Min Jin: Hi my name is Min Jin Lee
Min Jin: and I'm the author of Panchinko
Min Jin: and today we're here to do a really cool thing.
Min Jin: We're going to make kimchi
Min Jin: with my mom.
Mi Hwa: Hi.
Min Jin: So the first thing that we're going to do is make the salt
Min Jin: bath. And that sounds more complicated
Min Jin: than it is. It's just water
Min Jin: and salt
Min Jin: and you boil it.
Min Jin: Yeah.
Mi Hwa: Three tablespoons of salt,
Mi Hwa: yes.
Min Jin: So in the book there's a really
Min Jin: important section when my main character
Min Jin: needs money.
Min Jin: So she and her sister at the site
Min Jin: sold kimchi in the streets.
Min Jin: And that idea came to me because
Min Jin: women around the world who are poor
Min Jin: and illiterate who have very little basis for capital
Min Jin: will usually make food
Min Jin: and sell it.
Min Jin: You will have 16 pieces because eight times two
Min Jin: is sixteen. And I'm a writer
Min Jin: and I can do that much math.
Min Jin: And I wanted to ask my mother before
Min Jin: why she cuts it this way
Min Jin: because I thought maybe she could cut it this way.
Min Jin: She said no it's more stable so you don't cut your
Min Jin: hands.
Min Jin: So safety is first.
Mi Hwa: It's very cheap now. Season. While
Mi Hwa: I'm waiting for the boiling
Mi Hwa: water. Yes.
Mi Hwa: I have to prepare for the
Mi Hwa: Chinese cabbage.
Mi Hwa: And just cut.
Min Jin: The ends?
Min Jin: And you're going to have about one
Min Jin: and a half cups of Chinese chives
Min Jin: that you will need for the stuffing for the cucumbers.
Min Jin: And there's also a theory in Korea
Min Jin: that if men like this it makes
Min Jin: them more virile, just
Min Jin: saying.
Min Jin: I don't know if this is true.
Min Jin: But if you eat Chinese chives.
Mi Hwa: It's really true.
Mi Hwa: Because my grndmother, my mother's side. Yes,
Mi Hwa: all the time.
Mi Hwa: I like this one.
Mi Hwa: When I was in young.
Mi Hwa: Yes.
Mi Hwa: I ask my grandma.
Mi Hwa: I like to eat this.
Mi Hwa: And then grandmother said no no give
Mi Hwa: to your father.
Min Jin: Because nice girls don't eat Buchu.
Mi Hwa: I think so. That's the why my grandma
Mi Hwa: said this.
Min Jin: That's what grandma said so I don't argue
Min Jin: with this.
Min Jin: But women are allowed to eat it
Min Jin: too.
Min Jin: If you look at the cucumber kimchi recipes
Min Jin: around not everybody does this
Min Jin: because of all the views boiling water
Min Jin: for cucumbers in the Chola
Min Jin: region of South Korea.
Min Jin: This is what they do.
Min Jin: But this is actually a more effective way of doing
Min Jin: it. We tried it all different ways.
Min Jin: Right now she's cutting the
Min Jin: scullions.
Min Jin: Right now we have scallion,
Min Jin: chives and onion together.
Min Jin: So you take rice flour
Min Jin: like this,
Min Jin: which makes it gluten free.
Min Jin: But if you have all purpose flour that's fine
Min Jin: too. So you can use this
Min Jin: or you could use something like this
Min Jin: and you add
Min Jin: one tablespoon of rice powder,
Min Jin: rice flour, three tablespoons
Min Jin: of water and
Min Jin: mix.
Min Jin: So you add the slurry into this
Min Jin: soh mixture. This is called
Min Jin: oi soh bahgi.
Min Jin: So oi means cucumber.
Min Jin: Soh is the content
Min Jin: or the dressing and bahgi just means it's the
Min Jin: verb, which just means to stuff.
Min Jin: How much ginger is that?
Mi Hwa: About one tablespoon.
Mi Hwa: This kimchi does not need lots of spice. All my
Mi Hwa: life I cook for my husband,
Mi Hwa: my children.
Min Jin: There you go. Thank you.
Min Jin: I really appreciate that.
Mi Hwa: And garlic.
Min Jin: So you make the soh now?
Min Jin: Yeah.
Min Jin: I mean
Min Jin: I love garlic
Min Jin: and
Min Jin: fish sauce.
Min Jin: It's already been pre-measured, so how much
Min Jin: fish? Two tablespoons of fish sauce. And Gochugaru. This
Min Jin: is two full, heaping tablespoons. I
Min Jin: think we are ready to.
Min Jin: I think you are ready.
Min Jin: Is it time for the gloves?
Min Jin: Yes.
Min Jin: Stir it very, very well.
Mi Hwa: OK.
Mi Hwa: See that? Yes.
Mi Hwa: And
Mi Hwa: hold this way.
Mi Hwa: About one table
Mi Hwa: one tablespoon of
Mi Hwa: amount just to put it inside
Mi Hwa: to this way and the other way
Mi Hwa: and then hold it.
Min Jin: This about half a cup of water?
Mi Hwa: Little bit. Even less than half. Good, that's
Mi Hwa: enough.
Min Jin: And a pinch salt.
Min Jin: Very very little liquid in this kimchi
Min Jin: recipe.
Min Jin: And kimchi's a really special thing in my family
Min Jin: because kimchi one of the most important things
Min Jin: that defines Korea.
Min Jin: And I love it.
Min Jin: It's really good.
Min Jin: We have one more piece to go.
Min Jin: Did you hear that? Yes. You hear that crunch?
Min Jin: That's high quality crunching.
Min Jin: Thank you for joining us.