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  • (cheery music)

  • Hi everybody!

  • Look at this!

  • Eggplants!

  • I'm going to make something delicious with this eggplants.

  • Very fresh!

  • I got this from farmer's market yesterday.

  • All sizes are different, I love that!

  • We are going to make a really delicious gaji-jjim.

  • Gochujang gaji-jjim.

  • Spicy stuffed steamed eggplant

  • So many "s!" (laughs)

  • It's North Korean style.

  • A few years ago I watched a Korean tv show.

  • On the show they made this dish.

  • I was so inspired to recreate this recipe.

  • Because that story is a really touching story.

  • I'm going to show you how to make it, but later I'm going to talk about this story.

  • On the TV show you can't see how many cups, any measurements, you never see that.

  • So I just made it this way, that way and this is really delicious!

  • So five cloves minced garlic we need.

  • And also this onion...

  • about a quarter cup.

  • Quarter cup, let's also chop it up.

  • And two scallions.

  • And let's add...

  • two tablespoons vegetable oil.

  • And then garlic and onion.

  • (sizzling)

  • I stirred one minute and then green onions.

  • (more sizzling)

  • I stir fried this over medium high heat for five minutes.

  • See? My garlic is a little crispy and brown.

  • Turn off the heat.

  • Smells so good and looks so delicious.

  • What did I do?

  • Just only stirring three ingredients, right?

  • And makes this house so full of, full of good aroma.

  • Amazing.

  • And then let it cool down a little bit.

  • Now I'm going to show you how to handle this eggplant.

  • Large size, small size, and thin and thick, I brought these.

  • I usually buy eggplants in the Korean grocery store because

  • Korean, Japanese, and Chinese eggplants are thin

  • Thin skinned.

  • And easily we can cook.

  • But this time I got these at the farmers' market.

  • The farmers' market these days sells Asian eggplants like this.

  • I was so happy to see that.

  • So first...

  • This stem area...

  • Like this...

  • Some blemish like this, I don't want to eat that.

  • Clean like this.

  • So this is one pound.

  • (rice cooks in background)

  • And then now it's a little cooled down so let's make sauce here.

  • I'm making rice in a large pot.

  • When I was young I went to my grandmother's house

  • She has a large cauldron pot.

  • Even she used a wood fire.

  • And always something is going on when she steams the rice.

  • Sometimes egg, sometimes fish, steaming.

  • Take advantage of this low heat rice steaming.

  • Instead of using a steamer.

  • But if you want to use a steamer, I will write the recipe on my website, check it out later.

  • Two tablespoons soy sauce.

  • Hot pepper flakes, gochugaru, two tablespoons.

  • Mix.

  • And let's add hot pepper paste, quarter cup.

  • I will add sugar, one teaspoon.

  • Ground black pepper, quarter teaspoon.

  • Sesame oil.

  • About two teaspoons.

  • Sesame seeds.

  • Just one teaspoon.

  • So mix this well.

  • Look at this, it looks really delicious, doesn't it?

  • Shiny, and we made a really delicious, flavorful, good smelling paste.

  • The North Korean defector in the TV show didn't use any meat.

  • So I developed this recipe this way.

  • And really good.

  • So now we have to stuff these.

  • And then after stuffing I'm going to put it here.

  • First let's cut this.

  • So you this this end,

  • don't cut it all the way to the end.

  • Just this here, around one inch from the end.

  • And here...

  • My rice is boiling over, I'm going to stir this.

  • I will turn down the heat to very low.

  • Simmer.

  • Large one, this is too big so I'm going to cut this way.

  • So like this. This is thick so I just cut it a few more times.

  • Let's stuff this.

  • Have you guys made my stuffed cucumber kimchi?

  • If you already made my oi-sobagi kimchi, spicy stuffed cucumber kimchi

  • probably you can follow this very easily.

  • You don't have to use your hands if you are uncomfortable

  • use just a spoon.

  • But this way is much much faster.

  • And you will see that this is all seasoned inside out.

  • I have to hurry up!

  • So, my rice!

  • And add this here.

  • And steam.

  • I will set the timer for fifteen minutes.

  • (jazzy music)

  • (timer rings)

  • This mustard green kimchi

  • Kkaennip, perilla leaves jangajji, pickled.

  • So I just eat with gaji-jjim.

  • Wow, nice!

  • You see?

  • Some broth inside.

  • Wow, really really nice.

  • Color is beautiful color.

  • And my rice, look at this.

  • And fluff your rice.

  • This rice is a huge amount.

  • I will maybe eat for days and days, but no problem.

  • Remove from the heat.

  • And this is my gaji-jjim.

  • And ready to eat.

  • The North Korean defectors, those guys are living in South Korea now.

  • And how they ate this was so very impressive.

  • When I saw this, oh my, my mouth was watering.

  • Even though the story was very sad

  • I'm going to tell you that story soon, just maybe ten seconds after, ok?

  • So if you guys are not interested in the story, you can see my eating scene and then go!

  • Ok? (laughs)

  • Rice first.

  • Split with your fingers.

  • And then they eat this way.

  • Mmm!

  • Yum!

  • Tastes good! Sweet, savory, and juicy.

  • And soft.

  • Tender, just all melting in my mouth!

  • Some cooked sauce on the bottom, you can just scoop this with your spoon while you are eating.

  • I'm going to tell you this story now, are you ready to be sad now?

  • Probably you will understand why I was so curious about this dish.

  • And the lady who defected from North Korea, twelve years ago she came from North Korea.

  • But there is no way to come to South Korea directly

  • She and her daughter and family they came.

  • And they had to cross the river to come to South Korea, they had to go through China first.

  • And then they got caught!

  • By the Chinese police.

  • But the Chinese police gave her a choice.

  • First, you all have to go back to North Korea.

  • Second option is: Mom you can come to China but your daughter has to go back to North Korea.

  • So they had to choose, what a difficult decision they had to make.

  • Mom and the daughter were crying, crying when they separated.

  • Can you imagine? When they separate, you never know what will happen in the future.

  • She went to China and later she came to South Korea.

  • And her husband and she, they have a house near the North Korean border area

  • because they are always looking forward to meeting their daughter.

  • They tried to find out what happened to their daughter, but they couldn't find any information about the daughter.

  • But she loved this dish.

  • And another dish is gochu-jjim, is steamed green chili pepper with some doenjang.

  • She said: "My daughter loved spicy food."

  • "Whenever I made this dish, she ate and kept saying: 'Delicious, delicious, delicious' while she was eating."

  • The mom said: "Whenever I think about my daughter, I can't be comfortable."

  • "And forever I'm just waiting for my daughter."

  • As a mom, when I watched this TV show, I was crying, crying, crying. (laughs)

  • You know, this about this as a mom, you know?

  • She makes this and thinks about how happy she was, when she was eating.

  • She used some red sauce.

  • Red paste, but I still can't know what is inside.

  • Because there is no recipe.

  • But I just developed this red sauce by myself, this way, to make it really delicious.

  • So I'm sure that you will love this recipe.

  • I hope someday we North Korea and South Korea all reunite

  • and some families, especially like hers, separated families, they should meet

  • they should be able to meet each other.

  • Isn't it? Really this is... um.

  • This is so sad.

  • (laughs)

  • Today we made North Korean style gaji-jjim.

  • Spicy, stuffed, steamed eggplant.

  • Enjoy my recipe, see you next time

  • Bye!

(cheery music)

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