[Asia Economy Reporter Kang Hyesoo] On the afternoon of the 1st, MBC's 'Baekfather: Don't Stop Cooking!' (hereafter 'Baekfather') featured Baek Jong-won presenting a meal using rice, gim (seaweed), and old-fashioned sausage.
Before the cooking segment, Yang Se-hyung mentioned that Baek Jong-won's throat was not in good condition. Baek Jong-won added, "Se-hyung will do most of the talking instead of me. He worked so hard that this happened."
Yang Se-hyung also said, "By now, I thought the cooking skills of the cooking beginners would have improved, but it seems they haven't met expectations." To this, Baek Jong-won replied, "I've heard that there are even more severe cases around me."
The ingredients for the day’s cooking were rice, gim, and old-fashioned sausage. Baek Jong-won said he would grill the gim along with the rice, and if time allowed, he would grill raw gim to eat with the seasoning sauce and even make seasoned gim similar to those sold in supermarkets. He also emphasized once again, "Those who are good at cooking should watch the edited version instead of the live broadcast."
Among the new cooking beginners participating in this broadcast, a father and son who expressed a desire to serve a meal to the father were introduced. The son joined together with his father, who only eats healthy food.
Baek Jong-won explained, "When dieting, people don’t eat much rice, but abroad, rice is popular as a diet food. Considering carbohydrates, proteins, and fats, consuming an appropriate amount of carbohydrates helps with weight loss." Then he began the cooking by washing the rice.
The first water used to wash the rice should be discarded as it may contain impurities. Then, pour the second water and stir about 15 times with your fingers. After washing the rice this way, put it in the rice cooker and start making the seasoning sauce. The seasoning sauce began with a mild flavor for children.
Baek Jong-won cut green onions with scissors into small pieces about the length of a pencil, advising to use the white parts first if possible. Then, he added minced garlic and sugar, about one-fifth the amount of green onions. Before a cooking beginner from San Diego could ask, Baek Jong-won humorously said, "You can use honey instead of sugar," causing laughter.
When adding soy sauce to the prepared ingredients, Baek Jong-won said, "The most important thing in the seasoning sauce is the amount of soy sauce. Pour it as if mixing the green onions and garlic into the soy sauce." At this point, Baek Jong-won poured the soy sauce slightly overflowing and added more chopped green onions. He explained that both dark soy sauce and brewed soy sauce could be used, but soup soy sauce was not suitable.
He then added a spoonful of sesame oil, and if there was ground sesame salt, he recommended adding the same amount as the sesame oil. Adding Cheongyang chili peppers and red pepper powder to taste completed the adult version of the seasoning sauce. The red pepper powder made the sauce thicker, and Baek Jong-won added that this sauce is delicious not only wrapped in gim but also when added to dishes like kalguksu (knife-cut noodles).
Since cooking beginners from all over the country and globally participated, the ingredients varied widely, including using jalape?os instead of Cheongyang chili peppers and frozen green onions.
After the seasoning sauce, it was time to grill the gim. Baek Jong-won emphasized, "A pro like me can grill directly over the fire, but cooking beginners will burn the whole house if they do that. Use a frying pan."
He demonstrated two ways: grilling raw gim to eat with the seasoning sauce and making seasoned gim.
Finally, with 9 minutes left in the live broadcast, they attempted to grill old-fashioned sausage. Baek Jong-won sliced the large old-fashioned sausage, and Yang Se-hyung whisked eggs nearby. Baek Jong-won said, "Usually, you coat with flour first and then egg wash, but if cooking beginners do that, the kitchen would be a mess," and made a simple sausage jeon (pancake) by only coating with egg wash.
The reason for coating with flour is that the egg coating tends to come off. Baek Jong-won grilled both versions?with and without flour coating?to show the difference. He said if flour is not available, using pancake mix or frying powder is also acceptable.
Baek Jong-won also shared a tip for those not confident in flipping the jeon: just put the sausage in the pan first, grill it, then flip it and pour the egg wash on top. He ended the live broadcast by saying that next week's ingredient is 'tuna,' so prepare canned tuna.
MBC's untact era interactive cooking show 'Baekfather' airs every Saturday at 5 PM.
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