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  • (bright music)

  • - Hi everybody, happy New Year, 2019 January, exciting!

  • So what is your resolution about cooking or food?

  • "I should be on a diet, I should lose my weight,"

  • or you don't have a resolution just like me? (laughs)

  • Which one to choose, in 2019, first video of this year!

  • I was thinking, " maybe this is very healthy food,"

  • so I'm going to make cheonggukjang.

  • Cheonggukjang is extra-strong fermented soybean paste.

  • "Oh, Korean soybean paste, I know about that, doenjang,"

  • "but what is Maangchi talking about?"

  • "Extra-strong fermented soybean paste?"

  • Yes, that's it, that's it, that's it!

  • Probably you saw my video,

  • fermented soybean paste, doenjang.

  • It took one year to ferment all these things

  • from just the soybeans, but this cheonggukjang

  • is it just takes only two days!

  • In two days, it'll be nicely fermented.

  • This is good for our body.

  • That's why I chose healthy food. But for me, it's really delicious!

  • Actually, this is one of my cookbook recipes.

  • My editor said, "Oh, it sounds too strong."

  • "Maangchi, are you sure you wanna include this?"

  • I said, "Absolutely." (laughs)

  • There are some, a few dishes like this in this cookbook.

  • This is two pounds soybeans,

  • I already soaked almost for 24 hours.

  • (plastic bags rustling)

  • This is two pounds, five cups.

  • Let's see if we have any dead beans and broken beans.

  • And let's wash.

  • (water rushes)

  • (beans rustle loudly)

  • Put this here. Fill it up with cold water.

  • The ratio of beans to water is 1 to 4.

  • I'm going to make my cheonggukjang

  • with these soaked beans.

  • So I don't need these guys.

  • And then, let's drain.

  • (water rushes)

  • I have to boil these beans for a long time, over very low heat.

  • Let's see how many cups.

  • One.

  • So 13 cups of soaked beans.

  • It used to be five cups of dried soybeans,

  • now 13 cups, they really expand a lot.

  • I'm going to add some water here.

  • I added 16 cups of water.

  • And now, let's boil!

  • Let's cook over medium-high heat

  • until the beans are all boiling,

  • then I'm going to turn down the heat to very low.

  • Total cooking hours is four hours.

  • These beans, they have to be cooked

  • until very, very tender and soft.

  • Now I cooked these almost 30 minutes.

  • You see? A lot of foams are floating.

  • (clock ticks)

  • So I'm going to turn down the heat to low.

  • Just let it boil, simmer, simmer for 3 1/2 hours

  • and every hour, just stir, nicely.

  • (bright music)

  • I am back! I've been cooking this for four hours.

  • I will show you how tender it is.

  • Let's pick one, see? It's very soft.

  • I'm going to drain these.

  • (spoon clanks on pot)

  • It smells really sweet and nutty smell!

  • Look at this!

  • This water is very sweet.

  • Sweet and just a little bitter.

  • Don't throw away, drink it as a tea.

  • Or just you can put some to massage. (chuckles)

  • Wash your face and then just put some on your face.

  • Now just we need to ferment this.

  • This is my bamboo basket.

  • If you don't have, you can use

  • even plastic, plastic shallow basket.

  • It should be ventilated a little bit

  • because bacteria all in the air,

  • It's called bacillus subtilis,

  • just attract to these.

  • In Korea, we usually use rice straw.

  • Rice straw and to attract that bacteria more easily.

  • But actually, I did some experiment

  • and also I made a recipe for my cookbook and no problem.

  • Put the beans in the basket.

  • And in the center, make a hole.

  • When I lived in Korea, my house floor was heated.

  • Right next to the boiler, there was a room

  • that was really hotter than any other rooms,

  • because it was right next to the boiler.

  • And I made like not this amount, more, kind of this amount.

  • And it was perfectly fermented, so nicely!

  • During the whole winter, just we ate cheonggukjang.

  • But now, in New York City, in my house,

  • there is no heated floor!

  • I just use my electric mat.

  • These beans should be wet, nice, beautiful.

  • Bean water, I'm going to add some here

  • 'cause I want to make it wet.

  • Hemp cloth or use any cheesecloth,

  • cheesecloth working well.

  • (water trickles)

  • Like this.

  • I'm going to cover this with another cloth like this.

  • This is my electric mat.

  • Here, I put some thick blanket.

  • And then, before putting my cheonggukjang,

  • I gotta put this,

  • my blanket.

  • Then turn on level two.

  • My cheonggukjang, this is a precious thing

  • for a while in this house.

  • Now just that I turned on the electric mat, it's going to be

  • between the 110 fahrenheit to 130 fahrenheit.

  • So it has to be warm but not hot.

  • I'm going to open this two days later, 48 hours.

  • 48 hours, something's going on inside my blanket.

  • It's going to be all fermented.

  • If I go out, "oh, what happened

  • to my babies, my bean babies?" (chuckles)

  • I have to go home quickly.

  • See you in two days, bye!

  • (bright music)

  • 48 hours passed!

  • Exactly two days later.

  • Oh my god, look at this!

  • Open, open, oh wow!

  • Yeah, this water was full, but it is now less than 1/2.

  • Smells! okay great, let's go.

  • So take it off. See?

  • It smells really good!

  • Look at that, you see it, oh my, thread.

  • It's white, slimy threads, we'll call this thread.

  • But these enzymes are helping all our health.

  • Nice, look at that.

  • I love this smell because this is also cultural food.

  • So, if you never tasted it before,

  • when you were young, you probably think,

  • "oh, that smells like too much pungent".

  • But actually, for me, this is like my really grandmother's house smell!

  • This bacteria, bacillus subtilis,

  • protect all these beans from

  • other kind of harmful bacteria.

  • They really dominate here, no dirty,

  • no harmful bacteria can come.

  • So this is very pure clean.

  • I have to crush these beans.

  • These beans are already very soft,

  • so easily you can crush.

  • You can use mortar and pestle or food processor.

  • You see, while I'm doing this,

  • I can see all these look like spider web, you see? (chuckles)

  • You don't have to grind really finely,

  • because when you make a stew,

  • you should feel the beans in your mouth.

  • (food processor whirs)

  • I just did only ten seconds.

  • My leftover beans.

  • (food processor whirs)

  • Who thinks it looks like peanut butter? (laughs)

  • Totally different flavor!

  • Let me taste my peanut butter.

  • (water rushes)

  • So slippery. (chuckles)

  • And we are almost done.

  • So now this is my green chili, red chili pepper

  • (peppers crunch)

  • So let's make one cup bowl.

  • In the center, put this red chili pepper and green chili pepper,

  • just put it here and then add this.

  • Fill it up to this one cup.

  • And remove from the cup.