Hi everybody!

Look at this!

Eggplants!

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

Very fresh!

I got this from farmer's market yesterday.

All sizes are different, I love that!

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

Gochujang gaji-jjim.

Spicy stuffed steamed eggplant

So many "s!" (laughs)

It's North Korean style.

A few years ago I watched a Korean tv show.

On the show they made this dish.

I was so inspired to recreate this recipe.

Because that story is a really touching story.

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

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

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

So five cloves minced garlic we need.

And also this onion...

about a quarter cup.

Quarter cup, let's also chop it up.

And two scallions.

And let's add...

two tablespoons vegetable oil.

And then garlic and onion.

(sizzling)

I stirred one minute and then green onions.

(more sizzling)

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

See? My garlic is a little crispy and brown.

Turn off the heat.

Smells so good and looks so delicious.

What did I do?

Just only stirring three ingredients, right?

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

Amazing.

And then let it cool down a little bit.

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

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

I usually buy eggplants in the Korean grocery store because

Korean, Japanese, and Chinese eggplants are thin

Thin skinned.

And easily we can cook.

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

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

I was so happy to see that.

So first...

This stem area...

Like this...

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

Clean like this.

So this is one pound.

(rice cooks in background)

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

I'm making rice in a large pot.

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

She has a large cauldron pot.

Even she used a wood fire.

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

Sometimes egg, sometimes fish, steaming.

Take advantage of this low heat rice steaming.

Instead of using a steamer.

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

Two tablespoons soy sauce.

Hot pepper flakes, gochugaru, two tablespoons.

Mix.

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

I will add sugar, one teaspoon.

Ground black pepper, quarter teaspoon.

Sesame oil.

About two teaspoons.

Sesame seeds.

Just one teaspoon.

So mix this well.

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

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

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

So I developed this recipe this way.

And really good.

So now we have to stuff these.

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

First let's cut this.

So you this this end,

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

Just this here, around one inch from the end.

And here...

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

I will turn down the heat to very low.

Simmer.

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

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

Let's stuff this.

Have you guys made my stuffed cucumber kimchi?

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

probably you can follow this very easily.

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

use just a spoon.

But this way is much much faster.

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

I have to hurry up!

So, my rice!

And add this here.

And steam.

I will set the timer for fifteen minutes.

(jazzy music)

(timer rings)

This mustard green kimchi

Kkaennip, perilla leaves jangajji, pickled.

So I just eat with gaji-jjim.

Wow, nice!

You see?

Some broth inside.

Wow, really really nice.

Color is beautiful color.

And my rice, look at this.

And fluff your rice.

This rice is a huge amount.

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

Remove from the heat.

And this is my gaji-jjim.

And ready to eat.

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

And how they ate this was so very impressive.

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

Even though the story was very sad

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

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

Ok? (laughs)

Rice first.

Split with your fingers.

And then they eat this way.

Mmm!

Yum!

Tastes good! Sweet, savory, and juicy.

And soft.

Tender, just all melting in my mouth!

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

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

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

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

But there is no way to come to South Korea directly

She and her daughter and family they came.

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

And then they got caught!

By the Chinese police.

But the Chinese police gave her a choice.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

because they are always looking forward to meeting their daughter.

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

But she loved this dish.

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

She said: "My daughter loved spicy food."

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

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

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

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

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

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

She used some red sauce.

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

Because there is no recipe.

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

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

I hope someday we North Korea and South Korea all reunite

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

they should be able to meet each other.

Isn't it? Really this is... um.

This is so sad.

(laughs)

Today we made North Korean style gaji-jjim.

Spicy, stuffed, steamed eggplant.

Enjoy my recipe, see you next time

Bye!