:47Over the years, I've been feeling disconnected from being Korean.
03:51I want to learn more about my culture and the ways in which ocean is a part of my culture.
03:58Yeah. I am really looking forward to learning more about sundubu. Not only how it gets made,
04:05what goes into it, but I want to eventually learn how to make it myself too.
04:10My favorite part of sundubu is the coveted pieces of shrimp.
04:17But shrimp have some of the worst environmental impacts.
04:23From destructive farming to unethical labor practices
04:28to trawl fishing that bulldozes ocean habitats.
04:31I was vegetarian for many years and sundubu without shrimp just felt wrong.
04:37I grew up eating it loaded with seafood.
04:40And no shrimp was like chicken noodle soup without the chicken.
04:44So, how can we eat it sustainably?
04:47It is spot prawn season here right now.
04:50And spot prawns are a sustainable shrimp industry on the west coast.
04:54And I'm super excited to learn more about how they're caught,
04:59how it's sustainable, and meet the harvesters and the fishers who are doing this.
05:38How's it going?
05:39Good.
05:39All right, we're excited to go fishing.
05:44The spot prawn fishery, it's a really short season.
05:46It opens in May and closes sometime in June, depending on when the fishing fleet has
05:51fished the prawns down to a sustainable level.
05:5570% of our annual income comes from the prawn fishery.
05:58And the bulk of that catch is in the first two weeks of the season.
06:02If you have a mistake or you have a breakdown in the first two weeks,
06:05it's like your whole year can be shot.
06:07It's funny, I don't gamble in real life or have any interest.
06:10My wife always jokes.
06:11She's like, you don't need to gamble because your whole life is a gamble.
06:18Have you ever touched prawns before?
06:21Um, no.
06:22I've touched prawns with my chopsticks.
06:26I've never seen one in the water.
06:29How would I ever do that?
06:31I don't know.
06:37Spot prawns are a type of shrimp found off the west coast, from California all the way up to Alaska.
06:43These prawns are bigger than some of the other species and they are popular for their sweet, juicy meat.
06:52Spot prawns have a four-year life cycle and they're hermaphroditic.
06:57In their first two years, they start out as males and then transition into females
07:01when they're bigger in their third and fourth year.
07:09All right.
07:10Here it comes.
07:11First trap.
07:12If you want to put that trap just right behind you.
07:15Why is it so heavy?
07:17I might trade you.
07:18She can be.
07:18I'll trade you.
07:19We have marks on our sorting table.
07:21Oh, okay.
07:22The line is just on the head still and not in the eye socket.
07:24So that one's like the smallest sort of legal prawn you can catch.
07:28So this is big enough.
07:30Exactly.
07:31As long as the seagulls don't get them, which they're not right now,
07:33it's actually quite good survival when you throw back the undersized.
07:40The Prawn Association try to time the season so that we don't have any egg-bearing females.
07:44Generally from like October until March or April is when they're egg-bearing.
07:49That's one of the reasons why it's sustainable, right?
07:51Exactly.
07:51We're sort of never catching those reproducing prawns.
08:02What we're always trying to do when we're fishing is to target the bigger prawns.
08:05Not only because you get better price for them,
08:07but also because these are the ones that are going to be dying off once they spawn anyways.
08:11Let the little guys grow.
08:12Let the little guys grow.
08:13They'll come back in a couple years.
08:15Exactly.
08:15Get them next year and try to target the bigger ones.
08:19So we're avoiding reproducing prawns and we're eating them when they're going to die off anyway.
08:26It's like we're working with nature.
08:36So this is a ruby octopus.
08:40Do you want a hole?
08:41I do.
08:42I've never held one before.
08:43In most fishing practices, we get what's called bycatch, which are fish and other ocean creatures
08:49who get caught accidentally and often die. R.I.P.
08:54Today, the bycatch is being thrown overboard alive.
08:58Wee!
08:58Be free!
09:00Hey, where baskets are?
09:03Just floats.
09:05These are spot lobsters.
09:07Slang term is ass clappers because they swim.
09:11Hi, I'm clappers.
09:12Yeah.
09:14I heard spot prawns were sustainable, but I didn't know why and now I'm like doing it.
09:19Now I know why.
09:20You must be so fond of these guys.
09:22Whoa!
09:22Yeah, they've been a big part of my life for a long time.
09:25Do you guys want to eat one raw?
09:27Oh my god.
09:29Listen, I will try.
09:31Yeah.
09:34Okay, so just grab it right here.
09:35Grab it here.
09:36Kind of pinch.
09:37I want to do it.
09:38Yeah.
09:38Yeah.
09:38Okay, let's do it together.
09:39There you go.
09:40Heads off.
09:41Twist.
09:42R.I.P.
09:42Oh my god!
09:43Thank you prawns.
09:51Have you ever had anything live from the ocean like this before?
09:55Hannah?
09:56No.
09:57No.
09:58No.
09:59They're from Ontario.
10:01Okay, what kind of sauce do we got?
10:03It's a cho gochujang, which is a vinegary gochujang sauce.
10:09Cheers.
10:10Cheers!
10:11Thanks for coming out.
10:14Oh, you ate it so ladylike and delicately.
10:19I feel very grateful to you and to the spot prawns.
10:22Yeah, grateful to spot prawns for sure.
10:28Everything on Fraser's boat was very memorable.
10:32I really felt so privileged and lucky to be able to see how this particular food is being harvested.
10:42I felt like in this one afternoon experience, we get to bring in some more knowledge to our place.
10:49It's just like when you have kids in the kitchen and they're helping.
10:54We're helping.
10:57Thank you so much.
10:59It was great.
11:00Bye.
11:00Thank you for sharing us.
11:02Bye, Sashay.
11:02Bye.
11:17Armie knows exactly what side we're doing.
11:27I was getting so into BTS because it was bringing me so much joy.
11:32Yes.
11:32But at the same time, I had nobody to talk about it with.
11:36You were posting about BTS stuff and I was like, can I slide into her DS?
11:40Just about BTS?
11:42And I was like, spirit, I'm gonna do it.
11:44And then now we're friends.
11:46I would love to go back in time and see how fast I responded to you.
11:49I'm sure I was like, oh yeah, hi, how's it going?
11:52I was probably like, was not expecting that.
11:55But now...
11:56You said the magic words.
11:57Yeah.
11:59Any way in which we can feel more connected to each other is such a win.
12:03In this world, everything is so disconnected.
12:07Who would have predicted that responding to me on Instagram would lead us here?
12:12I know.
12:14Tucked away in a strip mall off the highway, we're a long way from Koreatown.
12:19Here in Nanaimo, this chef is serving Korean cuisine his way.
12:24And locals are falling in love with his twist on classic Korean dishes.
12:29Oh my god, the first time I got to Horang, I wanted to introduce myself to Chef John.
12:36I couldn't get in.
12:37I couldn't even get a seat at the bar.
12:39I went twice.
12:40I couldn't either.
12:41Coming into your restaurant, we see so much success.
12:43What has been the hardest part?
12:46My name was a small city.
12:47Korean companies are smaller than other cities in Canada.
12:50Korean cuisine for the local market was the challenging part from the beginning.
12:55You have a long history in working in restaurants.
12:58Why did you start a Korean restaurant?
12:59I used to be a sushi chef for over 20 years.
13:03Korean food started to get really popular all over the world.
13:06I knew that it could be a higher risk than open up the same Japanese restaurant.
13:12But then I really wanted to try.
13:15Sundubu was one of the first dishes that I thought about for the menus.
13:19Whenever I go to other cities, if you want to eat Korean cuisine,
13:24then Sundubu is always one of the first dishes that I want to order.
13:28Because it feels like you're eating at home.
13:32Oh my god.
13:33That's gorgeous.
13:34Wow.
13:36Sonia, smile.
13:42We are in Vancouver Island, and it's surrounded by the oceans.
13:46And we've got lots of seafood out there.
13:48Use of fresh ingredients is the main key to creating the delicious dishes, right?
13:53Usually, we use cuttlefish or tiger prawns.
13:58So you use spot prawns when they're in season,
14:00and then when they're not in season, you just change the...
14:03Yeah, we change the seasonal menu here too.
14:05Sometimes I feel a little sad that I can get the good quality local seafood.
14:10I think it's a price point too.
14:12It's a certain commercial season,
14:14and also limited quantity that you're able to catch year-round.
14:18And a lot of seafood exports to other countries too.
14:21So we don't have much choices sometimes, no?
14:25Oh, it's so spicy. It's just the way I like it.
14:29I've never had sundubu with 갈국수 in it.
14:35Yeah, me neither.
14:36Yeah.
14:36This sundubu is with the noodles, which is not commonly served with.
14:41I think a lot of people now are so used to eating some of the pho,
14:46like Vietnamese noodles and also Japanese ramen.
14:49Yeah.
14:50So I have to choose the noodle into the soup,
14:52so people more familiar to come and try this dish, no?
14:56Yeah.
14:56That's so interesting.
14:57From your chef's perspective, how other Asian cuisines
15:01have kind of opened the door for familiarity or being open to a Korean dish.
15:06And then it's like you're taking steps towards, like, you're teaching people.
15:12Chef John has such a warmth about him that, as a Korean, I feel like,
15:18yes, I want you to be Sally's conduit to their first Korean meal.
15:25My regular customers, our friends, send me a lot of love.
15:28You know, Korean people have a jeong.
15:30Sticky relationship, like, that's like a jeong.
15:32You're stuck together.
15:33Yeah, stuck together.
15:34Yeah, yeah.
15:40It's all about the memory.
15:41I mean, food's a memory, right?
15:44When you're with the good people and the good food,
15:47that's the best memories ever, right?
15:50When you have a memorable meal somewhere,
15:52it makes your feeling of closeness with that place even closer.
15:57It's like what he was saying about jeong.
15:59I feel jeong for Nanaimo now through Chef John and Horang.
16:04I recently moved to Vancouver Island.
16:07I didn't really know where to find the Koreans.
16:10Chef John, he's representing really hip Korean culture and food
16:16in a city on the island that I wouldn't think that a Korean restaurant would be popular.
16:21I have made me really proud.
16:23I recently saw somebody do sound like this.
16:28Like what?
16:29Oh, I watched the teacock, yeah.
16:33It's my way.
16:33I've never seen that.
16:35Yeah, yeah.
16:40Spot prawns are delicious and sustainable, but not cheap.
16:44In fact, cheaper shrimp comes with a hefty cost to the environment.
16:49One way we can eat seafood tsundubu forever is to save prawns for special occasions and celebrations.
16:55If you can help me dice up the onions.
16:57Can do.
16:58Never let Chef John see my knife skills.
17:02Our spot prawns.
17:07It's a big act of knowing yourself to eat like this in public.
17:14Growing up, I would not have wanted to bring anyone home for dinner and have this.
17:20So making a picnic like this in a public space, I think, is an act of resistance.
17:25And when I think about the rise of Korean food, it makes me feel very hopeful.
17:31It's about acceptance and connection.
17:35Food really connects us.
17:41Thank you for making such a wonderful meal.
17:44You too.
17:46Man, that sesame oil does it at the ending.
17:48It's perfect.
17:50Sundubu Jigae is such a perfect meal for like a rainy, cold, wet day.
17:56As Koreans, we are inherently so connected to the ocean because it's on our table.
18:02And you can see it.
18:04And you can see it.
18:05Nobody's hiding what this is.
18:07It's an incredible feeling to be that connected to your food,
18:10beyond just the very end stages of bringing it home and to cook it in your kitchen.
18:15And that's what I want to help people see a little bit more.
18:20Even my own family, just being able to connect that back to,
18:24we love the ocean, but if we don't take care of it, we can't have this on our table.
18:29This is like a really beautiful thing.
18:31It's not just an enjoyable meal.
18:33You know, it's so much more than that.
18:35I just am so happy right now.
18:37I love that.
18:40To eat our favorite foods forever,
18:42the first step is to learn where our food comes from and to explore sustainable options.
18:47No matter where we live,
18:49the ocean connects Koreans through our shared favorite dishes around the world,
18:53even in the prairies.
18:56In our next episode, we'll be learning about the surprising connection between seaweed
19:00and cows.
19:02Cowboy, but I want to get on a horse.
19:05Time's dark.
19:06No!
19:07Oh my gosh!
19:08Oh my gosh!
19:09How did that happen?
19:10Join us for the world's slowest tractor driving!
19:18Chef John said this is where he comes to crab.
19:22Okay, chicken in and then let's shut this.
19:26I feel like I'm sending a love letter, it is raw chicken in this envelope,
19:30to the crabs deep below.
19:32Have you done this before?
19:34No.
19:35I think you're supposed to throw it?
19:39What do your kids do?
19:42Drop it?
19:43I don't know.
19:44Okay, how about you drop it and I'll throw it.
19:45Okay.
19:46Okay, I'm gonna do one toss.
19:48This is the first and only.
19:51Okay.
19:56I'll do that again!
20:00Nice!
20:02Who's gonna check the traps?
20:03I'll do it because I want to go inside as quick as possible.
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