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Our Ocean Table - Season 1 Episode 3 - Charting a New Way Hom
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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! Gorgeous!
00:20I'm Sonya. I'm a filmmaker and ocean nerd.
00:24I live on Vancouver Island and my favorite place is underwater.
00:29I'm Hannah. I'm a journalist and producer in Toronto.
00:33And I was a reporter on MuchMusic in the 2000s.
00:36Have you ever had anything fly from the ocean like this before?
00:40Oh, the propaterials!
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?
00:56Together, we're traveling across Western Canada to meet the harvesters and chefs behind some of 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.
01:23Bubbling soups and stews with shrimp and seaweed and oysters.
01:28Many Koreans use oysters in savory pancakes and soups and also eat them raw.
01:33I've eaten a lot of oysters in Korea.
01:36They're as Korean as...
01:38Fried chicken?
01:39Cheers!
01:40Cheers!
01:41Okay.
01:42I 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?
01:54Koreans love fried chicken.
01:56But is it Korean food?
01:57What is considered Korean food?
02:00What is authentic?
02:01What is traditional?
02:02Hmm.
02:03And not only for food, but also, am I Korean?
02:07Am I Canadian?
02:07I don't feel Korean enough, but I'm also like, ugh.
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.
02:28I 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.
02:43My 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.
03:03But 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.
04:14Do you want to lead the way?
04:16Alright.
04:18This is just a little access path to one of our farms.
04:22I 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?
04:50That'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.
05:01Grow nice and pretty.
05:03Can we see an oyster ready for market?
05:05Sure.
05:06We can take a look at some.
05:07And how many of your oysters are on this beach?
05:11On the three tenures in ships point, it's well over 100,000 dozen.
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 size oysters.
05:28So, that patch of seed in six to nine months is going to look something like those.
05:33Mmm.
05:33Whoa.
05:34Wait.
05:35This 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.
05:45And I feel like not all aquaculture is made the same.
05:49I'd have to agree with you with that.
05:51There are big differences between, say, salmon pens,
05:54and broadcast oysters on the beach.
05:56There's not a lot of detritus coming out of this.
05:59There's few inputs.
06:00There's no antibiotics.
06:02We do do a fairly intensive monoculture.
06:06Somewhat contained.
06:07And we're using beaches that are underutilized by other species.
06:12Winter storms will move them around.
06:14We'll pick them up, get them back to where we want them.
06:15And 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 an introduced species all along a beach.
06:44Can you tell me if there is an impact?
06:46My understanding of the potential impacts of Pacific oysters in BC are minimal.
06:51They were introduced to BC waters from Japan in the 1920s and 30s, and they spawn naturally in BC waters
07:01now.
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.
07:20That'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?
07:46Pretty good.
07:51Mmm.
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 are the
08:21same species we ate in Korea.
08:24These oysters also had to adapt and survive from the other side of the Pacific.
08:29With the resilient outer shell and an ocean-y inside, these oysters are a perfect metaphor for the immigrant experience.
08:40The 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!
09:00Yay!
09:03Growing up with my Korean family friends, I was always told, like, why are you studying marine biology?
09:08It's not a very Korean thing to do.
09:11When did you first learn about the hainyo?
09:13Hainyo are ocean-harvesting women, primarily on Jeju Island.
09:17These women are freedivers, who can hold their breath for many minutes to harvest for seafood, like abalone, sea snails,
09:24octopus, and other shellfish.
09:27This 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 freediving in the ocean.
09:40What they do is so connected to the earth and an ancient way of doing things that is just naturally
09:49sustainable,
09:50because 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 Jinmi, Chef Jay is balancing tradition and adaptation with a menu that mixes imported Korean seafood with some that
10:23is Canadian, harvested locally.
10:26Which way?
10:27That's uh, it's also notable.
10:29I can't even love this but it's also familiar, but the quality feels so cool.
10:32I needed to add some..
10:48What do you think?
10:52I'm going to make Korean potatoes on it and cook it in the oven.
11:00This is what we have made in Fanny Bay.
11:04I'm going to fry it in the oven.
11:07I'm going to make Korean potatoes on it.
11:11I'm going to make an oven oven.
11:13It's a good food.
11:23I want this whole row.
11:26We just get another whole row.
11:28It's very interesting to take on traditional Korean flavors.
11:32Like the idea of a Korean pesto on top is very cool.
11:36I'm going to make Korean food.
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.
12:02which 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.
12:30Unapologetically.
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.
13:05You do the Instagram squeeze thing.
13:09Yeah.
13:10I'm nervous.
13:12Okay.
13:12Okay.
13:13Yeah.
13:14All right.
13:14Are you ready?
13:15Yes.
13:16Cheers.
13:17When I thought of it, I thought the fruit is the most expensive.
13:25So I bought it in Korea and I thought it was hard to buy it in Korea.
13:28I thought it was hard to buy it in Korea.
13:31Hmm.
13:32Oh my god.
13:34Wow.
13:35What do you think?
13:36It tastes like the ocean.
13:37It tastes like my childhood.
13:38Good.
13:39Mmm.
13:40It's so sweet.
13:42Mm-hmm.
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.
13:54Yay!
13:55Chef, what do you think of Korean food?
13:59The traditional food from Korean food is our ancestors.
14:02After a while, we've continued food at the time.
14:04We kept doing food until we lose on Korean food.
14:10We could get out from Japanese food until We can't destroy it.
14:18What do you think of Korean food?
14:20I am going to be able to go and try.
14:22How it feels like to eat in Korean food?
14:25They're not going to take care of the Korean food.
14:26The traditional food is no longer about the Korean food.
14:26At Chef J's restaurant, we could taste the ancestral connection.
14:30For the first time since my childhood, I could taste my Haemonese crab.
14:37I was told my ocean career made me not Korean, but the ocean runs deeply through our bodies,
14:44through our ancestral history and food.
14:47Even 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.
14:55So I actually love being in the water. I love swimming.
14:59But I have never done any diving.
15:03When she started to bring up, would you like to dive, I thought, is this required?
15:07What does it mean to dive? Am I capable?
15:10Welcome aboard!
15:12It's like getting into your worst formal palm dress, but even worse.
15:19Oh, no. Oh, yeah, this smells.
15:21Oh, my God!
15:23It's extremely cozy, like oppressively cozy.
15:28You look like a henna.
15:30That's cute.
15:32Let's see what happens when I get in the water.
15:35Can I tell you my nightmare?
15:36Yeah.
15:36It's that a little piece of seaweed wrapped around my ankle.
15:40Just pretend it's like a little nice hug for my tail.
15:44Not scary. Nice hug. Gotcha.
15:46But I think it's okay. You're allowed to be nervous.
15:48Okay, let's get in.
15:50Okay.
15:51Yeah.
15:51Yeah.
15:52Oh, my God.
15:53All right, I need to take a breath before I go.
15:56Yeah, go ahead.
15:59Mommy's stressing me.
16:03Let's go again. Ready?
16:04One, two, three.
16:13Okay?
16:14Woo!
16:17It's cold.
16:19Confirming.
16:20She 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. The kelp was so beautiful.
16:45It felt like why have I not explored this realm?
16:51If only everybody could do that. Being 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 hainyo.
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. I met Hannah.
17:37And around that time, I learned about hainyo.
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.
18:01But it turns out, connecting to the ocean connects me to being Korean.
18:26I had to raise my heart for the ocean.
18:27I asked him for some sort of킨.
18:28I said that it was a lot of crap that I had to be.
18:28I had to wait for a year and he's gone.
18:28I had to wait for him to buy him.
18:29I tried to play a game.
18:29I said that one thing.
18:30He's a big man.
18:31He's a little przyjoey man.
18:32He's a big man.
18:37He's a small team.
18:45This is something else.
18:48These traditional plates with the stone bowl, with the nice view, oysters from Fanny Bay.
18:58Spa prawns in our sundubu.
19:00This is my mom's miyokguk.
19:02You know with so much Korean food becoming popular on social media, like what is authentic,
19:08what is traditional?
19:09I think anything that Korean people make and eat and enjoy is authentic.
19:13Whether it's like a new food trend that's, you know, sweeping the nation of Korea over
19:19the last year or something that represents countless generations.
19:23As a Korean person or a person of Korean descent, but truly I'm a Canadian person, I like to
19:31just call it food.
19:32If I love it and I make it, then it's authentically Korean food too, you know?
19:36I think that's such a good way to put it because sometimes I don't feel like an authentic
19:42Korean.
19:43But you said it's a reminder to myself that I can be Korean however I want to be Korean.
19:48I can be Canadian.
19:49I can be Korean.
19:50I can be whatever, an ocean person.
19:53Yeah.
19:54I mean like growing up in the 80s in Canada, I was made to feel many times like I wasn't
19:59a true Canadian.
20:01But then there are Koreans who make you feel like you're not actually Korean enough.
20:04I don't really think it's up to other people to tell us.
20:07And if you feel Korean, then you are.
20:09I love that.
20:11To me, it seems like Hannah has it all figured out.
20:14And through this journey, I learned so much from her and it gives me the confidence to
20:19exist as a Korean person, in whatever way makes sense to me.
20:24I'm so grateful to Hannah for that.
20:27Korea is a peninsula.
20:29It's surrounded by the ocean.
20:31The culture and food and history, you can see seafood everywhere in Korea.
20:36Oh my God.
20:37That's gorgeous.
20:38Korean people, we are so lucky because we are really close to the ocean so we can have
20:43the fresh fish, shellfish and be creative at using seaweed.
20:48Rather than changing my ideas on sustainability, everything I've learned on this trip has been
20:55reinforcing of some bigger ideas, being in the ocean, seeing its abundance, but how delicate
21:03the balance is.
21:04I just want to keep eating as sustainably as possible and just learning more.
21:10Especially in conservation spaces, harvesters don't necessarily have the best reputation
21:15because they're taking fish out of the ocean.
21:18But they are the best ambassadors for what is actually happening on the ocean.
21:23They don't want these things to go away.
21:25This is their life.
21:33I want to eat my favorite foods forever, and I want you to eat my favorite foods forever.
21:38And in order to do that, we need to do a little bit better for the ocean as a whole.
21:43Good job!
21:47Cheers!
21:48Cheers!
21:54Wanna take a nipple?
21:56I've never eaten more kelp.
22:27Ha ha ha!
22:38I'll see you next time.
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