■ Geochang-gun, Gyeongsangnam-do – Grilled in the traditional way, taste the essence of fire Even in the middle of summer, the sound of the stream is cool in Binggi-sil Village. This place has been famous as a summer resort since ancient times, and it was a resting place for people passing by to cool off their sweat, and Binggi-sil Valley was a playground and resting place of memories for the villagers. Despite the heat, Seo Jae-seok (64) and Lim Jong-deok (69) are busy growing wild ginseng today. Seo Jae-seok (64) has been farming wild ginseng in this village for 13 years. Lim Jong-deok (69), who returned to his hometown 5 years ago, goes to work every day to learn about wild ginseng farming. Together with these people, who are also his hometown seniors and juniors, we recreate the samgutgui that the village eats once a year when it is hot. A hot meal to keep your body warm despite the hot weather to survive the real summer. Let’s go here to cool off. Seo Jae-seok (64) and Im Jong-deok (69) prepare Samgutgui while wiping off the sweat pouring down their bodies. Samgutgui, which is made by heating stones and covering them with mud instead of a lid and baking them with the heat of the stones, is a food that was enjoyed in the villages where hemp was made in the old days when the hemp was cooked and peeled. Lee Ha-na (34), a foreign daughter-in-law who came to Vietnam 15 years ago, treats the village elders who always take care of her like a daughter to the straw grill that she often made in Vietnam. Ha-na (34), who farmed rice near the Mekong River, enjoyed straw grilling, where they covered fish and shrimp with straw and cooked the ingredients over a straw fire. Enjoy the fire-flavored meal on a hot summer day at Binggi Village. ■ Seonyudo, Jeollabuk-do – A grilled fish table introduced by Seonyudo natives ‘Seomnamseomnyeo’ We head to Seonyudo, located at the center of the Gogunsan Archipelago, an island called the Dadohae of the West Sea with 10 inhabited islands and 47 uninhabited islands. Seonyudo was originally an island that took 3 hours to reach by sea unless you took a speedboat. Now that the island has been connected to the mainland, the situation has changed, but for Nam Jeong-su (64) and Jeon Mun-san (63), Seonyudo is an island where it was difficult to see the land, and so they could not survive without relying on each other. The couple met in middle school and have lived on this island for 40 years, sometimes as friends and sometimes as best mates. Even when they were farming seaweed without making a profit, they were able to overcome the rough waves of life because they had each other. Now they run a fishing boat, and the couple says that they are finally making a living! We go out to the vast ocean with a couple who happened to have a vacation due to social distancing. Seonyudo is famous for semi-dried fish. In the days before refrigerators, people enjoyed fish by salting it and drying it in the sea breeze. When fish is semi-dried, the moisture in the fish is removed, giving it a chewy texture and a rich flavor. Semi-dried fish, conches, crabs, shrimp, etc. are good in steamed or stewed dishes, but when grilled over a strong charcoal fire, the flavor is concentrated and the light flavor is also excellent. We also enjoy sea cucumber raw fish soup, which is abundant on the Seonyudo coast. In the lonely island, fruits were not common in the old days, so the refreshing taste of raw fish soup with plenty of vinegar helped overcome the hot summer. We also learn why charcoal has been loved by mankind as the best firepower for a long time. The grilled fish table, which is perfect on the hot table of Seonyudo, comforts the couple’s hard work today. ■ Jangseong-gun, Jeollanam-do – From the ‘Seolya Myeok’ eaten during the Joseon Dynasty to extraordinary grilled dishes, we recreate grilled dishes from the Joseon Dynasty with Ms. Imja (64), who started learning cooking from her mother’s shoulder as a child and still teaches and researches cooking. Seolya Myeok is a dish that scholars of the Joseon Dynasty enjoyed by grilling seasoned beef over charcoal and then placing it on ice to make the meat tender. The octopus horongui, which was served on the ancestral rite table in Jeolla-do, is now made by wrapping octopus on wooden chopsticks or skewers and grilling them, but in the old days, people wrapped rice straw around the octopus and grilled it over charcoal to enjoy the scent of the straw fire. We also look back on the history of braziers. Braziers have been a common household item regardless of class or wealth. Charcoal was placed in them and used to heat or boil food during normal times, and they were also used to store embers when lighting a fire in the hearth. A brazier that was used to finish clothes by inserting a soldering iron! We present grilled seaweed that is good as a side dish or snack for children by putting semi-dried seaweed on a jar lid, applying sesame oil, and sprinkling sugar. Grilled c