Episode 80

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Published on:

19th May 2025

WELCOME TO OUR KITCHEN: We're talking about Korean food!

Do you have a favorite Korean restaurant? Or a favorite dish? Or a favorite ingredient? We do! To all!

We're Bruce Weinstein & Mark Scarbrough, authors of thirty-six cookbooks, plus one forthcoming this summer: COLD CANNING. You can click that link to order your copy. Learn how to preserve the seasons in small batches without any pressure or steam canning.

We've also got a one-minute cooking tip about chopsticks. And we'll tell you what's making us what's happy in food this week: crab apple cider and a lemon tart.

Here are the segments for this episode of COOKING WITH BRUCE & MARK:

[00:46] Our one-minute cooking tip: chopstick etiquette.

[04:11] What do two North American guys know about Korean food? We'll take you on our journey of discovery for Korean fare.

[30:33] What’s making us happy in food this week: crab apple cider and a lemon tart.

Transcript
Mark:

Hey, I am Bruce Weinstein and this is the Podcast

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Cooking with Bruce and Mark.

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And I'm Mark Scarborough, and together

with Bruce, my husband, we have written

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three dozen cookbooks plus a couple

knitting books plus a memoir for me.

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We've written, I don't know, quite

a few books plus some work for

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hire books for celebrities, which

we can't really talk about Dr.

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Phil, but can't really

talk about too much.

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But this is the podcast that explores

our food and cooking passion,

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the main passions of our life.

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We've got a one minute

cooking tip about Korean food.

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We wanna explore our journey to

discover Korean food, to help you

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perhaps find a discovery route to

Korean food, and we'll tell you what's

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making us happy in food this week.

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So let's get started.

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Our one minute cooking tip

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Bruce: here is some

chopstick etiquette fuel.

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Oh wow.

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You have to know this.

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Mark: I got one already.

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You gotta have to know this.

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No, I'm going first, Wayne.

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Alright.

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You go first.

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No, I'm saying it right up.

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Do not ever let your

chopsticks touch the table.

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Okay.

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The tips of your chopsticks

that you use to pick up food

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should never touch the table.

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You should.

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If it comes in a little paper wrapper,

fold that up to make a little stand for

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your chopsticks or rest them on the bowl.

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Do not let the part of the chopsticks

that touch food, touch the table.

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It's

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Bruce: a whole bunch of nevers.

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Here's the thing about

chopstick etiquette.

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Mark says, never touch the table.

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Never.

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Pick up food off the main

platter with your chopsticks.

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Eat it.

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No.

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Nope.

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No.

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Use a serving spoon to get it or

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Mark: serving chopsticks

to get it to your plate.

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If you go to a really fancy

place, or perhaps someone's home,

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they may have serving chopstick,

these giant, giant chopsticks.

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Mm-hmm.

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Mm-hmm.

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They're used to, they're

used in a wok as you cook.

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Bruce: Never share your food by

giving chopstick to chopstick.

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Right.

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So I'm not gonna pass you a piece of

meat for my chopstick, your chops.

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I'm not sure.

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I give, I'm

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Mark: deft enough with chopsticks

to pull that off, but Okay.

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It's rude.

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Bruce: Don't stab your

food with the chopsticks.

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Oh, no, no, no, no.

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Don't point with your chopsticks

and the most important one.

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No, do not lick.

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Or suck your chopsticks.

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Mark: Yes.

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All of those are really important to

know about chopsticks, and let's just

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also say while we're sitting here about

chopstick etiquette, especially if you

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live in North America or the uk, let's

just say we're Australia or any place like

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that, it's okay to ask for a fork spoon.

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No, absolutely.

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It is not.

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Uh, what do I wanna say?

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It's not, uh, anything to be ashamed of.

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My mom, for example, could never mm-hmm.

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Get the hang of chopsticks.

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Mm-hmm.

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My dad actually got the hang

of chopsticks, but my mom

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could never figure it out.

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And you know what?

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It's okay.

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And don't forget that there

are some cultures like.

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Thai and Thai food, where in

fact chopsticks are served

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in North America and the uk.

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That would not appear on

a tie table in Thailand.

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And why

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Mark (2): is that?

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Mark: Well, it's this

whole Asian racism thing.

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Mm-hmm.

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That somehow all Asians use chopsticks

is not necessarily the case.

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Bruce: No.

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And in some parts of

Asia it is the western.

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Cutlery that is used

because unfortunately.

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Co.

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Western colonization

has happened, so, right,

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Mark: right.

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Yep.

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So we're gonna come outta this

and talk about our exploration of

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Korean food in the hopes that we can

inspire you to try some Korean food.

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But before we get to that, let me

say that we have a TikTok channel.

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We have an Instagram reels

channel, and we have a Facebook

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channel, and all of them are named.

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Cooking with Bruce and Mark.

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Mm-hmm.

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The TikTok channel is the

big one of all of them.

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If you're on TikTok, check us out.

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We've got all kinds of videos, cooking,

tasting, doing all kinds of crazy stuff.

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We're really silly in those

videos and, um, it's okay.

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That's how it's supposed to be on TikTok.

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If you're gonna compete with a 20

year olds, then you have to be silly.

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I always say this, if you as

a 65-year-old man is going to.

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Compete with the shirtless

20-year-old boys.

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You gotta, in fact be silly.

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So if, because I ain't going shirtless.

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No, certainly not.

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That would lose followers.

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So, um, check us out on any of those

places for cooking videos and videos about

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us and writing cookbooks and our likes

and dislikes and all that kind of stuff.

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Okay?

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So let's talk about Korean food and a

way to in fact, discover it and in fact

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make it part of your culinary experience.

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Bruce: Okay, so what do two white

guys know about Korean food?

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I mean, seriously, I have to, I,

we have to start there, right?

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Neither of us are Korean.

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No.

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Neither of us speak Korean or

pronounce it well, so there's gonna

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be lots of mispronunciations going on.

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It's just something we both

love, but not something.

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Either of us grew up with

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Mark: no.

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In fact, let me say that I can

start this journey by saying,

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in college, I'm at Baylor.

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I am taking my final science course before

I go off and take all my English courses

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and my German courses for my majors and

I, I'm in my last, uh, science course,

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it's physics and my lab partner is Korean.

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And she doesn't speak English very

well, so I help her a lot with

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our labs and we work together.

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I mean, I didn't do her labs for her,

but I helped her a lot and in exchange

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for helping her understand what was going

on in physics lab, she started taking

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me to Korean restaurants and there was.

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One, I forgot to

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Bruce: say this is Waco,

Texas in the seventies.

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That was one Korean

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Mark: restaurant in the

late seventies in Waco.

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And we went there and of course

she was very familiar with this

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restaurant and knew the people that

owned it and all that kinda stuff.

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But then we actually drove twice to

Austin and went to Korean restaurants

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in Austin, and I learned about.

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Korean food, and I was

undone with it as a kid.

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I loved kid, college student.

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I You were a kid.

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You went to college as a 16-year-old.

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I was.

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I lied.

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You did.

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But I love bras.

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I love really big, deep flavors.

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I like bold combinations of flavors.

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And when I discovered this Korean

food, I, I was scared of kimchi because

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I'd heard all these horror stories

about it, burning people's faces off.

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That's so not true.

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I, I had heard all these

horror stories about a hot.

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Korean food is, that's so not true.

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Bruce: Well, it's not a subtle cuisine.

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No, it's not.

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I'll say that.

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It's not a subtle cuisine.

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I'm

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Mark: not a subtle eater, so

I am not the, uh, incredibly

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subtle Japanese connoisseur.

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Mm-hmm.

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I am in favor of giant, bold flavors.

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Well, that's, Bruce knows I want a.

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Dirty, funky red wine than a light

sophisticated, delicate white wine.

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Mm-hmm.

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That's just me.

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And so Korean flavor profiles and Korean

taste it for my uneducated palette.

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As a senior or junior in

college, I guess a junior I was.

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Absolutely undone with it

and her taking me there.

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And I came back to Dallas after

college and after traveling around

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a bit, I came back to Dallas and I

tried to get other people interested

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in Korean food and I could get no

one to go to Korean restaurants.

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It's

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Bruce: a hard sell.

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People are so familiar with

Chinese food in the US Right.

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And especially in the seventies.

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Right.

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You can go to Chinatowns.

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So now we're in most big

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Mark: cities.

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Yeah.

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Now we're talking like the late eighties

and I'm outta college and I can't get.

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Anybody interested in any of

the Korean food in Dallas?

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Bruce: It was really a hard sell.

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I, to be honest, I grew up with lots

and lots and lots of Chinese food, and

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I did not know what Korean food was

at all until my mid thirties and New

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York City has a big China town at this

point, but it also had a big Korea

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town, but it also had a big Korea town.

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It was 32nd Street, like for two

avenues long was Korean restaurant

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after Korean restaurant and.

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I had lived there my whole life

and didn't know about this.

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So that's how sort of

quiet this was being kept.

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Mark: Well, at least quiet for you.

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I mean.

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Mm-hmm.

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And I think this has something to do

and I'm gonna say something horrible,

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but I, I think this stuff has something

to do with the Jews and Chinese food.

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I think that there's a way

that there's this myopia that

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sets in with Chinese food.

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Mm-hmm.

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In the culture that you came from.

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Yeah.

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Because it's what you eat on

Christmas, yada yada yada.

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You

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Bruce: eat on

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Mark: what?

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Eat.

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Nobody eats, nobody eats

Chinese food on Chavez.

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But okay.

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Um, I think there is this myopia

that says, and so what happened is

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I moved in with Bruce and in the mid

:

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to Korean food, but can't find no one

to go to Korean restaurants with me.

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And we together found a.

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Place in Midtown?

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Yes, Manhattan called

Hung, and it was a vegan

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Bruce: Korean restaurant.

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And I will say the vegan

part actually put me off.

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You did?

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Because I was like, oh, I'm a carnivore.

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I've always been a carnivore

is birth and we're so okay.

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We go to this, hung this, this place.

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And it was so cliched.

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You take your shoes off, of course you do.

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They offer you kimono style

jackets They do to put on,

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they do you sit on the floor?

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They You do.

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And not even with a well

to put your feet in.

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Nope.

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You sit on the floor.

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Yep.

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And we ordered things like

grilled burdock root and, which

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was one of my favorite things.

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Of course, it's the closest

thing to a meat texture.

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And they had, but there were

much more subtle flavors.

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And I, there was this pumpkin soup.

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Yeah, the pumpkin soup, which

was so simple and beautiful.

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So I have this.

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Theory now about Korean

food, and that is vegan.

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Korean food is much more subtle

than non-vegan Korean food.

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Such

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Mark: an esoteric subcategory

of vegan Korean food.

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Well, there

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Bruce: is, there was a book that came

out a few years ago called Temple

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Food and it was written by a woman

who cooks in one of these, , Korean

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monasteries and she makes vegan food

for all the people who live there.

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You should make me more of that and.

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I had a copy of that book and quite

honestly, I found every recipe

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to be so bland and so boring.

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No.

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That I never made anything out of it.

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Okay.

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Mark: That goes against my big

flavors, and I don't remember.

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We remember hung different.

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It's still in Manhattan.

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Yeah.

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And we remember it differently

because I don't remember the flavors.

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It's all that subtle.

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I just remember it as all incredibly new.

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It

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Bruce: was new for us.

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Mark: And we took your

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Bruce: parents

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Mark: there,

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Bruce: which was We did.

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They were, I mean, I don't

think they would've ever

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gone there except that I was.

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Included in this.

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I think if you tried to take them,

they would've been like, no, no, no.

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I don't So think they

were afraid to tell me No,

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Mark: no, no, no.

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I, I dragged my parents to

all kinds of weird places.

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And, uh, not that Korean vegan food

is weird, but for them it was weird.

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And that was

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Bruce: the place your dad was

able to figure out chopsticks.

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It was.

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Your mom could not,

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Mark: it was the place Dad

figured out chopsticks and.

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My parents actually talked

about that place for years

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afterwards about going to lunch.

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There it was, and of course

it was a nice long lunch.

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It was really beautiful and a

nice, so again, we're slowly

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making our way toward Korean food.

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We're experimenting.

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I've been there at college.

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We're going to a vegan place.

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And then our editor at the time,

our book editor, at a one moment in

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our life told us about this, be b.

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Restaurant.

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Mm-hmm.

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That was in a really weird location

and he's like, oh, you have to go here.

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So we did.

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It was the East

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Bruce: Village and it was

behind another noodle shop.

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So you walked into a noodle shop.

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Yep.

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But then you had to go through a

back door behind the dining room.

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Yeah, literally through, through the

kitchen and out a back door to get

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into the second hidden restaurant.

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And I didn't know what Biba was.

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And if you don't know what it is,

it's a rice dish and most often

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the rice is hot and it's served

in a hot, hot, hot stone bowl.

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Yeah, I know.

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I see.

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Mark: Uh, at this point I'm obsessed

with Korean food, so I see these

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Korean videos on TikTok and Instagram

reels, and they put those stone balls

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right on the burners on the stove.

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So when

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Bruce: the rice goes in, it gets.

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Crispy on the bottom, you get

that beautiful browned crust.

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And then on the top, oh, I love it.

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You put all sorts of fresh vegetables,

fermented vegetables, oh my gosh,

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of sometimes some seasoned meat,

sometimes an egg raw or fried.

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So if

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Mark: you know about that, like soer at

the bit of paella where the rice burns on

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the bottom and people think this is very.

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Ta.

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I think it's very tasty and PE many people

think this is a very tasty part of Haya.

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This is a kind of paella rice on steroids.

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Yep.

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'cause it's really crunchy on the

bottom and it's really delicious.

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Bruce: It was about, oh, I, maybe the 10th

or 12th time I had it before, I realized

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after seeing enough videos online that the

proper way to eat it is to mix it all up.

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Yeah.

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And that is actually a very traditional

way of eating a lot of these.

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Korean dishes we're gonna talk

about is to mix it all up.

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And I was eating it from the top down.

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And that's not really the traditional way.

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No, no, no, no, no.

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A lot of Korean food.

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Mark: No, no, no.

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You, you mash it all up.

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You mash it all together.

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And that's another reason I

like Korean cuisine so much.

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And then of course we moved from

there from that experience too,

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I think what is a lot of people's

entree point in North America and

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the UK and Australia to Korean food.

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And that is Korean barbecue.

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But it was actually for us, a very late.

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Intriguing into the process.

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We were completely into vegan Korean food.

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I was completely into glass

noodles and the Oh, che.

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Yeah.

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And I was, that made up from sweet

potato starch and they're really chewy.

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Right.

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And I was completely into all

of that from my college years.

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Uh, and, you know, I was, I was into

the, uh, the quote unquote Korean

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sushi with the, like the machi rolls,

uh, that you run through the hot.

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Red sauce.

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I was into all of that, but I didn't

actually until late know very much about

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Korean barbecue, which is really weird.

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'cause again, I think that's

where most people start these.

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Bruce: And Korean barbecue is

a huge category of Korean food.

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Yeah.

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I mean there are Korean barbecue

restaurants where that's all they serve.

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Mark: And I should say that one of

the moments when we really, uh, got

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into Korean barbecue was in Dallas.

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We were visiting my parents.

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We had had some Korean

barbecue here in New England.

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I'll let Bruce tell that story, but we'd

had some Korean barbecue here in New

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England, but then we were in Dallas and

it just so happened that right where I

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grew up in North Dallas, a Korea town

had in fact moved into a huge area.

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If you know Dallas, this is.

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At, uh, Royal Lane and Harry Hines,

and it became all of this Korean

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restaurants, Korean grocery stores,

Korean hair cutting salons, nail salons.

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The whole business moved into

there and there was a Korean

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barbecue restaurant there.

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And we were with my dad and mom and,

I don't know, maybe for a holiday.

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And I found this place online.

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I was like, oh, we're gonna

go try this Korean barbecue.

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And my mom and dad

would not go down there.

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They would not come with us.

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They no way refused.

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So they went to the vegan Korean

restaurant in New York City.

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I think it had to do with New York City.

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Put their guard down and so

they were able to go there.

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But thi this, they were like, no way.

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It

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Bruce: may have scared them

the idea of barbecue and meats.

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They might not have been, know what

kind of meat that was gonna be.

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Might, well, I don't might

even if they knew it was

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Mark: frightening.

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Do it yourself.

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Barbecue.

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Well

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Bruce: that is the thing.

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Korean barbecue is do it yourself.

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They, you're, you're sitting

at a table with a burner in

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the middle, in front of you.

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Um, some.

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Restaurants, it's gas flames.

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Some places they actually bring

a charcoal bucket and we'll talk

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about that experience we had in la.

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So I think this place in Dallas,

it was a gas flame and they

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put a metal, yes, it was gas.

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They put a metal pan over

that with slits in it.

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And you grill your meat on this,

almost griddled on this metal pan.

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They bring you a platter of

meat that you order and you can

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order pork belly, you can order.

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Um.

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You can order pork belly,

you can order short ribs, you

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Mark: can order all sorts of meat.

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Okay.

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So,

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Bruce: yeah.

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And you

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Mark: grill it yourself.

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Yeah.

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You grill it yourself.

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So now I, I'm sorry I'm pushing

you on, but let's you talk

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about Jacque for a moment.

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Bruce: Oh, that's how we got this.

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That's how we first found

out about Korean barbecue.

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So a very dear friend of ours who lives

in New England, right near us, her

420

:

son-in-law is Korean and his name is Yuck.

421

:

And he would.

422

:

Always make Korean barbecue for them.

423

:

Mm-hmm.

424

:

And we started to get

invited to all these dinners.

425

:

Mm-hmm.

426

:

And yuck would bring all these

fabulous short ribs and, and it's the

427

:

cross cut flunking style short ribs.

428

:

And he'd marinate them in beautiful

Korean marinades and grill them.

429

:

And then traditionally, as always, you

cut them into pieces with scissors.

430

:

Mark: And, let me finish, let me get

in and let me say that what, how.

431

:

Did, and I think what blew both of our

minds is Jacque upped the condiment game.

432

:

Mark (2): Mm-hmm.

433

:

Mark: That's what we didn't know.

434

:

Yeah.

435

:

We did know about grilling the meat.

436

:

What we didn't know is all the

billions of condiments that you

437

:

can put on the Korean barbecue.

438

:

Bruce: So like my favorite thing,

Jiang, it's uh, a paste that is

439

:

put on so much barbecued Korean

meat, and it's a combination of.

440

:

Dun Jang, which is a fermented

soybean paste and gochujang,

441

:

which is a sticky, sweet, spicy

paste and garlic and sesame oil.

442

:

It is, dare I say, it

is the Korean ketchup.

443

:

It is amazing.

444

:

It is the Korean version

of Indian chutney.

445

:

It's like the go-to condiment to put on.

446

:

Anything that comes off the grill.

447

:

Mark: So after Cka had gotten

us into Korean barbecue and

448

:

we'd had some, uh, elsewhere we

went to on this trip to la Mm.

449

:

And uh, we decided we were

gonna go off on vacation.

450

:

We had a week.

451

:

We didn't know where to go.

452

:

Neither has really spent a

lot of time in la We ended up

453

:

going to La, Los Angeles Yeah.

454

:

For a week.

455

:

And both of us fell dead

in love with Los Angeles.

456

:

And we did, but we ate like beasts

for a week and it was fantastic.

457

:

But one of the places Bruce chose for

lunch was this Korean barbecue spot

458

:

in Koreatown in la and , so, I think,

how do I know this place is good?

459

:

And we drive up and we open the

front door and what happens?

460

:

Bruce: Smoke.

461

:

So it's pouring out the front door, like

462

:

Mark: seriously, as if, as if

the place inside is on fire.

463

:

So

464

:

Bruce: it is true, every

single table has a vent.

465

:

Like that comes right down over to suck

the smoke up because this place actually

466

:

brings you a box of burning charcoal.

467

:

Mm-hmm.

468

:

Puts that in the hole, in the table.

469

:

Mm-hmm.

470

:

Between you.

471

:

Mm-hmm.

472

:

Turns on the vent, but that vent is fine

until you put the meat on the grill.

473

:

Mm-hmm.

474

:

And then the smoke, it was.

475

:

Spectacular.

476

:

And we did have to go back to our

hotel and take a shower and wash our

477

:

hair because it smelled like reminded

478

:

Mark: me of being in a gay bar when,

back in the days when I did such things.

479

:

Mark (2): And you would come out, did

it smell come like Korean barbecue?

480

:

Mark: No, but you would come out

smelling like smoke disgust and you'd

481

:

have to go home and take a shower

because it was so disgust disgusting.

482

:

Your clothes smelled like smoke.

483

:

Your hair smelled like smoke.

484

:

It was like that, except we

smelled like Korean barbecue.

485

:

But I

486

:

Bruce: learned something

else in that restaurant.

487

:

And that was the.

488

:

First place that we had ever experienced

this idea of banchan and banchan are all

489

:

those little side dishes of vegetables

and fermented pickles and all sorts of

490

:

things that come with your main course.

491

:

And in a barbecue restaurant where the

only main courses are grilled meat,

492

:

they are first going to bring you.

493

:

Bowl after bowl after bowl of

bunch on, and they're gonna

494

:

put out 10, 12, 15 of these

495

:

Mark: side dishes.

496

:

And being the total westerner that I

am, when I first started eating Korean

497

:

food, I would let all those bowls sit

on the table because I thought I was

498

:

being polite and waiting for the main

course that I was to eat them with.

499

:

I didn't realize until I started

looking around me what other people

500

:

were doing that they were just digging

into all those bowls and eating the

501

:

kimchi and eating this and that, and

the other that came and the bowls

502

:

even before the main course arrived.

503

:

Mm-hmm.

504

:

I was being so decorated.

505

:

We didn't

506

:

Bruce: know what to do with this stuff.

507

:

In fact, we didn't.

508

:

We went, we went to a Korean restaurant

in Bayside where I grew up in Queens,

509

:

and that when I was growing up, of

course in the sixties, that was an

510

:

old Jewish neighborhood, and now

it's an all Korean neighborhood.

511

:

Mm-hmm.

512

:

Everything is Korean.

513

:

Mm-hmm.

514

:

Mm-hmm.

515

:

There are.

516

:

Korean restaurants in every corner.

517

:

There were even Korean Chinese

restaurants on every other corner.

518

:

Yeah.

519

:

Mark: Which is a really

interesting category and I don't

520

:

think most people know about it.

521

:

And that is Chinese food as

CED through Korean techniques.

522

:

It

523

:

Bruce: was fabulous.

524

:

Mark: It's really a wild subcategory.

525

:

Mm-hmm.

526

:

Of Chinese food.

527

:

It's interesting.

528

:

Bruce: But we went to a tofu

restaurant 'cause tofu is a.

529

:

Huge ingredient and thing in Korean

food, and we went to a tofu restaurant

530

:

and we ordered this dish called kimchi

gge, which is a big, famous dish.

531

:

It is a stew made with this fermented

bean paste and lots of kimchi in it.

532

:

Mark: One of my favorite things,

and when Bruce asks me What do I

533

:

want for dinner at this point, I

often say kimchi, gigga, because,.

534

:

Is so satisfying.

535

:

Lots of onions, lots of kimchi,

long braised pork belly.

536

:

It's so delicious.

537

:

But as Bruce says, it

does have tofu in it.

538

:

It has tofu in it.

539

:

Lots of tofu.

540

:

But

541

:

Bruce: among all the baan they

brought to us, there was one

542

:

little bowl that had an egg.

543

:

Now, mark and I both assumed

this was a hard boiled egg.

544

:

No, I don't like hard boiled eggs.

545

:

Okay, so I'm not gonna touch it.

546

:

And he didn't eat it.

547

:

And it went back with all the dishes.

548

:

Only then at the next table did we see a

couple, two women ordered the same dish

549

:

we did, and they picked up that egg and

it was raw, and they cracked the egg into

550

:

the bubbling hot dish of kimchi shige.

551

:

And I'm like, oh, I want to do over.

552

:

Mark: I have to add to this story

because our waiter came over and

553

:

she saw that we hadn't cracked the

egg in before we figured out what

554

:

other people were doing with it.

555

:

And she swept.

556

:

Egg off the table because

we had half eaten the stew.

557

:

Yes.

558

:

In disgust.

559

:

She looked at us in disgust

and swept it off the table.

560

:

Well, no one ever told

561

:

Bruce: me you're supposed

to put the egg in it.

562

:

No.

563

:

I wish I'd

564

:

Mark: known.

565

:

Now I know I didn't know

this kind of stuff either.

566

:

So this is, this is this whole bit

of slowly introducing ourselves to

567

:

Korean food and we're saying all

this because we hope that perhaps

568

:

we could inspire you to try it.

569

:

Mm-hmm.

570

:

And one of the great ways you

could try it is you could go to

571

:

a large Korean grocery store.

572

:

We've.

573

:

Talked about H Mart endlessly, but

you could go to H Mart and you could

574

:

see the prepared foods and there's

a lot of big foods that you can just

575

:

actually buy right there and eat.

576

:

Mm-hmm.

577

:

You could try it out.

578

:

You can go to a local Korean

restaurant, you can try the Be

579

:

Bimba, you can try various things.

580

:

One of the places that is really

easy to try in North America at

581

:

this point is the chain Banon,

which makes Korean fried chicken.

582

:

Mm-hmm.

583

:

Bruce and I often go to the Bon Chun in

New England about an hour away from us.

584

:

But when we're over at Costco, we often

stop at Bon Chun for lunch and uh, they

585

:

make really crispy, unbelievably crispy,

uh, fried chicken that I wanna have.

586

:

The super, super hot

sauce doused all over it.

587

:

Now,

588

:

Bruce: we've never ordered off

the other part of the menu.

589

:

No, but they do have a whole side of

the menu that is more traditional.

590

:

No, I know Korean dishes.

591

:

So if you go there, you can try Beam Map.

592

:

Mm-hmm.

593

:

You can try bulgogi.

594

:

No, you can try DeBakey.

595

:

No.

596

:

Which are those chewy rice

cakey sticks in a sweet and hot

597

:

Mark: sauce, which

598

:

Bruce: are amazing.

599

:

Mark: Yes, uh, you can, but again,

Bonton is a great way to start.

600

:

And if you go there, get, uh, what

is sometimes called chicken moo

601

:

or the, the, what do they call it?

602

:

Pickled radish or something.

603

:

They call it pickled

604

:

Bruce: radish, right?

605

:

It's often called chicken moo

because moo is the word for radish.

606

:

In Korean and you pickle it and it's

what is served with fried chicken.

607

:

So it's called chicken moo,

608

:

Mark: right?

609

:

Chicken radish.

610

:

And you can get that as a side

dish and eat it with your fried

611

:

chicken, which is what we do.

612

:

Um, and it's really delicious and

there are all kinds of ways to find and

613

:

expand your palate with Korean food.

614

:

Oh, and if you've done this and know

how to do this, then eventually, maybe

615

:

the hope is you might even start.

616

:

Making some of this at home

again, I think Kim Shiga is a

617

:

really great winter stew to make.

618

:

Mm-hmm.

619

:

So why don't you just do a really simple

walkthrough of how you make Kim Shige?

620

:

Bruce: You wanna take a heavy

small pan, like something you

621

:

would make a soup or a stew in.

622

:

And it's not too big 'cause you don't

really make giant batches of this,

623

:

like a two quart or one quart pot.

624

:

And I put a little sesame oil

in the bottom and I know people

625

:

say, don't saute with sesame oil,

but I'd like it for this dish.

626

:

And I put in a ton of fresh

ginger and onion, raw, raw onion.

627

:

Raw, raw, sliced onion.

628

:

And I just, just let it start sizzling.

629

:

You don't really want

to cook it very much.

630

:

And then you.

631

:

Dump in a ton of fresh kimchi.

632

:

Chop it up so that it's a

little easier to deal with.

633

:

Mm-hmm.

634

:

Put in some sliced pork belly,

and then you're going to

635

:

cover that with some broth.

636

:

Now you can use chicken broth.

637

:

You can use vegetable broth.

638

:

Traditionally, I would like to flavor

that broth with some dried anchovies.

639

:

If you don't have those, you can

get something called Handi in an

640

:

Asian market, which is a Japanese

dashi powder, and that'll give

641

:

you that slight fish flavor to it.

642

:

You be really careful with it.

643

:

Just put a teaspoon, tiny little bits in

with your chicken broth, and then you have

644

:

to put a little sweetener, so sometimes

a little brown sugar, a little corn

645

:

syrup works, and then the chili flakes.

646

:

You need chili flakes,

gochugaru, gochugaru, and then

647

:

the pork belly, as I said,

648

:

Mark: go is a think about red.

649

:

Uh, pepper Flakes, you know,

the, that, that you put on pizza.

650

:

Mm-hmm.

651

:

But they're not, this is a Korean

version that's kind of like that.

652

:

It's a coarsely, ground dried red pepper.

653

:

It is hot.

654

:

I will use two tablespoons for

a quart sized pot for us and.

655

:

I have watched many at this point of a

cooking video of people making kimchi

656

:

shiga online, and I see them put what

could only be a half cob, three quarters

657

:

of a cob of the, it's really hot.

658

:

It's really hot.

659

:

We don't.

660

:

Quite go that hot, but, and

661

:

Bruce: once it comes to a simmer,

you're gonna let that simmer away

662

:

for about 40 minutes until the pork

belly is tender about halfway through.

663

:

I'm gonna open it and I'm

gonna put tofu on the top.

664

:

You can use a firm tofu.

665

:

A soft tofu.

666

:

I like to use silk and tofu

because that's really good.

667

:

And if I'm using.

668

:

Silicon.

669

:

I put it in closer to the

end just to warm it up.

670

:

'cause I don't want it to break apart.

671

:

We tend not to put the egg in

it when we have it at home.

672

:

Right.

673

:

But you can put the egg

in it and that's it.

674

:

So it's the kimchi, the onions,

the sesame oil, and that's it.

675

:

The fishy broth.

676

:

It's the, I notice that

the writer has to fun of.

677

:

Mark: That's it, because like that's it.

678

:

I'm sorry.

679

:

That's not just, that's it.

680

:

Okay.

681

:

Bruce: Well if you wanna

really go, that's it.

682

:

The sweetener traditionally in

Korean food would be rice syrup.

683

:

Okay.

684

:

So anyway.

685

:

Mark: Yeah, that's it.

686

:

And I have to say that we, uh, Bruce

often makes, uh, Kim Suge in a totally

687

:

non-traditional way, and he makes it

instead a pork belly with beef oxtails.

688

:

And in fact, the Korean man

who kind of got us on the jag

689

:

of Korean barbecue, fantastic.

690

:

Actually ate Bruce's oxtail,

Kim Shige, and he was rather

691

:

speechless about the whole thing.

692

:

It's not that he didn't like it, he

just, it was like he couldn't process it.

693

:

He didn't

694

:

Bruce: know he, that's

695

:

one of the things I've discovered

about a lot of Korean food.

696

:

The dishes are very.

697

:

Set.

698

:

Like this dish has these

ingredients, right?

699

:

And this dish has these ingredients,

and once you switch out one ingredient,

700

:

it's like traditionalists will go.

701

:

I don't even know what that dish is now.

702

:

I don't recognize it.

703

:

Mark: Well, I, yeah, I, I don't

know that that's a, that that's,

704

:

uh, necessarily a Korean thing.

705

:

I think that, oh no, I think

that comes with a lot of things.

706

:

That's a French thing.

707

:

Mm-hmm.

708

:

That's.

709

:

It's the Jewish grandmother thing.

710

:

That's, that's, oh my gosh.

711

:

So I, I'm totally off Korean for a

minute, but I just wanna say that when,

712

:

uh, years ago we wrote the Ultimate

Cookbook, which was 900 recipes,

713

:

his first giant book we ever wrote.

714

:

And, um, it kind of represented

totally still represents the way

715

:

Bruce cooks on an everyday basis.

716

:

900 recipes is a huge,

huge encyclopedia book.

717

:

And, um, we said we write this book.

718

:

And it got of course reviews.

719

:

And this one reviewer, his comment was out

of 900 recipes, he made a big deal that

720

:

Bruce put garlic powder in matza balls.

721

:

And it was this whole thing about matza

balls do not have garlic powder in them.

722

:

And it, it, it, it's back to that, you

know, there is a way to make matza balls

723

:

and it's the way I grew up making it.

724

:

And that's the end of the matter

725

:

Bruce: in my defense.

726

:

If you look at the ingredient

list on the box of Manus

727

:

Chitz, matza bowl mix, I, yeah,

728

:

Mark: I know.

729

:

Garlic powder.

730

:

I know, but I'm just saying that

this is the way, I don't think it

731

:

has anything to do with Korean food.

732

:

This is the way that

storied dishes get mm-hmm.

733

:

Set.

734

:

Mm-hmm.

735

:

In a kind of, and don't

736

:

Bruce: change them.

737

:

Mark: Right.

738

:

In a kind of cultural matrix.

739

:

It's really weird.

740

:

Like, for example, I think that a lot

of us from the South have very set

741

:

ideas about what Hop and John is, what.

742

:

Cornbread is, I have

what fried chicken is.

743

:

I have very set ideas about cornbread

and my ideas about cornbread.

744

:

And I grew up, as you may know,

in Texas, and I grew up with mom,

745

:

who thought that putting sugar

in things made you low class.

746

:

So I grew up with

cornbread that did, had no.

747

:

Added sugar to it.

748

:

And still to this day, I can hear

my mother say, my now long gone

749

:

mother say about cornbread when she

bites into it, Ooh, this is cake.

750

:

Meaning, well so much.

751

:

It has no sugar.

752

:

Meaning it has sugar in it,

and she doesn't want any sugar.

753

:

Bruce: How often have I bitten

into a piece of cornbread

754

:

in a barbecue restaurant?

755

:

Oh, and it's so sweet

and it's like dessert.

756

:

Wait a

757

:

Mark: second.

758

:

This is like a polenta cake,

but you didn't grow up with it.

759

:

And again, it's part of

what gets set in your head.

760

:

Like, like the Jewish matza balls

and soup and like mini Korean dishes.

761

:

These are storied dishes

from people's past.

762

:

Mm-hmm.

763

:

And so when you take this St story dish

and you add oxtails to it instead of pork

764

:

belly, it changes the whole thing around.

765

:

It did.

766

:

Bruce: And boy did.

767

:

I love it.

768

:

Mark: I do.

769

:

I actually love Kim

with, uh, oxtails in it.

770

:

I think it's really tasty.

771

:

so as we come to the end of this bit

about, uh, Korean food, is there any

772

:

Korean cookbook that you would recommend

if somebody wanted to buy a cookbook

773

:

and figure out how to make it at home?

774

:

Bruce: That's really a good question.

775

:

There's a brand new cookbook

that just came out this year and

776

:

it's actually up for some awards.

777

:

And it's called Uma, UMMA,

which is mom in Korean.

778

:

It's called Uma, and it is all about

home cooking and stories that this author

779

:

knows about from her mother and her

grandmother who taught her how to cook.

780

:

And the recipes are.

781

:

Just beautiful to look at and the

ingredients sound fabulous and I have

782

:

not cooked from me yet, but I have so

many flag that I'm going to be making.

783

:

Mark: So.

784

:

I hope that in saying all this, we

have inspired you to go out and find a

785

:

Korean restaurant to just experiment.

786

:

Maybe you wanna start

with Korean barbecue.

787

:

Maybe you wanna start with

a Korean vegan restaurant.

788

:

Maybe you already know all there is

to know about Korean food and you

789

:

want to, uh, tell us about that.

790

:

You can find us on the

Facebook group cooking.

791

:

Bruce and Mark will post this episode

of the podcast and you can tell us

792

:

your favorite Korean dishes or your own

experience the first time you ever had.

793

:

Korean food, or maybe you are Korean

and the best place where you live to

794

:

get Korean food beside your mom's house,

the best place to go buy Korean food.

795

:

Before we get to the final segment,

what's making us happy and food this week?

796

:

Let me just say that it would be

great if you could subscribe to this

797

:

podcast and if you could rate it,

if you could give it a star rating.

798

:

Can I ask for five?

799

:

That would be nice.

800

:

And a review that helps in the,

uh, algorithms and the analytics.

801

:

Thanks for doing that.

802

:

As you know, we are.

803

:

Unsupported.

804

:

We choose to be unsupported.

805

:

So it is the way that you can

actually help support this podcast.

806

:

Thanks for doing that.

807

:

I know it's an extra step and I

hate making, uh, any requests for

808

:

extra steps, but there you go.

809

:

Thanks for doing that.

810

:

Okay.

811

:

As is traditional, we're gonna

finish off with what's making

812

:

us happy in food this week.

813

:

Bruce: Crab apple hard cider.

814

:

Oh gosh.

815

:

You've heard me talk about hard cider

being one of my favorite things over

816

:

and over, but as Mark has said in a

previous episode, we have been recently

817

:

to the Finger Lakes and there are so

many cries around these lakes there.

818

:

It is not only a wine producing region,

it is a huge cider reproducing region

819

:

and increasingly cider reproducing.

820

:

We found some fabulous ones and we

bought a couple of big bottles of a.

821

:

Crab.

822

:

Apple cider.

823

:

Now

824

:

Mark: I should say, when we say

cider, we're talking about hard cider.

825

:

Hard cider

826

:

Bruce: beer levels four to 5%.

827

:

Mm.

828

:

So good.

829

:

So we had that crab, apple

cider with burgers for dinner,

830

:

and it was spectacular.

831

:

Mark: It was, it was really nice.

832

:

Yeah, it was really sour

and it was really great.

833

:

Okay, so what's making me

happy in food this week?

834

:

It is a lemon tart that Bruce made, and

I have to say that this is a really hard

835

:

thing for me to admit because I think I

am the master of the lemon meringue pie.

836

:

But Bruce made a lemon tart recently,

and you made it with a thicker crust.

837

:

So it was much more cookie like, and

then he put a lemon card on top of it

838

:

and he put an Italian meringue, which

is a cooked meringue on top of that.

839

:

So it's a marshmallowy sticky meringue.

840

:

I do the french meringue, the

traditional American lemon meringue

841

:

pie, where it's the French meringue.

842

:

It's really light and high.

843

:

His was much more marshmallowy

and his lemon tar was spectacular.

844

:

I ate way too much of it.

845

:

Mm-hmm.

846

:

It was really good and it's really

hard for me to give any creds to any

847

:

Lemon Tart except my own Lemon R pie,

which you do quite well, and which I

848

:

got the recipe from my grandmother.

849

:

So I am, uh, I'm really given a huge

kudos here, uh, because I think that it

850

:

was just this spectacular Lemon Tart, and

it's not only nice occasionally to have a

851

:

dessert that kind of blows your mind, so.

852

:

Hmm.

853

:

Thank you.

854

:

That was really nice and

it made me very happy.

855

:

Alright, that's the podcast for this week.

856

:

Thanks for listening to it.

857

:

Thanks for being part of

our podcast community.

858

:

Thanks for being on this Food

and Cooking journey with us.

859

:

We appreciate you more than you can know,

and we appreciate your being here with us

860

:

Bruce: more than you can know.

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:

And as Mark said, please subscribe so

you don't miss a single episode when

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:

we talk about Korean food, Chinese

food, Japanese food, and all the

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:

foods that we are passionate about

here on cooking with Bruce and Mark.

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About the Podcast

Cooking with Bruce and Mark
Fantastic recipes, culinary science, a little judgment, hysterical banter, love and laughs--you know, life.
Join us, Bruce Weinstein and Mark Scarbrough, for weekly episodes all about food, cooking, recipes, and maybe a little marital strife on air. After writing thirty-six cookbooks, we've got countless opinions and ideas on ingredients, recipes, the nature of the cookbook-writing business, and much more. If you've got a passion for food, we also hope to up your game once and a while and to make you laugh most of the time. Come along for the ride! There's plenty of room!

About your host

Profile picture for Mark Scarbrough

Mark Scarbrough

Former lit professor, current cookbook writer, creator of two podcasts, writer of thirty-five (and counting) cookbooks, author of one memoir (coming soon!), married to a chef (my cookbook co-writer, Bruce Weinstein), and with him, the owner of two collies, all in a very rural spot in New England. My life's full and I'm up for more challenges!