Today is the first class in our April four class set (there will be an extra class this month). We will start class with a casual conversation. Next, we will review our collocations. Our reading this week is about a company culture. For listening we are going back to NPR stories with transcripts. Please listen and follow the transcript at the same time.
Click HERE for the reading
CHOI: You guys, before you get mad at me for making fun of my grandma's kimchi, my mom will back me up. Listen.
How long has she been trying to make the perfect kimchi?
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: Oh, gosh. I think since we came to the United States, 1978.
(LAUGHTER)
CHOI: So what, like, 40 years?
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: I think so. And each time, I think she tries something different. And each time she has a batch ready, she's like, this is it. I finally did it. And it always, always kind of tastes like there's something missing, so yeah (laughter).
CHOI: Well, what do her friends think about the kimchi?
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: You know, it's that - they recognize it's not her strong dish. Yeah, but I mean, they eat it (laughter), but it's not her strongest.
(LAUGHTER)
CHOI: We wanted to call someone who could help my grandma finally make the perfect kimchi, and it just so happened to be my mom's favorite chef.
(SOUNDBITE OF PHONE CALLING TONE)
ROY CHOI: I'm Emma's mom's favorite chef, Roy Choi.
CHOI: Couldn't be more true. And you're also a lot of people's favorite chef. You have shows on Netflix and PBS, and you're one of Time's most influential people.
(SOUNDBITE OF APPLAUSE SOUND EFFECT)
CHOI: Roy, I'm just going to come out and say it, OK? We called you up because my grandma has been trying - ever since she got to the states for 40 years, she's been trying and trying, trying, but she's not great at making kimchi. And we want to help her while still being gentle, OK? So first, I heard you got into the food world by, like, helping your mom make and sell her kimchi. Is that true?
R CHOI: Yeah, we would sell them like mixtapes out of the trunk.
CHOI: Oh, you were the van ajumma?
R CHOI: We were the van ajumma. I was the van ajumma.
CHOI: Oh, my God.
R CHOI: It was - it was a huge trunk, though. It was a old Thunderbird. So we would be able to fit a lot of kimchi in the back of the trunk.
CHOI: Yeah. Our kimchi lady was (speaking Korean), and she had a 2008 Honda Odyssey, and she was very aggressive.
R CHOI: You got to be because the kimchi - it's got to move. They're almost like ticking time bombs. You have to kind of unload the grenades before they blow up.
CHOI: (Laughter) So true. My grandmother loves her kimchi, and we like it kind of. Is there anything that you make that you like a lot but maybe doesn't have as good as a reception as you think it will?
R CHOI: I've developed a tactic over the years where if anyone has any criticism for me, I ask them to write it down. And they send it to me in, like, almost like a love letter in high school...
CHOI: (Laughter).
R CHOI: ...When someone passes the letter.
CHOI: Yeah.
R CHOI: Because then I can take a moment and not personalize it, and I can just read the criticism on the paper.
CHOI: We should do that for my grandma.
R CHOI: Yes.
CHOI: OK, I have my grandma's recipe for kimchi with me, and I was hoping that we could troubleshoot it together. Is that OK?
R CHOI: Absolutely. Yeah. I've had the similar experience where my loved ones were not that great at cooking, so I would love to help.
CHOI: Great, OK. She starts by salting the napa cabbage. She adds six cups of water with four tablespoons of salt. And then she lets it sit for four or five hours.
R CHOI: OK.
CHOI: And then she makes the sauce - sweet rice powder, which she says she prepares and cools.
R CHOI: I have no idea what that means.
CHOI: OK, maybe I mistranslated. And then she adds gochugaru. And then she adds small shrimp, saeu-jeot.
R CHOI: Mmm hmm.
CHOI: And then she adds, garlic, anchovy, lots of pa, spring onion. And then in a blender, she puts onion, apples and pear. And she doesn't have measurements for any of this. She just follows her heart with a dream in her eye. Is that a bad thing?
R CHOI: Well, it might be bad for her, obviously. For many, it's the right way to go, to follow your heart. But...
CHOI: Yeah.
R CHOI: Your grandma might be the exception.
CHOI: It's true.
R CHOI: Well, so far, the two things that stand out to me that don't seem right are the sweet rice powder. I don't know why you would need that. And then the other is anchovy. I don't know why you would need the anchovy if you already have the salted baby shrimp.
CHOI: Yeah, another thing is that she doesn't add sugar. She says she adds Sweet'N Low.
R CHOI: Oh, there - that's a problem.
CHOI: (Laughter) Why?
R CHOI: Sweet'N Low tastes like [expletive].
CHOI: (Laughter) So it seems that, you know, the salting is fine. Most of the recipe is fine. But then the Sweet'N Low is the biggest red flag. And then the anchovies, and then the sweet rice powder...
R CHOI: The sweet rice powder.
CHOI: OK.
R CHOI: Yeah.
CHOI: OK, I'm going to write those down and bring them back to her in a very kind way.
R CHOI: That's the whole recipe?
CHOI: That's - yeah, and she, like, leaves that to sit for a while.
R CHOI: I feel like there's stuff missing in there.
CHOI: Well, she listens to like a lot of pansori and watches K-dramas a while, and then she talks [expletive] about my relatives while she does it. So maybe just too much bitterness in general.
R CHOI: No, these are all part of the recipe.
CHOI: (Laughter) OK. Roy, thank you so much. I'm going to tell my grandma all of this great stuff, and next time, maybe it'll be better.
R CHOI: Maybe.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
CHOI: My mom and I couldn't wait to tell my grandma that we took her kimchi recipe and floated it by one of the best chefs in the world.
OK, so Umma, can you - can you tell her that he was shocked that she was using Sweet'N Low and she shouldn't do that.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: (Speaking Korean).
(LAUGHTER)
CHOI: My grandma was really surprised to hear about the Sweet'N Low. But honestly, it doesn't sound like she's changing her recipe anytime soon.
And then at the end of it, I told him all the ingredients. And he's like, something feels like it's missing. But he's like, I don't know what it is.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: That's what I've been saying.
CHOI: I know.
(LAUGHTER)