Wednesday Gourmet (Wednesday Food Talk / 수요미식회)

Welcome to the 196th episode of Wednesday Food Talk.

Welcome. - Welcome.

Before we start, I will tell you today's topic.

Along with exciting spring,

you start new on the day of entrance ceremony.

It's a memorable taste of a special meal with parents.

It's a dine out on the day of school entrance ceremony.

We invited...

the perfect guests today.

She's a perfect fit...

for a good mother role. - You're right.

She's the first one to come across for the entrance ceremony.

It's Actress Yoon Yoo Sun. Nice to meet you.

Hello.

She's here representing school parents.

As you all know,

he's a famous gourmet among celebrities.

Singer Jung Yup!

Nice to meet you.

Starting from today, he's become a new member...

of Wednesday Food Talk. - Yes.

The major player of restaurant business, Hong Suk Chun!

Welcome. - Nice to meet you.

You finally invite me.

We've become family today,

but you never know how long we'd stay as a family.

It could only last for two weeks.

We tried to invite Suk Chun for a long time,

but he was too busy...

that he finally joined us. - Yes.

When we talk about entrance ceremony,

for elementary school entrance ceremony,

your parents are there.

But they don't normally come for middle school.

Right. They don't. - What do you think?

Entrance ceremony is quite empty.

I remember rich students...

had their parents come.

To show their car. - Yes.

To show their car. - Their cars.

Even in middle school, if they were rich,

their families would come.

Also, if they were good at school.

Right. - If they were good at school.

I'm from rural area. I was always the top of my class,

so my parents always came to the entrance ceremony.

Which branch school was it again?

What did you say?

The whole school had six students or something.

He never missed being the top of his class.

You were really smart. - Yes.

So my parents always came to entrance and graduation ceremonies.

And I always received an award.

The School Superintendent's award was really big at the time.

I often received those.

What about other people? What about you, Yoo Sun?

Did you dine out often? - I'm grateful to my mom again.

She always came even though I never received an award.

But I started acting since I was seven.

In the shooting site,

I ate out with my mom often.

It wasn't that special for me.

A Young, what did you eat after entrance ceremonies...

when you were a student?

My parents didn't really eat meat.

They didn't like greasy food,

so they always took me to eat cheonggukjang.

Soft tofu too.

That's what we had.

We also went to restaurants that served doenjang stew.

Now that I think of it, my dad was smart.

My mom wasn't a good cook,

so he probably wanted home-cooked meals.

He probably wanted to have them when we ate out.

Your mom didn't clean,

do the laundry or cook...

but are you close to her? - We're friends.

I'm relieved.

I was worried if my daughter would be okay with her mom in the future.

I think they could be close too.

I'm relieved.

Well...

The more you know, the tastier it gets.

We'll find out the history of dining out...

and delve into some popular menus.

It wasn't easy to dine out when we were young.

Right. - The history of dining out...

is not very long in Korea, right?

No, dining out...

parallels economic growth.

It developed in Japan in the 60s...

with Tokyo Summer Olympics.

For us, it started picking up...

in the 70s. - Right.

Back then, there weren't many occasions...

for dining out.

It was difficult to get around as well.

People didn't own cars, so you couldn't go to the outskirts.

Not too much meat was produced either.

Some common meat we eat...

like short ribs and pork were not served by...

that many restaurants.

These days, people dine out often...

even it's not on special occasions,

so dining out on the day of school entrance ceremony...

may not feel special.

Back then, when there were special occasions,

Chinese restaurant was the go-to place.

Why do you think people went for Chinese food?

Why do you think so?

I lived in the rural area,

so there was a limited number of choices.

Chinese food was the best.

Jjajangmyeon and jjamppong...

On special occasions like entrance or graduation ceremonies...

or when I got the best test score in my school,

I had the chance to order tangsuyuk.

In the rural area,

there was a restaurant owned by a Chinese person.

The food was excellent. Tangsuyuk was especially great.

The pork...

It was shocking for me as a child.

The pork gets wrapped in dough,

and it's fried, so it's crunchy.

The sauce, on the other side, is sweet and sour.

I didn't know what they mixed...

but it was the starch they added at the end.

I didn't know that as a child. - It's sticky.

It's sticky. If you dip the meat in the sauce,

the fried pork is very chewy.

Putting that in my mouth...

was a culture shock. - I agree.

That restaurant was good...

but the owner had a son.

He was very handsome. - Stop it.

Stop. Stop.

This is Wednesday Food Talk, right? - Stop hurting your mom's feelings.

That's why he remembers it.

Is this a fact?

People talk about pouring the sauce on dipping it.

When you get the food delivered,

the meat gets soggy,

so the sauce came on the side.

You're supposed to pour the sauce. - Right?

Since the meat gets soggy once you have it delivered?

That's the characteristic of Chinese food.

If you pour the sauce on top, it maintains the heat.

When the crunchy texture...

comes in contact with the sauce,

the soft and sticky texture makes it taste different.

Fritters don't have to be crunchy all the time.

Was jjajangmyeon different in the past?

There used to be potatoes in it.

I really like the handmade jjajangmyeon...

with potatoes in it.

The color was kind of brown too. - Yes.

Weren't there peas in it too?

There were peas and strips of cucumbers.

Cucumbers are...

symbols of Chinese food.

In China, jjajangmyeon is a delicacy in the summer.

It's eaten as a cold dish in the summer.

They put cucumbers and vegetables on top...

to cool down.

That's the only sign left..

of the evolution.

That's why we still add cucumbers on top.

I still can't forget this.

It's called carving.

They take white radish and carrots...

and make dragons.

I remember those decorations.

I thought it looked cool.

They don't do that a lot anymore.

That's right. - It's difficult.

When I was young,

I was fascinated by those but at some point,

I started thinking...

how much they touch it. - It must be salty.

I just remembered this. - That's a secret.