When I visited my hometown Yeosu in 2015, one thing I wanted to do was cook a delicious hometown meal for my auntie. Since she was my mom’s closest friend, I’ve called her “auntie” since childhood. She’s always been a constant source of support for my mom, by her side during both happy and challenging moments in our family. Growing up I spent hours and hours with her. She taught me a lot about cooking and over time she became a role model in a lot of other ways too. She was smart, resourceful, classy, had a wonderful sense of design and was very frugal.
I hadn’t seen her in many years when we filmed this video. I wanted to bring her a gift, and after some thought I decided that cooking her favorite foods would be the best. So I planned a seafood-themed table. I went to the local seafood market where I used to follow my mom when I was young and picked out the freshest wild abalones, pen shell scallops, and spinach.
It was a drizzly day, but we had a warm and wonderful time, enjoying freshly made abalone porridge together while reminiscing about old times. It was wonderful to cook for her and have her enjoy the meal so much. Later when I returned to the USA and told my mom all about this, she praised me, saying I did well.
Sadly, my aunt passed away a few years after we filmed this video. Looking back, the abalone meal I prepared for her turned out to be my first and last gift to her.
I made these Real Korean Cooking Stories so you could see some of my life, the people I know and love, and how we really cook and enjoy food. When I make recipe videos at home I have lighting and cameras and I know where everything is. In these videos I never know what the kitchen will have, and there’s no professional lighting, we’re just filming in the moment and having fun. I’m glad so many people have reacted positively to this series of videos and are enjoying them. Below are the recipes for some of the dishes I made in this video if you want to make them too!
Recipe notes
This story originally appeared on Maangchi
