Original subtitles

[Antoni Porowski] I'm Antoni Porowski.

-Hello. -[woman speaks indistinctly]

[Antoni] And as a son of immigrants,

-I know that food... -Ooh!

...can tell you more about who you are...

Nothing makes me feel more Polish than this.

...and where you've come from...

-This is it. -...than you ever imagine.

So now, I'm leading six curious Hollywood stars...

-Are you excited for this? -Yeah.

[Antoni] ...on their very own journeys of a lifetime.

I've been waiting for this moment my entire life.

[both laugh]

[Antoni] I'll be delving into their family histories...

[gasps]

-Florence? -[Antoni] Yeah.

...and tracking down culinary clues...

Oh, my gosh, it's so good.

...to unlock the past.

[Issa Rae] It almost feels unreal to think that

I descend from a king.

[Antoni] And it all begins...

-Ha! -For you, Nona.

-[Antoni] ...with just one... -Mmm.

-[laughter] -[Antoni] ...family recipe.

[kiss smacks] It's crispy.

Mmm!

[Antoni] This time, actress, rapper, and comedian Awkwafina...

Whoa! Oh, my, we're so high.

[Antoni] ...heads to South Korea

in search of her mother's memory.

[sobs]

[Antoni] She'll rediscover the taste of childhood...

That's really, uh, nostalgic.

[Antoni] ...unravel some mysteries...

-[glasses clink] -...and find out that

she's more Korean than she ever thought possible.

[Mark Peterson] Everyone you see here is a relative of yours.

-That's so cool. -[Mark] Yeah.

You've come home.

[pencil scratching]

[ship horns blaring]

[horns honking]

What's New York to you?

Since this is where we are right now,

this is where we start.

I mean, this is my home.

This is... New York is my home, everything.

-And Grandma's here and Dad's here. -Yeah.

[Antoni] Awkwafina's real name is Nora Lum,

and she was raised by her Chinese-American dad

and her grandma, who owned a restaurant in Queens.

Just looking at the old photos,

it's clear that food runs in this family's blood.

We are gonna have a jajangmyeon,

and I used to eat it a lot

and my grandma used to, um, cook it for me.

It was something that she shared with my mom

because my mom was Korean

and, um, my grandma's from

a city in Northern China

that is very close to Korea and they had this...

they shared this dish.

[Antoni] With a Korean mom and a Chinese-American dad,

jajangmyeon holds a special place in both of her cultures.

But that's not the only reason this meal is so important.

Having moved to the States as a young woman,

Nora's mom passed away when she was just 4 years old.

Her Chinese grandma moved in,

and she loved to cook the dish that connected

the whole family to Nora's mom.

Whatever hole I think my mom's passing left,

um, my grandma really filled it with, like, unconditional love.

-So she stepped up? -Yeah. Yeah.

-Okay. I love her already. -[Awkwafina] In a big way, yeah.

[Antoni] Grandma's cooking up the family favorite

once more today, and she's asked us

to pick up the ingredients.

[Awkwafina] Forewarning, though,

my grandma's gonna make us feel bad about the things that we got.

I feel like they're not gonna be right.

Oh, like, we're not gonna pick the right ingredients?

I feel like we're not gonna pick the...

It's every time. It's like a radish.

She's like, "I need a radish."

And then we get her a radish, and she's like, "No, this, no."

[Antoni laughs]

-Alright, so I got the list. -Bust it out, bust it out...

Okay, okay, okay, cucumber.

-Cucumber. -Black Chinese noodle.

I feel like we should get a couple.

-Okay. Perfect. -We got the meat.

This is it.

-Hi, Grandma. -Hi, hi,

-you guys back? -[Awkwafina] How you doing?

We got all the stuff. This is Antoni.

It's so nice to meet you.

It's so nice meet you too.

I think we're missing some ingredients.

Like what, you think?

We didn't get the right noodle.

I have noodle.

-You brought stuff? -[Grandma] Yeah.

That was what is in your bag?

Yeah.

Oh. Oh, my God.

I love that you asked us

to go grocery shopping

but also you didn't have full trust in us,

so you brought your own as well.

She did not trust us.

That is a strong grandma.

-You pre-chopped them. -You prepped everything.

[Awkwafina] You pre-chopped it?

Yeah.

That's very... that is very grandma of you.

You brought your personal soy sauce.

-Yeah. -You brought the personal...

[Antoni] You heard it here first.

[Antoni laughs]

Soy sauce wars aside,

I can't wait to try this home-cooked classic.

Jajangmyeon, I think it helped you connect to Mom, right?

-Korean food and stuff? -Yeah.

We had a relationship like a mother and daughter.

I always say when I die, when I see her Ma,

I won't feel any guilty because I did a good job.

You good girl.

I promise her, you know?

Yeah.

Did you ever make jajangmyeon together?

-Yeah. -[Awkwafina] You did?

Yeah, yeah.

She like my style after that.

What's your favorite thing that Nora cooks for you?

-She don't know how to cook. -[laughs]

[laughs] That's it.

-This is a roast. -[laughter]

Okay, so we have ground pork.

You just raw dog it like that, you don't wash it?

Wash ground meat?

-[Awkwafina] Yeah, dude. -[Grandma] Yeah.

-[Antoni] Yeah. -Mm, mm-hmm?

[Antoni] The key ingredient is a sticky black bean paste

made with wheat called chunjang in Korea

or tianmian in China.

-Has like a sweetness. -[Awkwafina] Yeah, it's good.

-And like a little smokey. -[Awkwafina] Yeah.

So then all of it goes back in.

So you're really coating it with all of this.

This smells so good.

-So we can eat now. -[Awkwafina] Alright, let's do it.

[Antoni] No bowl of this stuff would be complete

without toppings.

Carrot, cucumber, and daikon radish.

[pencil scratching]

[Antoni gasps]

Thank you. Alright.

-Holy crap. -[Awkwafina] Mm-hmm.

[Antoni] It's not overly sweet.

The pork is like really nice and crispy,

and then I understand why you have all the raw vegetables.

It's like a nice crunch, right?

Mm-hmm.

I feel like there's a lot of history

and there's a lot of love behind the dish.

Are there any other things that you remember

about growing up with your mom,

like flavors or smells that came from the kitchen?

She was very, very caring about what I would eat.

She used to get me, like, really cool lunchboxes

and pack me, like, the sickest lunches.

-Hmm. -I remember that she would have

the spinach in her, in her hands,

raw spinach and she would like,

like really wring-wring it out.

When's the last time you were in Korea?

When I was four or five, right after my mom passed.

[Antoni] Hmm.

Losing her mom so young has meant

Nora's missed out on a lifetime of learning

about her Korean side.

But I wanna help change that.

[Awkwafina] I wanna go to Korea.

I wanna understand what it is today.

I wanna really immerse myself in the culture

and I wanna, like, see where my mom was from.

[Antoni] I feel like there's this, like,

whole wonderful side of where you come from

that maybe you just haven't had the opportunity to learn about.

Yeah.

[Antoni] The time is now.

[♪ dramatic music playing]

Nora's Korean deep dive kicks off right here,

South Korea's bustling capital, Seoul.

-This is wild. -[Awkwafina] Whoa!

Oh, my, we're so high.

[Antoni] Nora's mom was born in Korea in 1954.

At that time, the population of Seoul was just one and a half million.

Now it's a mega city with over 10 million inhabitants

and one of the most important economic and cultural hubs in Asia.

-Are you excited for this? -It's crazy.

It's like, it's a little overwhelming.

I don't think I, like, actually know a lot about Korea.

[Antoni] Wow!

[Awkwafina] Whoa. This is crazy.

[Antoni] Despite this country's recent boom,

South Korea's had a turbulent past,

mostly because of where it's at.

Beyond that mountain range over there is actually North Korea.

-Uh-huh. -And then we have Japan

is over that direction,

and then we have China as well.

Yeah.

[Antoni] A similar size to the state of Indiana,

Korea has a history of being pushed around

by its powerful next door neighbors,

especially China to the west, and Japan to the east.

These regional conflicts have impacted

the national identity of every Korean growing up here, including Nora's mom

and we're heading to a place that will help Nora understand

just how this legacy affected her mom's generation.

Let's go start that little knowledge tour.

-Yeah, let's do it. -Also, are you hungry?

Uh, actually, I'm good.

Um, I'm on a... I think I'm on a diet right now, yeah.

[Antoni laughs]

-[horns honking] -[people chattering]

[Antoni] We've come to a Seoul institution.

Tongin street food market.

It's the perfect place for Nora

to start soaking up her mom's world.

Whoa!

[Antoni] And sample the street food she grew up with

before she moved to America.

Is that real? How does it stay so perk?

[Antoni] I totally knew that, totally knew that.

I've arranged for local chef Jane Song to show us around.

Ooh!

[Jane] And here we have the dumplings.

Dumpling was called mandu in Korean.

It was actually brought by the Mongolian influence.

[Antoni] Can we try the dumplings?

[Jane] Sure.

Mmm!

So good. Can I take you home with me?

[Jane laughs]

I knew it was gonna be good by, like,

the translucence of the perimeter,

you can see through it like glass.

[Awkwafina] Mm, mm-hmm.

-So good. -Yeah.

[Antoni] Similar to Mongolia's national dish

of steamed dumplings, called buuz,

these silky little pockets are stuffed with seasoned meat

and have a grilled, smoky flavor.

That's fantastic.

[Jane] Here is, like, another type

of the dumplings.

It's a fishcake, which was actually brought to Korea

during the Japanese occupation.

Yeah, I know.

-...and you've gone through it. -Exactly, exactly.

-[Awkwafina] So many. -[Jane speaking Korean]

[Antoni] Korea's been a battleground for centuries.

Invaded by Mongolia, China and most recently Japan...

...who occupied the country until the end of the Second World War.

The country was split into north and south,

and the Korean war soon followed.

Nora's mom was born the year after the fighting stopped.

But the legacy of conflict had a dramatic impact

on her generation and Korea's unique cuisine.

-It's a real market. -Yeah.

[Jane] Something that I'm really proud as Korean

is, like, even though, like, we adapted those cultures,

we made it as our own.

For a country that has been occupied by different countries

at different points historically,

it's all the more important to preserve whatever it is that they can.

-Yes, exactly. -And it continues to evolve.

-Yes. -It continues...

I think in the story

it sounds like a resilience.

-You know? -Mm-hmm.

[Antoni] Next up is a food stall

famous for a dish that demonstrates that independent Korean spirit.

Uh-oh. Oh, a what?

And it just happens to be a food

that Nora already knows and loves.

This is actually my favorite, gimbap.

[Antoni] Gimbap is a food that showcases

that Korean knack for absorbing new influences

while staying true to its roots,

and this family-run stall has been serving it up here

for the last 70 years.

I feel like you could do this with your eyes closed.

-[Antoni laughs] -[Jane] She can.

And who's that behind you?

Oh, wow. Are you fast?

-No. -No. [laughs]

She's just out here to help.

[Antoni] It's a dish that might look Japanese

but definitely isn't.

[Jane] So tuna gimbap has this egg omelet, crab meat,

this yellow thing here is the tamuze,

is the pickled radish.

Cucumber. Some of the burdock.

Wow. Oh, wow.

-[Antoni] Oh, that's beautiful. -[Awkwafina] Oh, wow.

-Oh, wow! -Yay!

[Jane] It's almost like watching a show, right?

-[Antoni] I know. -[Awkwafina] Yeah.

[Antoni] Unlike sushi, the rice in gimbap is seasoned

with toasted sesame oil, not sushi vinegar.

There's a wider range of fillings

and here's the Korean giveaway, the pickled radish.

If it doesn't have the tamuze, it's not considered as a gimbap.

-[Antoni] Okay. -Right, right, right, yeah.

I'm gonna take a off camera bite, though.

-Okay. -[Antoni laughs]

Mm-hmm.

Okay.

So you see the difference.

-That is not sushi. -It is not...

-No. -...definitely not sushi.

[Antoni] Wow.

So good. So good.

I think the radish is my favorite part.

-Yeah. -[Jane] Yes.

And what we are, like, really proud of is

we are still retaining our tastes.

Food is not just nutrition to Korean people.

Do you know how we call family in Korean?

No.

-Wow. -Oh, it's who you are eating.

Oh, my gosh.

-That's really cool. -That's so sweet.

Yeah, so it's not just nutrition.

It stands for family. It stands for sharing and love.

-Yeah. -Yeah.

[Antoni] Incredible.

[speaking Korean]

Thank you, nice to meet you guys, yeah.

-Ooh. -[Awkwafina] Wow.

[Antoni] Food and family are so closely linked here

and for Nora, it's hitting a nerve.

I think it was seeing the moms and daughters together.

Makes me think about my family and the things that,

you know, I...

I maybe, like, missed out on.

I want to associate Korea with good things.

-Hmm. -I wanna...

-Oh. -Yeah.

[Antoni] Visiting her mother's homeland for the first time in 30 years

is such a huge step for Nora.

I wanna help her feel connected to her Korean family

through the food that's been passed down

and shared here for generations.

So we're heading to a place where Nora's roots run deep.

Around 140 miles south of Seoul,

in the thousand-year-old village of Daeyul-Ri.

[Awkwafina] Oh, wow.

This is so cool.

[Antoni] Yeah, I feel like we're back in time.

Nora knows very little about her late mother's Korean family,

but she does know that her mom's maiden name

was Hyun Joo Hong,

and I've made an incredible discovery about the Hong family lineage.

My research has brought us here to a place that, before now,

Nora had never even heard of.

You know, there's something, uh, like,

familiar about it, like, a place that,

like, you know and don't know, you know what I mean?

Yeah, it makes sense that it's familiar.

Um, this is actually

where your maternal grandfather was born.

Wow. Tha-tha-that just, uh, gave me the chills, wow.

-Yeah. -Yeah.

Um...

Wow.

Uh, my mom, um...

when she was passing away was...

[sniffles]

[voice breaks] a-asking for him.

So...

Um, I know she loved him.

There was a lot of love there.

Yeah.

Thanks for bringing me here. This is cool.

-Can I give you a hug? [laughs] -Yeah.

[Antoni] Nora's grandfather was born here in 1918

and died when he was 84 years old in 2002.

He came from a long line of landowners

who farmed cabbages, apples,

and the most valuable of Korean foods, rice.

Before coming here,

I reached out to Korean genealogy specialist

Mark Peterson

who's helped uncover some very special insights

about this village, and Nora's family.

-[Antoni] Hi, Mark. -[Awkwafina] Hey.

I love this place.

Not only was your grandpa born here,

the whole village is related to your grandpa.

This is the Hong village.

-Oh, wow. -Everybody here is a Hong.

-That's so cool. -Huh.

Everyone you see here is a relative of yours.

-That's so cool. -[Mark] Yeah.

It really is.

[Antoni] For an only child like Nora,

raised just by her dad and grandma,

finding out you're related to an entire village

must be pretty mind blowing.

For 800 years, Nora's relatives have lived here.

The men marrying women from outside the village

to keep the Hong family line healthy.

And in Korea's rigid social structure at the time,

it turns out her family were pretty powerful.

This village is a real yangban village.

Yangban means aristocrat with a tradition of people

that have passed the exam.

In the old days, you had to pass an exam

to get a government position,

and government positions were everything.

Private enterprise hardly existed at all.

You had ancestors that passed the exam.

One of them was a minister of personnel in the cabinet.

-Oh, wow. -That's-that's just... Yeah.

That's a wow. That's just below the king.

Oh, wow.

[Antoni] Nora had no idea just how powerful her family were here.

And there are some even bigger surprises in store.

[bird tweeting]

[birds tweeting]

[Antoni] Nora's grandfather was born in this village

in 1918.

Alright.

[Antoni] He moved to the city as a young man

to start a business and raise a family.

So although Nora's mom wasn't born here,

the family used to return for special occasions.

I've arranged for Nora to meet the village elder

to see what else she can find out.

But first, I wanna show her a dish that's been enjoyed

by her ancestors here for centuries,

and it's the perfect gift for where we're going.

[Mark] What do the red letters right there say?

Uh, I don't know.

Oh, Tuh-Oh. That's like...

[Antoni] Tteok is a steamed sweet cake made from rice flour,

and it's part of Nora's ancestral lineage.

[Antoni] Because Nora's family not only farmed rice,

they've made this treat here for generations.

Are you a Hong also?

So then, in a way, like, we're related.

-[Antoni] Related by marriage. -[Awkwafina] Yeah, yeah.

[Antoni] Yun Hee Lee has been mastering the art of tteok

for over two decades now.

-She wants you to do it. -Oh.

[Antoni] There are hundreds of varieties of sweet rice cake made here,

and this one includes pumpkin.

[Awkwafina] Oh, cool, it's like Halloween.

[laughter]

[Awkwafina] Oh, wow.

[Antoni] While the pumpkins are steaming,

the rice is ground down.

-Whoa! -[Awkwafina] Oh.

[Antoni] Then it's mixed with the softened pumpkin...

I love how she's putting you to work. [laughs]

...before being put back through the grinder.

-[Awkwafina] Oh, wow. -[Mark] You're making a finer

and finer powder.

So the rice is sweet,

and there's a bit of sweetness coming in

through the pumpkin as well.

The pumpkin-flavored rice flour

now needs to be steamed.

Why is this tteok an appropriate gift for where we're heading right now?

[Antoni] Occupation, war, famine,

Korea's had it all in recent times.

And during those years of hardship, rice was scarce.

So for Nora's mom, rice cake like this would have been a real treat.

[Awkwafina] Thank you, really nice to meet you.

[speaking Korean]

[Yun Hee Lee speaking Korean]

Bye-bye. Bye...

[Antoni] The village elder is the person responsible

for keeping up the family records,

so I've brought Nora to meet the elder of Daeyul-Ri,

Chungheon Hong,

to find out what we can about her relatives.

And I'm really glad we brought a gift.

[laughs] Yeah, nice to meet you.

[Mark] He has figured his relationship to you.

Oh, cool. Wow.

[Antoni] Chungheon Hong has discovered

that he and Nora share the same

great, great, great, great, great grandfather,

and they have many ancestors in common,

including high-ranking government officials

who ran the region and farmed their own land.

And not only that, we have what's called a Chokbo.

The Chokbo is the family tree document.

-Oh, wow. -And we've got it right here.

[Antoni] The Jokbo is a Korean book of genealogy

passed down through the generations.

Only the highest status families have these books,

and they were often used as proof that you belonged to the Yangban,

or higher social classes.

Two massive volumes.

A lot of generations here.

[Antoni] For the last 800 years,

almost every Hong has been documented in the Jokbo.

[Mark] Here is your grandfather,

and then here are his three sons

and his three daughters.

There were four daughters. Your mother's not here.

Your mother was left out,

probably because she was in America.

But we're gonna get her in the next edition.

And they're gonna put you in.

Thank you, yeah, that'd be great.

Thank you so much, uh, for doing this.

We... Um, it's very, very meaningful for me.

Did you know my mom?

-He knew your grandfather. -You knew my grandpa.

[Awkwafina] Oh, you little.

Do I look like a Hong?

Yeah. [laughs]

That's cool.

[Mark] Let's try this tteok.

[Antoni] This has like a very dense cake vibe.

-[Awkwafina] Yeah. -[Antoni] And a lot of,

like, very subtle notes.

Like, there's nothing overwhelming.

That's right.

And the, and the pumpkin flavor

is so delicate.

It totally comes through.

Today, Nora joined the long line

of Hong women who've made this traditional delicacy

here for centuries

and with its nutty flavor and hint of sweetness,

it's a hit.

The first thing I cooked in, like, six years.

♪♪

[tractor rumbling]

-I've never been to a farm like this. -Really?

[Awkwafina] I went to the Queens County farm

when I was little.

It's like women from Queens

in, like, full colonial garb, and they're like,

"so this is how we make patta cakes."

[laughs]

[Antoni] Nora's discovered she's descended

from a long line of aristocrats who owned their own land,

which they farmed for valuable crops

such a cabbage, peppers, and rice.

But before motorized tractors, the only way they could do this

was to rely on a very special creature.

-[Antoni grunts] -Thank you.

-Here you go. -Alright.

-Hello, everyone. -[Antoni] Chef Lee!

-[Awkwafina] Hi. -Hi.

How's it going?

Jun Lee is a Michelin starred chef

who's going to show us how this humble farm animal

became a global culinary sensation.

Do you know anything about the Korean beef, hanwoo?

I do know that, like, when you get Korean beef,

it always does taste different,

and it, like, barbecues differently than, like, American beef.

I think feeding is very important thing about,

like, why it develops special flavor.

So shall we get some feed going?

-[Jun Lee] Oh, yes, please. -Great, amazing.

[Awkwafina] Okay.

As a city girl, cows are really bizarre.

So is this, like, traditional hay

that we use in the United States for cows?

This is, uh, rice hay.

It makes the cow much fattier than a wheat hay.

[Awkwafina] Yeah, come and get it.

[Jun Lee] You know, back in the days, you know,

cow was not for the meat for us.

So we utilized their power.

These animals are the only one

has that much of strength,

so it was kind of a even family member

for the old Korean people.

After we use them for their farming,

we slaughter a cow.

That's why we try to utilize

the whole thing to show some respect.

-Sure. -Yeah.

What's up with these speakers here?

[Jun Lee] Some cow farm actually play some music

to let them enjoy their life.

-Oh, wow. -Because, you know,

when you're laid back, they can develop,

like, much more tender muscles and much more flavor.

[Antoni] These hanwoo have never pulled a plow.

They're accustomed to the finer things.

Can we play some music for them?

-[Jun Lee] Let's do that. -Yeah? [laughs]

[Awkwafina] Hell yeah.

-[classical music playing] -[cows mooing]

[Jun Lee] I think they are singing.

[both laugh]

[mooing continues]

♪♪

[Antoni] For Nora's country ancestors living before refrigeration,

if they slaughtered the whole animal,

it would need to be cooked and eaten pretty quickly.

So what do you do when you have a ton of meat

that needs using up?

Invite everyone around for a barbecue, of course.

-[Awkwafina] Okay, wow. -Wow.

[Antoni] What makes Korean barbecue special

is not just the meat but the way it's grilled

right at the table

and eaten with panchan.

The tasty lineup of side dishes that turn every meal into a feast.

This is probably the most delicately curated barbecue

I've ever been to.

This is sort of like a ritual.

It means like literally kind of a feast of the entire town.

-Yeah. -That's beautiful.

It's like kind of encouraging this sort of, like,

sense of community and, like, bringing people together,

I just think it's, like, outstanding.

And I guess every cow has a silver lining.

[Jun lee] Let's start with this beef.

[Awkwafina] Look at that meat, dude.

How long approximately on each side?

-[Jun lee] Ten or 15 seconds. -[Antoni] Seconds.

-[Jun Lee] Yeah. -[Antoni] That's it? Wow.

[meat sizzling]

-Oh, smart. -[Jun Lee laughs]

Wait, did you invent that or is that a thing?

[Jun Lee] No, this is a Korean thing.

[Antoni] That is so smart.

You get like a touch of the onion without too aggressive,

but also it gets to rest.

Touch of salt, let's go.

Mmm.

[Awkwafina] How's that?

I could leave right now, and I would leave happy.

-[laughs] -Holy crap.

Chewy but not rubbery, if that makes sense.

-[Jun Lee] That's true. -Which is a huge difference.

[Awkwafina] Oh.

[Antoni] I already know all I can taste...

[Awkwafina] See, this is where

eating for me gets, like, in the realm

of like... you know what I mean?

Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

I wanna marry the beef is what I'm saying.

[Antoni] These juicy, marbled morsels

are pure beefy bliss.

Oh, my gosh.

It's no surprise that Korean barbecue has taken the world by storm.

It was frickin' delicious. Like, that's...

I will remember that taste forever.

But it is amazing to think this communal tradition,

bringing everyone together around the grill,

all started with customs passed down by villagers

like Nora's ancestors.

Tonight was nice because it was

a night where I can kind of relate,

or feel a little bit familiar, in a familiar atmosphere,

which is the point of Korean barbecue, you know?

All these ceremonies, all the traditions,

I'm starting to understand why it's actually so important to, like,

uphold it, or at least to know about it.

Even, like, a-a simple baseline and then figuring out

how to make it our own, I think is, is, is incredible.

And to have you by my side, you're like...

I don't wanna say fairy because that's not...

-It's not... -[laughs]

In the context, in the context, in the context you mean,

it's completely acceptable.

Thanks, dude. Alright, let's go pass out in the alleyway.

[Antoni laughs]

♪♪

-So we're in Daegu. -Yeah.

Taegu, not Daegu,

even though it's spelled that way.

It's kinda like a, it's like a

-in between a T and a D. -Yes.

Almost 150 miles south of Seoul,

Daegu maybe smaller and more old fashioned

than the country's capital,

but this industrial city was a big player

in Korea's economic boom in the late 20th century.

And it's here where Nora's mom was born and raised.

Wh-what do you know about what her life was like

when she was really young?

Uh, she was an artist, so she, you know,

she painted and drew so much up close.

So she always wore these, like, huge glasses.

[Antoni] Nora's mom emigrated to the United States

to study art when she was just 20 years old,

and it was during her time at college in New York

that she met and married Nora's dad.

She missed Korea so much.

That's why she would make me the seaweed soup,

and I remember this almost ancestral feeling of fullness.

When I see it or I'm near it,

I really think about my mom, because she loved it so much.

[Antoni] Nora's mom's favorite dish, seaweed soup,

has a special meaning here.

So I've found someone who can teach Nora how to make it,

something she's never done before.

Oh. Puppy.

[Antoni] Traditional food expert Quan Hyan Suk

is going to show us the ropes.

You have a very lovely home.

[speaking Korean]

Wow.

I recognize this after my mom died,

'cause this was her favorite food.

My grandma kept making it for me.

Mm.

[Antoni] The soup's main ingredient is dried seaweed,

a staple in many Korean pantries.

Can you tell us a little bit

about the significance of this dish in Korean culture?

Why is it so important for a birthday?

It's to honor your mother of the hardship

that she went through of giving birth.

That's so beautiful.

[speaking Korean]

-[seaweed cracks] -[Awkwafina] Oh, okay.

[Antoni] The soup isn't just a meal.

It's a time-honored ritual,

not just to recover from childbirth

but for anyone wanting to cherish the memory of their own mom.

And as that's what Nora's journey is all about,

it's the perfect dish for her to learn.

[Awkwafina] I'm sorry, I...

-[Antoni] That is so... -[Awkwafina] That's so cool.

[Antoni] The color is changing. It's just like...

It's, like, coming to life.

[Antoni] Another key ingredient is beef,

fried in a generous glug of sesame oil.

-Oh, wow, it's already browning. -Oh, yeah.

It's cut so nice and thin so it cooks rather quickly.

Oh, it smells, it smells so good.

[sizzling]

-Whoa! Oh, wow. -[translator] Then you put in the seaweed.

[Antoni] Get your hands in there, there you go, there you go.

[Awkwafina] Oh, wow.

-[Awkwafina] Oh, wow. -[Quan Hyan Suk speaking Korean]

Okay.

[Quan Hyan Suk speaking Korean]

[translator] Yeah, she said, "How does it taste?"

Mm. Yeah, tastes good.

Like, from when I was a kid.

[translator speaking Korean]

Mm.

[voice breaks] It's good, sorry.

She-she understands.

It's weird how that happens.

Oh, man, it's just been like such a roller coaster.

It's just, that was really, uh, nostalgic.

[soup bubbling]

[Awkwafina] Oh, wow.

-Oh, wow! -It's so good, right?

[♪ gentle music playing]

[Awkwafina] The seaweed soup mythology,

I really didn't know that it has a birth thing.

I mean, it would make perfect sense, you know?

And yeah, I think it's like, it just very magical.

Yeah. That's a good word for it.

I feel better every day about it.

Good. Ah.

Oh, yeah.

♪♪

-[♪ upbeat music playing] -[train rattling]

[Antoni] It's Nora's last day in Korea

and to help her gain a real picture of her mom's childhood here,

I've tracked down two people who knew her best.

[speaking Korean]

Yeah? Thank you.

[Antoni] Yeah, she's shaking, she's shaking.

Oh, wow.

[Antoni] Kim Mi Jung and Kim Im Suk

were Nora's mom's best friends from school.

[Awkwafina] It's really great to meet you guys

because I don't know anybody from that part of her life.

She could really see, uh, your mom from you.

You look very alike.

That's nice, yeah.

No. I-I remember...

I-I just remember,

uh, like, littler things, like, when she, um...

she, you know, the food she made me, some Korean food.

[Antoni] Nora's never seen these photos before.

-Oh, wow. -[translator] Yeah.

That was after graduation.

[Awkwafina] Wow.

She-she does look like me, huh?

[speaking Korean]

[translator] That was, like, on a school trip.

I think that's your mother on the right, smiling.

[Awkwafina] She looks so happy in this picture.

[translator speaking Korean]

Thank you.

[Awkwafina] Yeah.

It's crazy 'cause I, I looked like that when I was young.

[Kim Mi Jung and Kim Im Suk] Mm.

Do you think, um...

she-she would have been happy...

of the way I turned out?

Yeah, it was so difficult for-for, um...

my family when-when she passed.

So, you know,

this part of her life for me was erased.

And so, it's nice to know that she,

she was, like, happy,

she had friends.

Thank you, guys, for-for coming.

I-I-I feel like I can move on to the next phase of my life,

um, in peace, knowing that I came here,

'cause she really wanted me to come back.

I'll-I'll-I'll always remember you guys.

And I'll come back to visit.

Uh, and I'll stay at their house

for a couple of months, if that's okay.

[laughter]

Wow.

[Antoni] It's been such a profound journey for Nora,

and I've arranged the perfect ending.

A mother and daughter custom that's about as Korean as it gets.

She's taking part in a Kimja

where mother's pass down the family recipe

for this country's best-known dish, kimchi.

-[Awkwafina] Oh, wow. -[Antoni] It's a tradition

that Nora's mom would have taught her if she could.

So, keen for Nora not to miss out,

her mom's old school friend Kim Im Suk is stepping in.

[Antoni] And local food historian and teacher

Shin Aga is going to put us to work.

-Thank you so much. -Welcome to my...

Oh, alright.

Now is the process of putting the shoes back on.

[Antoni] Kimchi is the punchy, tangy cabbage side dish

that accompanies every meal here.

The weight of my ancestors right here.

-[Antoni laughs] -Oh, man, that's a lot of cabbage, wow.

[Antoni] She got a system, I'm not messing with it.

I just didn't know that you'd need all these things, you know?

-Ready to go? -[Awkwafina and Antoni] Yeah!

Okay!

[Antoni] Every region has its own take

on this Korean staple and learning it here,

where her mom grew up

is about as close as Nora can get

to a family recipe.

[Antoni] Kimchi from Daegu is known for being both spicier and saltier

than elsewhere, with a fishy twist.

[Antoni] So we have our anchovy and our pollock broth.

There's something... There's like a crystalline...

Too busy talking, less busy cooking.

It's not just the kimchi packing a punch around here.

-[Antoni] Wait, what? -[translator] Yeah, yeah.

-Traditionally? -[translator] Yeah, traditionally,

-[Shin Aga] Okay, okay. -[translator] ...all the time.

[Antoni] Oh, that is very sticky rice.

-Antoni. -Yes, oh, yeah.

Oh, I'm so sorry, yes, of course.

I had no idea persimmons went into kimchi.

[Antoni] Persimmon, pear juice, garlic, and ginger

are all added to the marinade, followed by seaweed.

[Awkwafina] Oh, she's like, let me take over.

-[Antoni] There you go. -"Get the hell outta here."

[Antoni] The sauce really loosens it up nicely.

She says you're impatient.

-Oh. Oh! -[Antoni] Oh!

-Okay. -Okay!

-Oh, what is this... -So I'm short and I'm impatient.

...what am I, back in couple's therapy, am I right?

[translator] Yeah, don't be shy, she says.

Okay.

[Antoni] I'll try this, this feels good.

Oh. Oh.

Oh, that's nice. This is so, like, fun.

[Antoni] Mm-hmm.

Wow! Wow, that's how each leaf gets it.

[gasps] Oh, you wrap it up,

-she wraps it. -Oh!

[Awkwafina laughs]

This is probably the most Korean thing I've ever done.

-[Antoni] Yeah, tie it up. -[Awkwafina laughs]

-It's like a shoe. Okay. -[Shin Aga] Tie, tie.

[Antoni] In the days before fridges,

the kimchi was put in a pot

and buried underground to ferment.

This wasn't just a culinary practice,

but a survival strategy that mothers would teach their daughters

so they could feed their families through Korea's long, harsh winters.

[Antoni] You almost got it.

Mmm.

Wow, that's so delicious. Spicy.

[Antoni] This Daegu kimchi is so fiery...

[laughs]

[Antoni] ...our translator is speechless.

[laughter]

[Antoni] I taste the persimmons and the anchovy.

It's like you have the spice

and you have the sweet and you have the salt

and then you got the funk, it's so good.

And the cabbage is still, like, nice and crunchy

but it's softened.

I had no idea how it was made,

so this was, this was like really...

It feels like a Korean Thanksgiving kinda thing.

It never ceases to amaze me

how rituals like this can just kind of, like,

bring people together and also shockingly,

how quickly we were able to fill up

this massive ceramic pot with so much kimchi.

Food is so much more than just nutrition here.

And as well as flavor, there are layers of meaning in every bite.

It stands for family and love,

it's used to strengthen community bonds

and to heal, to share, and to build resilience

to withstand times of hardship.

For Nora, it's been a window

into the lives of her Korean ancestors

and a way to connect to her mom.

[speaking Korean]

Wow, beautiful. Okay.

[speaking Korean]

[Awkwafina] To be here, physically,

is, like, very, very profound for me.

But as every day went by, I came to feel more Korean.

I came to feel more

a part of this place, more used to it.

I began to see the mountains

from possibly what my grandpa

and mom were looking at when they were young,

and I-I think I'm gonna go back to America

more appreciative of my life.

Um...

her-her honor, you know?

And my Chinese family.

I'm gonna be really happy to go home

and run into my grandma's arms, you know,

and-and tell her all about Korea.

Mm-hmm.

Nora's right.

It's been quite the journey,

from the food we've tasted

to the people we've met.

I doubt either of us will forget our visit to Korea

anytime soon.