Three Meals a Day in Deukryang-do Ep 2

Three Meals a Day in Deukryang Island Episode 2:

We’re back with episode 2 of Three Meals a Day in Deukryang Island, which opens with them all gathered together and Eric going, “tomorrow, let’s eat/make the three meals well and fish properly”. Ha. Thanks for wrapping up what this programme is all about.

Before sleeping, Eric passes some ear plugs to KyunSang, just to make sure that they get proper sleep. And then as the night grows darker, the sounds of Eric’s snores rumble through the house…along with KyunSang’s. PWAHAHAHAHAAAA!! They must have been really tired.

Morning comes and Eric is the first to wake up. He puts on that damned ajumma hairband first thing in the morning before KyunSang wakes up too. KyunSang asks Eric if he didn’t wake up at dawn and Eric replies that he slept through the night. He asks KyunSang in turn if he’d worn the earplugs he’d given him but KyunSang just shakes his head and says that Eric wasn’t that noisy. Uh huh. Koong-ie doesn’t agree.

 

It’s time to make breakfast and even before eldest hyung SeoJin wakes up, Eric takes Ericar out to the jetty to collect the crab-nets they’d sent out yesterday. He finds 5 in one net. Deukryang Island must be teeming with those things. He can’t believe his eyes when he sees another 5 in the second net he pulls up. And in the last net, he has 6 crabs. Pfft, he has a total of 16 small crabs which he can cook for breakfast.

Oh sheesh, he picks the crabs out with nothing but his gloved hands and gets pinched. The crabs at Deukryang Islands are real fighters though, and one of them doesn’t let go of Eric’s glove even when it’s arm is accidentally ripped off it alive, eek.

KyunSang’s job back home is to get the eggs from the chickens. He fumbles around the coop for a while, not quite sure what to do because one of the hens is sitting on an egg. He tries talking to the resolute chicken (in sageuk-speak) to no avail and SeoJin Hyung has to tell him to just get ignore the hen and get the egg, HA!

He puts the 5 eggs he has into cold water and SeoJin asks him what that’s for.

 

KyunSang: “Because they’re so hot. What if a chick comes out?” PFFT. SeoJin replies in a small disbelieving voice that those eggs are not fertilised.

KyunSang tells the chicken to be quiet and then proceeds to cut some fire wood perfectly while SeoJin walks past and casually praises him for doing a good job. KyunSang gives a huge smile and chops even more for tomorrow.

SeoJin works on the fire, simply positioning the wood, then lighting it up. He leaves the task of fanning it to the giant baby before going back under the shade to rest, hee.

Eric drives the crabs back home, but not before stopping to show them off to the resident halmeoni-s. SeoJin laughs with him when he announces that he has 16 crabs and while he throws the crabs into the fish tank, he chuckles that it looks like something you see outside those restaurants at Shinsadong.

Since Potato Stew and Beansprout Soup are the menu for breakfast (by Na PD’s request during their dinner last night which Eric easily agreed to to his surprise and SeoJin is all “if he can cook this, why can’t he cook that?”), resident Genius Potato Peeler gets to work on some potatoes and is done in no time. While KyunSang works on cleaning the beansprouts, Eric pulls a spring onion from the garden and proceeds to wash it.

He cuts the roots of the spring onion and tosses it into the pot he’s going to make the Beansprout Soup in. That’s an Ecipie moment (or not really) because apparently if you boil that, it’ll strengthen your immunity while also making the taste (of the soup) deeper or richer.

Now that the broth is set to boil, Chef Eric’s next task is chopping the vegetables. As expected of Representative/ Deputy E, he thinks through before he works and there’s a long moment in which he does nothing. And when it’s time to cut the potatoes, he still spends time rolling the potato around to find the best way to cut it, lol.

 

But like a true chef, he knows to add water to the potatoes in order to remove the excess starch (it also prevents them from turning brown). He then slices the spring onion (though I’m not quite sure why he doesn’t cut it in half then slice both stalks together because that’s faster) and picks the tops off the green chilli peppers.

After actively working, Chef Eric mentally checks everything off his list and that’s when KyunSang passes the bowl of cleaned beansprouts to him. So it’s time to really cook. He dumps everything into a wok-pan out on the fire pit and while he tasks KyunSang with stir-frying, he goes back and forth between there and the kitchen to get other condiments like salt and pepper. He adds water and then tells KyunSang to come in.

A while later, he tries a potato, but it’s not as soft or as cooked as he’d thought it was. Hee.

Meanwhile, SeoJin actually endures the sun for a while and washes the rice. KyunSang sees him working so hard and wonders if it isn’t hot. Of course it is, so KyunSang holds a lid up to protect SeoJin’s face from the sun. HAHAHA, SeoJin tells him not to do that because he’ll get antis.

 

Eric shuffles here and there, adding beansprouts to the broth (that was made with spring onion roots) along with soy sauce and salt. He tries the broth, and adds more seasonings, tries it again and adds more seasonings again. In his interview, he shares that he’s the kind of cook to season as he goes (unlike Lee SeungGi who is famous for cooking exactly according to the recipe). He does the same for the Potato Stew and even adds bonito flakes he’d brought from home. He admits that he knew that he would need them, hee, and we see that he’d brought with him powdered dried prawns and powdered dried anchovies along with those bonito flakes.

The Potato Stew boils and that’s SeoJin’s cue to put the rice on to cook.

Deputy E kneels in his kitchen and wisely thinks to make Kimchi for a side dish while they wait. Whoa, his knife-skills are no joke. They’re pretty good!

He makes spring-onion kimchi, tasting as he goes along. He comments that growing plants at home would be really cool and swears that he’s going to grow all those ingredients used in Doenjang-jjigae, ha. He ties the spring onions up real well and SeoJin Hyung comes to check with him that everything’s going well.

Eric declares that everything’s done and SeoJin goes to check on the rice. He’s surprised to see the rice turn out so well (and it is! It looks like rice from a rich family’s home, hee) and Na PD is all, “it just took you three years!” HA!

After so much work, from chopping firewood, to cutting, to cooking and everything, breakfast is done, thanks to the work of all three members. SeoJin and KyunSang each eat just a spoonful of Eric’s food and immediately chime that it’s delicious. SeoJin quips that “this kid” really can make stews and soups, referring to Eric, and Na PD sorta-complains that it’s his first time making Beansprout Soup though.

SeoJin defends Eric, laughing that this is not just normal Beansprout Soup! Man, when Lee SeoJin says that, you know that means that it’s really good. That’s like the greatest compliment he ever gives. On the other hand, KyunSang finally realizes how much work it was for his mom to make food for the family after seeing Eric cook. He’d never known that even Beansprout Soup took so much time to cook.

 

Sir Grumypants has to break the moment by saying that his mom probably bought beansprouts that were already cleaned, because that’s a thing nowadays. He doesn’t even let the minced garlic go.

But they all laugh, and that’s how lunch passes by.

After lunch, SeoJin sighs that it’s already 1pm, meaning that they’ve got to go off fishing out at sea as agreed upon the day before. He suggests that they bring their meal on board the boat while Eric worries that they won’t catch any fish at all. But SeoJin insists and is already imagining them eating raw fish with rice and bibim-sauce. Mmm.

But he’s brought back to reality when KyunSang steals his dishwashing duties. As chef, Eric heads out to their crockpots to make the bibim-sauce. He returns to his kitchen and stones again… then tries out all the seasonings at his side, not quite sure what is what.

Now that he doesn’t have anything to do, SeoJin joins in the sauce making and while he makes the Ssamjang-sauce, Eric makes the Gochujang. Pfft, Na PD captions Eric’s every move and coincidentally, both guys stir their sauces at the same time.

 

Eric suggests bringing some vegetables and declares that they MUST catch something. They sharpen their knife, bring their fishing gears and head out to sea on SeoJinnie-ho.

They come to a stop somewhere out there in the blue waters and while Eric throws the anchor overboard, KyunSang is busy being an enthusiastic big baby. Eric just laughs at him but doesn’t forget to take care of him, telling to cover his neck up, aw.

Now that they’re done, it’s time to start fishing. But KyunSang starts confusing everyone on the boat by asking if it’s okay to just cast their lines… uhm, I’m not actually even quite sure of what he’s asking about and Eric is just as confused as me, asking him what he’s talking about.

Ah, turns out he was talking about the four fishing rods they’d brought along with them. He’d been confused about who’s going to use what since there’ll be one left over and he finally figures out that the extra rod is just a reserve for in case something goes wrong. And something goes wrong for Eric as he pulls in someone else’s line, hee.

And a minute later, it’s SeoJin whose rod breaks. No one knows how it happened because SeoJin himself hadn’t even known that his rod had broken. So out comes the reserve rod. Well, that was early.

He casts the line and then immediately demands to know why there are so many jellyfish in the water. They’re moon jellyfish though, which means that they’re inedible.

But it doesn’t mean that they’re valueless because Eric confirms with Na PD that it counts as a species of “fish” if they bring it home to put in their tank. As agreed, if they get 10 species of fish in their tank, they get money. LOL, anything for money.

The breeze kisses the water as the sun crosses the sky. The wait bores SeoJin and he ends up slumping in his seat in a deep sleep.

KyunSang is the first to catch a fish – another Japanese Whiting – and is also the one to catch the second fish. This time, it’s a Grass Puffer, a kind of pufferfish which means that it’s inedible due to its poisonous internal organ.

 

KyunSang is having the best day of his life as rod reels up yet another fish. But it’s yet another Grass Puffer and SeoJin grumbles, wondering if they’re on a Grass Puffer farm right now, ha.

KyungSang releases his fish from his hook and mutters forlornly at it. But then he brightens up and says, “let’s go! Pufferfish soup!” HAHHAHA! And Na PD begs him not to say things like this.

KyunSang has full faith in Eric and that’s when we’re shown that Eric has managed to reel in a starfish. HAHAHA. It’s yet another inedible thing, but SeoJin (while lounging around, hahaha) is happy to use that to decorate their tank (and also to count that as one of the 10 species of fish they must have in their tank in order to get some money).

Eric brings the starfish in and together with KyunSang , they share wonder over it.

On the other hand, SeoJin sighs because he hasn’t gotten anything at all. He abandons his rod and throws bait into the sea like that’s going to bring the fishes to the yard. He chooses to do handline fishing but he doesn’t even have luck with that. Just opposite him in the same boat, another PD moans, creeped out when the pufferfish he’d reeled in expands, HEEE!

 

Nothing. Poor Genie has nothing.

And that’s the same thing the camera back at home sees in KyunSang’s room. Nothing living’s in sight. Hehe, both Koong-ie and Mong-ie have gone into hiding.

Mong-ie’s the first to pop out from wherever he is and explore the place. He even hides among the books in between the shelves.

Time passes and they realise that no one’s coming. So Mongie heads out into SeoJin’s room and hides among his blankets. Koong-ie joins in the fun too and squirms around under SeoJin’s bed. It even manages to wreck a bit of havoc, toppling something over.

Out at sea, with the sun hanging barely meters above the waterline in the horizon, SeoJin sighs for them to just go home. But that’s when KyunSang reels something in and SeoJin’s first comment is, “is that yet another Grass Puffer?” Hee. Even grumpy people are susceptible low morale due to repeated disappointments.

But no! This time, it’s an edible Japanese Whiting. KyunSang jokes that he must be a fishing genius and casts his line out again, praying for something big this time.

He gets another bite on his line and SeoJin is still all, “is it a Grass Puffer?” KyunSang replies that it feels like it, because it’s heavy but when he pulls it up, it’s not. It’s something edible! PWAHAHAHA! He goes, “yah ho-” and almost loses the fish in his excitement.

Now that he’s seen some hope, SeoJin suggests that they do this till the sun sets.

Since KyunSang is so far the only one with any luck, he ends up being the only one still fishing at all while Eric has given up and just gets down to cleaning and filleting their Japanese Whitings. SeoJin laughs when he sees the three (tiny) fish fillets but that doesn’t stop them from trying to enjoy it. They fill their (small) bowls with three spoonfuls of rice each along with some vegetable leafs and the fish but a while later, even Eric admits that he can’t call it and actual dish.

 

So when Eric accidentally drops a piece on his leg, SeoJin exclaims. They add the sauces to their bowls and though they mutter that they can’t see the fish, they forget all about that and smiles appear on their faces when the food enters their mouth.

But something like three mouthfuls later, SeoJin is done, hehe. Still, he’s happy that it tastes delicious – the texture of the perfect ratio of rice and chewy raw fish was perfect. I love the captions, lol. Just their positioning is hilarious.

Eric jokingly asks KyunSang if he caught only Japanese Whiting because he knew that they were going to eat Raw Fish Rice and Kyunsang plays along, agreeing that it was all his intention, LOL.

The sun sets behind them as the skies turn purple. It’s time to go home but before they do, Eric comments to KyunSang that only now that they’ve eaten raw fish rice does it feel like they’ve eaten a meal. KyunSang replies that it feels like they’re in a fishing village and Eric agrees. Then they both laugh because that’s just ridiculous talk, like they’re refusing to admit the reality that they ARE in a programme with the words Fishing Village literally in its title.

 

They return home and KyunSang adds the day’s (inedible) catch to the tank. SeoJin is super pleased by the pretty jellyfish. I don’t like the look of the crab in the tank.

SeoJin and Kyunsang get the fire going for dinner-making and just like how the earth always orbits around the sun, there’s no lying that experience is the best teacher because by the time SeoJin is done with his fire, KyunSang is left still wondering if his wood is even burning at all, hee.

Next thing to do is to clean the crabs and SeoJin calls KyunSang over to help. It’s like a day is all a crab needs to grow because this time, the crabs fight back angrily when SeoJin attempts to pull them out of the tank with his tongs. They even scare KyunSang and he goes in search for something to protect him.

He grabs a pair of gloves and asks, “are these gloves that will prevent my fingers from getting cut?”

Eric tells him to try getting bitten/pinched HAHAH!

But like a reliable hyung, he volunteers to deal with the crabs, waving it off as something hard since he’d already gotten pinched a lot the day before (I think he means this morning).

It’s like it’s prank-Maknae day, because a crab has even managed to pull off a fellow crab’s claw and is refusing to let go of it. Hee, poor KyunSang is now extra scared.

He’s so scared that he doesn’t dare touch them and his method of choice to kill the unconscious crabs (courtesy of Captain SeoJin) is to… drown them. Pfft. He submerges them in a bowl of water and wearing his trusty pink rubber gloves, he proceeds to brush each and every nook and cranny of the crabs with a toothbrush.

 

SeoJin mans the fire and gets it going so big and well that he demands for meat from Na PD. Of course that’s not impossible, and despite Na PD warning him that he’ll have to go someplace with him tomorrow as payment, SeoJin just easily replies to get him meat and over this “crisis” first. He can think of anything else after that, HA!

One of the staff members tell him to at least consult his younger brothers and all SeoJin says is that they’ve been craving for meat since a long time ago and “passionately” argues that he’s sure that they’d want to eat meat here too… since they’ve only been eating crabs every day, hee.

Na PD argues that it’s such a luxurious delicacy but SeoJin is not having it. They eat it every day!

So Na PD relents and gives him 100,000 won, though not without the warning that he has to pay it all back. Immediately, SeoJin buys 5,000 won worth of pork belly. A flash forward shows SeoJinnie’s dimples making an appearance as he grills the meat on a sizzling hot iron lid. Underneath, the captions ominously write, “Just what will happen to Lee SeoJin who sold his soul for meat in the future?” Something hilarious and physically tiring, I bet, hee.

 

Near the sink, KyunSang is warring with the crabs who have returned to consciousness. He calls for help and Eric goes to him while SeoJin receives his 5,000 won worth of meat and complains that it’s probably doesn’t even weigh 300g. Na PD immediately tries to take it back but SeoJin pulls it out of his reach.

Eric eyes the meat and says that it’ll probably taste good.

Now that they have the promise of meat as their hope, Eric and KyunSang continue ahead with making dinner. Eric makes a spring onion casserole… then stones. But a while later, he starts on making the crab fried rice, starting off by getting all the meat out of the crabs first. As a person who has access to Sri Lankan mud crabs that average 1kg each, those crabs frustrate me. So much work and so little meat!

KyunSang watches Eric cook and wonders if he’s going to use both the body and the internal organs of the crabs. Eric just says that this time, he’ll use the crab-leg-meat in his Egg Soup while the rest will be used in the fried rice.

It’s time to make dinner and Eric pours the crab shells into a pot of water to boil. Na PD asks if he’s using them to bring out the colour and taste of the food but SeoJin easily answers that it’s just because he has no other ingredients other than crabs. HEE.

Time to cook the meat!

SeoJin washes the lid then puts it bare above the fireplace, letting the orange flames lick it. While the crab broth bubbles viciously and is taken off the fire, SeoJin rubs the top of the lid with fat. He then lays a thick slab of raw meat on it and immediately, the welcome sizzle rises into the air. In several seconds, the meat crisps and turns brown. SeoJin turns it the other side and mouth-watering smoke wafts from the glistening bubbling layer of oil on it.

In no time at all the meat is cooked and SeoJin calls the younger boys over. HAHAHHA, no matter who you are, it’s always meat over fish and Eric proposes to SeoJin that they forget all about fishing and just raise pigs. Hurr. SeoJin doesn’t disagree. Even KyunSang falls in love with the pork and even better, they have Eric’s delicious spring onion casserole to go with it.

 

The grilled meat even beckons the cameraman and SeoJin takes issue with himfilming the cooking pork (and only the pork) for 10 minutes straight.

Eric marvels that 5,000 won was enough to feed all three of them and this time, the giant baby doesn’t even reply because he’s too busy stuffing his mouth.

Now that they’ve cooked all their meat, their writer wonders if they don’t actually have more than 5,000won worth of meat. It looks like more meat was given than is normal. SeoJin denies it then orders KyunSang to hurry up and eat, HAHAH! He even argues that it’s just because KyunSang isn’t eating because he’s feeling awkward and immediately we see KyunSang feed Eric a piece before feeding himself.

Now that the meat’s down to the last few pieces… SeoJin demands for 10,000 won more of it, HA! Na PD laughs that they don’t sell it that way in the market (how did you get 5,000 won worth then?!) and SeoJin wonders what it would be like to grill the meat on bare flames instead of in a lid. KyunSang wonders too.

 

It’s too little meat for them, but even then KyunSang feeds Eric instead of himself. It’s only under SeoJin’s insistence that he eats the last piece himself and Na PD jokes that he’s going to cry at the displays of affection.

Meat all gone, Eric head backs into the kitchen to chop vegetables for the fried rice. KyunSang asks what he should do with the Egg Soup and Eric tells him to just put it somewhere to keep it warm. So the kid transfers the pot from the top of the fire pit to the brick beside the fire pit, heh.

Time for Eric to show the world just how cool he is and while wearing his ajumma headband, he dumps the diced onions in a hot pan to sautee. Next in is the rice, followed by the seasonings on the side. There’s a break in which SeoJin pumps the flames up so that when Eric returns, the soy sauce that he’d had put at the side actually boils. He rolls the pan a bit, letting it all boil, and regales us with stories of how SeoJin had told him that food should have the taste of fire. Heh.

Proud leader SeoJin stands at the side and smiles that for some reason, it really feels like something tasty is coming.

He sees Eric cook all the ingredients for the fried rice separately, one by one, and notes that normally, they’d just dump everything together. Eric adds the eggs at the side and rolls the pan like he did for the soy sauce. He explains that if you add the eggs together with the rice, it’ll just become porridge and says that he learnt it from O’live TV too. SeoJin jokes that if one watches EBS, he can enter Seoul Unversity (the most prestigious school in South Korea). Ha.

Once the eggs are half done, he mixes it with the rice. He gets KyunSang to bring the crab meat and cooks it just like the eggs. The taste of fire mixes with the flavour of the sea in that one wok and a simple stir later, Crab Fried Rice is done.

KyunSang ladles the soup while SeoJin scoops the rice out. The New York University Graduate is determined to eat elegantly and turns the bowl of rice prettily onto a plate. Eric sighs that it looks like something from a Fred Rice Restaurant and Na PD tells him to open one. KyunSang eats a stray grain of rice and even that’s enough for him to tell that the rice is delicious.

They sit together for dinner and despite not saying anything, one can tell that SeoJin is impressed. Well, if you couldn’t tell, you should know that much when he says that he’s thinking of pressurizing Cha SeongWon (asking the production crew to rethink whether they still want him on the programme).

 

Even better, when Na PD asks Eric if he’d made Crab Fried Rice before, Eric replies that he hadn’t.

They try the Egg Soup next and while Eric tries to explain that he added the crab shells in just because they were going to throw it otherwise anyway, KyunSang embarrasses him by honestly saying that it’s the best Egg Soup he’s ever eaten. Even SeoJin agrees and states that Egg Soups are generally supposed to be a little bland and tasteless but Eric’s soup tastes deep/ rich. That’s all thanks to crab shells and crab meat.

While they eat, Na PD asks Eric if he can make anything with clams. He replies that he can make pasta, Vongole to be specific. Forever the mood-breaker, Na PD tells them that the mud flats are out right now. They have to go out to get those clams right now. Now? NOW? But they’re still eating!

Na PD tries to frame it like it’s no big deal but this time, the food must have made SeoJin so happy because he actually offers to go dig those clams himself.

 

Na PD picks that odd behaviour up and notes that having tasted all that good food must have made SeoJin greedy. Eric asks SeoJin if he likes Vongle (yes) and Aglio Olio (yes) and SeoJin admits that he actually likes noodles more than rice.

Na PD makes a deal with them – SeoJin just has to get the clams and Na PD will provide the spaghetti, no other requirements and it’s Vongole for lunch tomorrow.

Dinner slowly comes to an end as SeoJin asks the chef just how many clams he needs for his vongole. 10 to 15 per person?

So, late at 11 pm at night, SeoJin and KyunSang head out to the jetty in search for clams. It’s pitch black. Wearing headlights, they search the grounds for any signs of clams but all they get are dead, inedible clams. KyunSang pokes and digs around and even gets his feet stuck. In the end, SeoJin chucks his rake aside and just digs around with his gloved hands.

He goes at it seriously and finally finds one. Two. Three. Four. He gets a steady stream of them  and slowly, his Vongole dreams rise from the dead. On the other hand, KyunSang has found nothing because he’s been scrapping the top of the mud flats. Hee.

SeoJin tells him to dig deeper and when he finally finds one, he lets out a very satisfied sigh. Cue baby laughs.

Back at the house, Mong-ie wakes after a short nap while Koong-ie chases after a fly. Eric enters the room and packs. Koong-ie tries to get his attention to no avail.

Once he’s done packing his own things, Eric goes out to the kitchen to clean up. He tries a certain herb growing in the corner but then spits it out. Meanwhile, Na PD is allured by the beauty of the jellyfish in the tank and heads over for a closer look. He sees the Grass Puffer in the first level and peers into the second level where the jelly fish resides. To his shock, he sees Michael being eaten. It’s not even that Michael got eaten. He’s just BEING eaten!

 

And a flashback shows how it all went down. In a moment of lax, Michael had fallen to the bottom of the tank. A crab had passed by and easily grabbed it, hauling it off into a corner. It even defends Michael from their other curious crabs but then goes ahead to turn Michael over and eat it. NOOOOO, MICHAEL!!!!!!!

Eric watches all this in worry, lines crossing his face and his brows knitted in a frown. But then he casually pops up and turns around to announce that there’s a C-shaped mark on the crab and happily calls it Charles. PFFFT. Na PD calls Charles scary.

SeoJin and KyunSang return from their clam digging, while Eric is in the middle of brushing his teeth. So when they show him the clams that they’ve gotten, Eric praises them with a mouthful of toothpaste and when Na PD tells them that something unbelievable happened while they were away, he also points out Charles with a mouthful of toothpaste.

SeoJin peeks into the tanks and breezily just announces that they’re eating Charles tomorrow. Pffft.

SeoJin must be really excited by the prmise of Vongole because he immediately starts washing the clams right. now. even no one told him to.

 

But to their disappointment, he and KyunSang find way too many empty shells. Eric consoles them that even half of what they caught is enough for him but SeoJin can’t help but complain about all the fakes.

He finishes up the cleaning with KyunSang and then asks Eric what else there is to do. (Apparently, Vongole is SeoJin’s weakness.) Just cleaning all the sand you see is not enough. You’ve gotta make the clams spit out the sand in their shells and to do that, soak it in 3% salinity water and place it somewhere dark.

KyunSang is finally done with chores for the day and he turns from giant baby to giant daddy as he cuddles and kisses his kitties. Kong-ie totally knows how to work its daddy and acts cute, stretching here and there and getting cooed at in return. Even Eric pours love onto the cat, calling after Koong-ie who doesn’t even respond, only moving when Eric throws it a catnip.

In a place that’s totally different to this one that’s overflowing with love, SeoJin is out of love with the other living things sharing his room and has declared war on them, the living being flies/mosquitoes/moths of course. Armed with a fly swatter, he mimics a rock-drummer as he smacks everything.

KyunSang prepares for bedtime by getting his bedding, though he has a bit of a problem when Koong-ie won’t get off it, hee. From his corner of the room, he calls to his cats, but they ignore him. So he brings out their toy and they come over like a magic spell has been put on them. The toy keeps Koong-ie’s attention for only so long and soon after, it pries the door open and tries to get out. But it can’t because daddy’s there to carry it back. Koong-ie tries again and is thwarted again.

While KyunSang squishes Koong-ie’s face and affectionately calls it ugly, Eric, with his hairband and looking decidedly uncool, peers into a camera and preens, hee.

 

An autumn morning comes, the breeze softly blowing and the leaves swaying rhythmically to the songs they sing. Ripe, sweet fruits hang from the branches of tall trees as busy bees flit from flower to flower in search of nectar.

Back at the house, Mong-ie wakes up… and finds Uncle Eric missing!

He’s just outside pacing around and making sure that everything is in its place, lol. He kills time by checking on everything then decides to wash something. He heads to the kitchen to find if there’s anything that needs to be done there. Nothing.

So he checks on the clams and decides to just stwash them. LOL.

He ends up sitting in his kitchen and finally, SeoJin wakes up and groggily greets him. KyunSang is next to follow and asks him what time he woke up. Eric replies that he woke up at 7 to go pee… but then couldn’t go back to sleep after that. Ha.

SeoJin’s first concern in the morning is what breakfast is.

 

Eric is ready for the question and suggests Scorched Rice and Soup, along with some side dishes to go along with it. He even assures SeoJin that it’s edible since he had a taste himself.

The chickens start to complain, squawking for food.

They’re not the only ones hungry and Eric gets right down to cooking, with SeoJin and KyunSang sitting in a line before him and working on other things, as if conditioned to work without being told already. Hee.

Eric fashions some kind of marinade sauce but decides halfway that he needs something sour to add to it. So he calls KyunSang to pick a lime for him and with half a lime’s juice added to it, the marinade’s done.

After that it’s time to work on the soup. Eric calls from his kitchen for KyunSang to remove the Dashima once the water boils and add Deonjang to it later. So KyunSang follows his instructions, getting the seaweed out once the broth boils. But he almost forgets to add the doenjang, heh, making Eric very worried.

He ends up going to the broth himself for a taste and dumps some limp vegetables into it. He slices a few chives and minces some ginger. He adds both to the marinade then heads out to take the limp vegetables out of the broth. He says that those vegetables were supposed to be blanched separately (huh?) and frowns now, wondering if taking them out now is the right thing to do. Cue that “Heol” soundtrack from his previous drama Oh HaeYoung Again, HEH.

He’s not sure and he says that according to his mom, those vegetables should be blanched in separate water to remove the veggie smell and added in to the soup later. Uh…

Heh, a staff laughs at him and he admits that it’s a bit of a stupid move but since he’s a boy who listens to his mama well, he does take that vegetables out for the time being and continues to cook the soup.

 

SeoJin throws the scorched rice into another pot of boiling water to turn into scorched rice porridge and Na PD, who’s been watching, asks if soup and rice are really enough. Eric replies that there’s still seasoned eggplant/brinjal/aubergine to add along with it. Na PD wonders when he’s done anything like that and Eric quips that he hasn’t prepared it yet, HA!

In any case, it’s all but done to him, because all he needs to do is steam the eggplant/brinjal/aubergine in with the rice. Na PD guesses that he saw this trick on TV too but nope, this was the result of Eric’s morning mental exercise.

SeoJinnie picks a fan and fans the flames cooking his rice. Eric adds the removed vegetables back into the soup and then calls KyunSang to set the table. KyunSang and SeoJin prepare it together, with KyunSang holding the table up and SeoJin smacking an offending insect that’d dared to fly around their gathering area.

For breakfast, there’s Doenjang Soup, Scorched Rice, Seasoned Brinjal/eggplant/aubergine and the Spring Onion Kimchi that Eric made yesterday.

 

As expected, Eric’s food matches the taste buds of his fellow housemates. SeoJin mutters that Eric really knows how to cook soups, soups that are exactly his style. The brinjal/eggplant/aubergine actually makes him chuckle and the Spring Onion Kimchi makes KyunSang laugh in happiness. Eric says that it’s better with meat!

SeoJin reveals in his personal interview that Eric’s stews and soups are especially rich, to the point that he could cry. Pfft, his own eyes back up his words. Behind him, Koong-ie and Mong-ie come out for some air.

Back at breakfast, KyunSang shares that curiously, he had no appetite because of the heat. But once he started, he ended up eating a whole bowlful of rice (and other things). That’s how good Eric’s food is.

 

Breakfast soon comes to a close and after a second of rest, SeoJin tells Na PD, “Let’s go now”, referring to whatever work that’ll he’ll have to do in order to repay the debt he accrued yesterday. From behind the house, Na PD pulls out two umbrella-like things, and immediately, SeoJin demands to know what they’re supposed to be planting in the middle of September.

Na PD is surprised that KyunSang has seen that gadget before (from TV of course!) and announces that they can go off the moment their hearts are ready.

Lee SeoJin, “it’s not easy for my heart to be ready now.” HAHAHHAHAHAH!!!

 

 

Next Week!

They get to taste fresh grilled clams and the taste is amazing enough for KyunSang to ask if the mudflats will appear again at the same time tomorrow. Na PD replies that it’ll appear at 4:12 am.

Birthday boy Lee SeoJin: “That’s exactly the time when KyunSang wakes up!”

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6563 words. Don’t ask me what happened. One day I might just die while writing one of these recaps.