I’ve been talking with Cassie Parsons of Harvest Moon Grille and Grateful Growers about having my mom teach a Korean cooking class. For a while. The idea had its challenges, especially since my mom lives in Maryland. But we finally made it happen.
We held the class in the kitchen of Harvest Moon Grille. This made it an education for everyone, since we got to see (and feel) what it’s like to work in a restaurant kitchen. Before class began, we quickly blanched some mung bean sprouts and made a delicate summer salad to let the class participants try with the dishes we would make during class.

A huge bowl of bean sprout salad (kong na mul)
Almost immediately, some folks asked us where we go in Charlotte to eat good Korean food. Sadly, I didn’t have good answers. I had just tried the cafeteria at Super G the day before for the first time (need more data), and besides that had only been to Pepero on Monroe Road on occasion. Pepero’s dining area is a small, efficient affair adjacent to the grocery that serves the basics from a large window looking into the kitchen. It’ll do, but it’s definitely not a destination for a dinner date.
I was happy that mom could hear the demand for herself; I keep pestering her to move down and open a Korean restaurant with (or without) me. But back to the class…

Making the cucumber salad (oi namul)
We had about 15 participants, all with varying levels of exposure to Korean cuisine. My mom started with a summer favorite, a chilled spicy cucumber salad called oi namul. Then we moved to marinating the bul go gi, setting it aside for a bit to soak in all that sweet, garlicky goodness.
My favorite part was the mandu, or dumplings. I added it to the class with the hopes that people would enjoy the chance to make their own. It seems like they did. So much so that we ended up a tad behind schedule as more and more piled up on the trays.

Wrapping the mandu
Fine by me. Mandu has so much going on: ground pork, ground beef, onions, cabbage, green onions, carrots, ginger, garlic, bean thread noodles, tofu. These are some of the best dumplings in the world. I admit there is bias, but I swear it is not without merit.
Because of the limited time, we made the filling beforehand. There is probably an entire class in learning to make these dumplings from scratch. We steamed them first, then later pan-fried them to a golden brown.

Mom demonstrates steaming the mandu
By the time we sat down to eat, I was starving. This plus the fact that I was my mom’s “runner” is probably why I don’t have a picture of what the spread looked like until we had nearly wiped it out. Note to self: have someone else take pictures.
We tried to lay out a typical table, complete with the usual suspects: go chu jang, an addictive red bean paste, kim, toasted and salted seaweed, lettuce for making wraps, and (of course) rice. Participants went home with a small packet of go chu garu, red pepper flakes used for kimchi, and recipes.
As I continue to work with my mom on these projects, I learn more about her and her childhood in Korea. And thus, more about my own heritage. I was so focused on what the participants would get out of the class, I didn’t anticipate this personal connection with the information. When I asked her why she had never shared any of these incredible stories before, she replied simply, “well, you never asked.” I wonder how many food traditions get lost this way.
For instance, as we ate, she explained the traditional method of making Korean soy sauce. She described her father putting on his special boots–similar to what might be used for grapes in winemaking–in order to crush the soybeans in a large vat. Afterward, the beans are pressed into a cake that is left to ferment before the process continues.
At the start of the class, some of the folks asked whether my mom was planning to turn this into a series of classes. I think she was a little surprised and uncertain at first. The only teaching she had ever done previously was in her own home. But by the end of the session, she kept leaning over and whispering in my ear about what we would do the next time.
Can’t wait.
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