Wednesday Gourmet (Wednesday Food Talk / 수요미식회)

Welcome to the 219th episode of Wednesday Food Talk.

Welcome. - Welcome.

Before we start,

let me tell you about today's theme first.

It's the dish you think of when it gets cold.

With its spicy seasoning,

crush the well-boiled radish with your spoon...

and mix it with rice.

Braised hairtail is a dish you can finish many bowls of rice with.

Then there's this dish where it's seasoned well with salt.

It's grilled hairtail.

Then there's hairtail sashimi that makes you want to drink.

Just talking about it makes my mouth water.

It's the fall's representative fish that's in season now.

It's hairtail.

We have two guests whose performance...

we can look forward to in fall.

His looks made many women's hearts flutter,

and his voice made everyone fall for him.

It's singer Ha Sung Woon. - Sung Woon is here.

Hello, it's nice to meet you.

And this person overpowers the audience...

with her amazing singing ability.

She's a skilled singer whose future endeavors...

we can look forward to. It's Seo J.

Hello, I'm Seo J.

We'll now begin Wednesday Food Talk in earnest.

I told you our theme today is hairtail.

The season it's the tastiest...

is fall.

Is it true that it becomes tastier...

from July to October when it gets cold and windy?

That's right. Hairtail likes temperate oceans.

It likes living in warm water.

When it becomes winter, they go down to south.

They stay in the ocean of Korea during summer and fall...

and consume a lot. Imagine how fatty and oily it must be.

So it's the tastiest during fall.

Sung Woon, I heard your favorite fish used to be mackerel,

but it changed to hairtail after you tried it.

That's right. I grew up with my grandparents.

And I had only mackerel as a side dish for every meal.

Around four years ago,

I went to Jeju Island for work.

I went to a restaurant famous for their braised and grilled hairtail.

It was the first time I'd had the tenderest fish meat.

After that meal, I was totally won over and had a lot of hairtail.

His first hairtail meal was in Jeju Island which was really good.

He had the best hairtail at first. - Yes.

As for the braised hairtail, after having the meal,

I can add sujebi or ramyeon noodles as the topping in the sauce.

It was tastier with that. - The braised hairtail.

The hairtail sashimi from Jeju Island is unforgettable for you?

It was fantastic.

As for hairtails in Seoul...

We farm mackerels,

so restaurants get live mackerels.

But there are no live hairtails...

because we can't farm them.

When you look at them, they shine like mirrors.

Have you seen shiny hairtails when you went there to film?

You could see your face on the skin. It's that shiny.

They are so bright that they hurt my eyes.

They are so shiny. - Yes.

After looking at the fish,

they fillet the fish for sashimi on the spot.

The sashimi melts in my mouth.

And they would remove the skin too.

When I tasted it, the sashimi tasted really sweet.

Hairtails have a rich sweet flavor.

J, you said that your mother's braised hairtail was the tastiest.

My mother had run...

a Korean restaurant over a decade. - That means she's good.

And she ran the restaurant in Jeonju, Jeolla Province.

She's mentioning that now. - She ran a restaurant there,

so she especially cooked braised hairtail often.

And she'd add a lot of radish slices in the dish too.

And I like sweet flavors,

so one time, she added sweet potatoes in the dish.

That's why I like that dish. - I see.

My grandmother used to grill hairtails.

Nowadays, we drizzle the oil on the pan and grill the fish.

But she'd coat the fish with oil...

and sprinkle coarse salt.

And she grilled it on briquettes. - On briquettes.

It's different from grilling it with oil.

The fire would directly touch the fish.

The skin would come off a bit.

But you can taste the grain of the salt.

It was nicely salty...

and fun to scoop up the fish meat. - Right.

That's the grilled hairtail I had.

Since braised hairtail was for adults, it was too spicy for me.

My grandmother would cook a separate dish for me.

She would add radishes and onions...

and braise the fish in soy sauce. - Soy sauce?

It was sweet.

I would get the fish meat and the soy sauce...

and mix them with rice. - With rice.

And it'd be really good. - Right.

What about you, Seok Jin? - Personally,

I considered hairtails expensive.

So...

when I heard I'd be having hairtails instead of mackerels or sauries,

my heart would flutter.

But when the hairtail was served...

Other fish would have bones only in the center of their bodies.

But hairtails had bones on the side too.

There were bones in their back, so it was hard to debone the fish.

I was young back then, so my mom would do it for me.

I really liked that flavor.

I thought to myself that hairtails were so tasty.

I tagged along to Garak Market when my mom went shopping,

so I could carry her grocery bag.

I was really surprised when I saw hairtails in person.

The hairtails were bigger than I had imagined.

They were big. - I realized the fish were long.

Back then, I was a kid. I think I was in elementary school.

You know, the shape of Chile is pretty long.

I remember memorizing...

that both Chile and hairtails were longer than I thought.

That's adorable. - As for countries, Chile is long.

"As for countries, Chili is long."

As for fish, hairtails are long. That's how I memorized them.

You memorized that as a kid. - This is why he's a brainiac.

By the way, personal preferences have a lot to do with this.

It's the same with hairtails and mackerels.

People often say that these two fish are the tastiest.

Do you prefer spicy braised hairtail with a thick broth?

Or do you prefer clean grilled braised hairtail...

since you can taste the natural flavor of the fish?

There are clear likes and dislikes regarding these dishes.

What do you guys prefer?

As Jung Min and I tasted grilled hairtails, we prefer grilled ones.

Plump grilled hairtails with salt. - I see.

Why do you jump to conclusions? - Right.

Besides, - It's up to me.

I don't think you know this.

We all don't like it...

when we're clumped together with you.

This isn't going to work. - Because I have a child's palate?

I think it will be 1 to 8 or something.

I like grilled hairtails too. - See?

Actually, I do prefer grilled hairtails too.

Why are you hesitant?

I want to say that I prefer grilled hairtails, but you said it.

When Hyun Moo picked that... - I had to read the room first.

"I like them too. What do I do?" - "Should I switch?"

I like grilled hairtails too. - That crossed my mind.

Seok Jin likes grilled hairtails, but you were the first one.

We all have a palate of young people.

As for grilled hairtails, the natural flavor is important.

Of course.

But the braised hairtails might ruin that...

It's all about the sauce. - because of the sauce.

That's why I like grilled hairtails more.

I agree. The braised hairtails have a strong flavor of the sauce.

And besides, as for the hairtails,

the fish meat falls apart.

That's why... Yes. - The meat in braised hairtails?

As for grilled hairtails, the fish meat is intact.

She must be well-off.

I can't eat grilled hairtails because they are expensive.

There's not much to eat from that.

Hairtails must be big for them to be grilled.

So we have fish meat to eat. - Right.

As for braised hairtails, you just dunk it in.

You can eat that dish for the radishes,

broth, onions, and green onions.

So it's a good dish for drinks.

Well, grilled hairtails are great for drinks too.

But braised hairtails go better with drinks in winter.

What about you, J? - I definitely like braised ones.

First, you can add radishes, brackens, sweet potato stalks,

and potatoes. It's like eating 3 dishes in 1 dish.

I'm sure you chose braised hairtails...