[ Crickets chirping ] [ Music ] >> Marlyn McClendon: When I was growing up, I rejected a large part of myself, which was my Korean side. I always felt like I wasn't sure who I was, and I felt like I didn't have an identity. And then as I got older, I just had this idea that I would leave West Virginia. You know, this wasn't the place for me. I wanted something different. And to move to another part of West Virginia where I found home, I found my people -- or a group of people that I felt like I could identify with and evolve with and raise children with -- it's kind of all come full circle. It's like I rejected the Korean side, I kind of rejected the West Virginia side, and now it's all come full circle to where, through food, I've found my place and who I am. Yeah, through food, and being here in the mountains and finding a loving community and people to grow with, yeah. [ Music ] [ Crickets chirping ] >> Mike Costello: When you live in a rural place, the landscape around you influences everything: how you spend your time, what you eat, and just so much of how you live your day-to-day experience. >> Marlyn McClendon: This one -- this one comes in the basement with me. >> Mike Costello: And it can inspire you to learn a lot about yourself and who you are. When that happened to Marlyn, she translated all of that through food. She started growing a vegetable garden. She started raising ducks. She began foraging in the woods. And she started making these incredibly elaborate Korean meals. >> Marlyn McClendon: One of the ways that I've always felt Korean is through food. Something that was always -- my Korean family was always happy about was that my appetite was always for Korean food. Come here and taste it. >> Ho, ho, ho. >> Marlyn McClendon: Yeah, that's good. It's like a little sweet, salty. Salty, I can taste the jalapeno coming out. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. >> Mike Costello: When you take a seat at Marlyn's table, you can feel the pride in all the food. And you'll also notice the variety. There are so many flavors and so many colors, and there might be eight or 10 different dishes. Most of those will change from time to time. But there's one thing that's on that table no matter what, and that's the kimchee. >> Marlyn McClendon: I just have such an appetite for it. It's like my strongest childhood memory is kimchee. Eating kimchee, you know, making kimchee with my mom, tasting the kimchee, kimchee soup, kimchee this, kimchee that. You know, even my mom talks about like, you know, her belly isn't satisfied until she has Korean food, until she has rice and kimchee. And so I feel like that's in me too. >> Mike Costello: Kimchee is a traditional Korean side dish of salted and fermented vegetables. And there are endless varieties made with all kinds of different vegetables, but the sort of classic version is made with Napa cabbage and typically ginger, radishes, carrots, usually green onions. And it's seasoned with ground red pepper, garlic, fish sauce, and often some kind of sweetener. >> Marlyn McClendon: I think the strongest memory of me watching my mom make kimchee -- or my mom and kimchee -- is she always had these huge-ass bowls. I mean huge-ass plastic bowls that I've never seen anyone have before, because she would always make huge batches of kimchee. So the bowl is the huge thing, and it would always be in the floor, and she would always be squatting and just like mixing it. Like I have this memory of just this one hand, just always turning it over. You know, you never want to smoosh the kimchee. You want to just like gently rub everything in. So her hands are a really strong memory. And then always after she made kimchee, she'd find a perfect piece, and she'd always like just feed it to me in my mouth. And I would tell her how I felt about it, which I always -- I was never sure. I was like more salt. Enough salt. So that's one of my strongest memories. And her just packing it into the jars. That is a strong memory of mine. But there would always be kimchee and rice. At Thanksgiving, at Christmas, at birthday parties. You know, you'd have your cake, your steak, your corn, your beans -- and kimchee and rice at the end [laughter]. So, yeah. But I've always loved everything she made with kimchee: kimchee stew, kimchee pancakes, fried kimchee and rice. We would always have turkey soup the day after Thanksgiving with kimchee. And so it's just always been there. I don't know. Kimchee's always been there. >> Mike Costello: Kimchee is salty. It's sweet. It's bitter. It's spicy. There's just so much complexity in all those flavors. And to understand what it means to Marlyn now, you have to understand that her relationship with kimchee is also very complex. >> Marlyn McClendon: I grew up in Huntington, West Virginia, which is a small city. That's where I feel like I'm from. Yeah, and I was the only Asian person in my school and in my middle school, and I think it wasn't until high school that a girl named Scarlett came. And I was like, oh, someone like me. But for the most part, it was something that ostracized me and kind of othered me. I got teased a lot for how I looked and of course the food I ate, so I grew up wanting to be white and not Korean and wanted to deny a lot of that part of who I was. And it was pretty easy to do, because mostly that only existed at home, you know? It was only at home where my mom was and the Korean culture really existed, and everything outside of that was American culture and American food, so it was easy for me to want to assimilate to that. When I was growing up, my mom would pack my lunches with kimchee, you know, and I ate it too. This is like how I grew up eating. And so taking that to school, which was like a normal thing, and then it wasn't until, you know, the smell and the look of it really deterred a lot of kids. You know, and kids are ready to like pick out things that are different. Gross and smushy, yeah. So yeah, kimchee is like a super pungent smell. It's unmistakable. Kids were just like what's that smell? What is that? And I just immediately like shut down. I was like I don't know. You want to find friends. You want to find your group. You want to find where you fit in. And so, you know, people finding the food that you love to eat stinky and repugnant, you just kind of, you know, like well, I'll just -- I'll just do away with that. I didn't, yeah, I didn't know that I could hold on to it, and that would be okay. I just wanted people to accept me. And so I think I realized the importance of kimchee when I moved here in my mid-20s. Yeah. [ Crickets chirping ] [ Music ] >> Mike Costello: Marlyn ended up in Pocahontas County about 10 years ago for her job. And when she arrived, there was no kimchee. The community of Lobelia is very remote. It is far from a grocery store, and it's really far from Korean restaurants or markets that have the kind of kimchee that Marlyn's used to. So because of this condition of necessity, Marlyn took matters into her own hands. >> Marlyn McClendon: It started with me wanting to make my own kimchee and calling my mom, because she's 3 and 1/2 hours away. I'm calling her, and I'm asking her how much salt? How long do I salt it? >> Mike Costello: And once she started making it, there was still this question of where to get the ingredients. But she found local farmers growing lots of Napa cabbage, and she even grew some of the ingredients herself. So before long, she was making these giant batches of kimchee. >> Marlyn McClendon: You know, and then when some things would go a little funky and it would be too watery or something, you know, I was constantly calling her and trying to figure out how to make it like she makes it. And then when she would visit, I would try to have things ready so we could make it together. I'm really happy my mom's coming. That's going to be nice. Yeah. [ Water swishing ] >> Yong McClendon: [inaudible] a baby chair or something [inaudible]. >> Marlyn McClendon: Baby chair? A stool? You want a stool? [ Water swishing ] So when my mom first moved here, she told me she didn't eat for three days because she was not impressed with American food and she really wanted her Korean food. So my dad's Dad -- my grandfather -- was like take her and go find what she needs so that she can eat. And so I think they went and bought some kind of pepper and, you know, cabbage, and then she started making her own kimchee. [ Music ] When my mom visits and we make kimchee together, she brings this confidence to the process, you know? I'm second-guessing, I'm questioning how much to put in, she's just like whatever. Just throw it in there. You know, any time I ask my mom how much of this, how much of that, I don't know. I don't know. Just put it in there [laughter]. So I think that blend of kind of like relaxing and also like learning about the process is fun with my mom. And also, she has this way of like using every last piece of everything. So the rinds of the cabbage, she's cutting them up finely to feed them to the ducks or something like -- and the exterior leaves of the cabbage that I usually would dispose of and put in the compost, she's like you can make soup out of that. We make soup with that. And so then she starts making soup. So my mom, when she's in the kitchen, I'm learning from her that it's just like a continual process, you know. And it's just like a whole whirlwind of making food. >> Yong McClendon: [inaudible] >> Marlyn McClendon: So now I'm remembering I used to [inaudible]. >> Yong McClendon: Yeah, I teach you everything. Look, there we were in Korea in 1990. I take you Korea at the time. >> Marlyn McClendon: Yeah, that's where all -- yeah. Who's that? You know, I'm still trying -- like as I have had children and have become a mother, I've become more curious about my own origin story and her origin story. So I'm still learning things and asking her about her stories. Really? >> Yong McClendon: [foreign language] >> Marlyn McClendon: I didn't know that. >> Yong McClendon: [foreign language] >> Oh, wow. Look at you. So my mom was born in 1962, which is important to give people context, because this is maybe nine years after the Korean war. So it's not like the Korea that a lot of people see today with a lot of technology. It was more agricultural and it was more rural and it was more poor. And so my mom grew up in poverty. And, you know, and as the U.S. Military came in, a lot of Korean women found that the United States and Western culture represented success and a bright future. And my dad was an American soldier there stationed. And so, you know, my mom met my dad in Korea, and they fell in love, and she wanted a bright future for her life, something different, something more successful. So she moved to the United States when she was 23. They said they saw each other and fell in love. And so I don't know how many months it was, but she left with him and came to West Virginia. >> Yong McClendon: It's me. Look at Daddy. >> Marlyn McClendon: She's always had a good attitude about things. But I do remember as a child like, you know, watching her experience. Like people not understand what she was saying or what she was asking for or, you know, kind of talking down to her because they didn't think she understood what was going on. And I remember that that used to really hurt me and embarrass me, and I got teased a lot for being Korean. So I totally wanted to erase that side of myself for a long time. I think probably from the age of five to 18, I wanted my dad to drop me off. I didn't want my mom dropping me off at school. I think it was when I got to college and I started to be surrounded by more diversity in terms of people and food and ideas that I actually wrote a letter back to my mom and like crying and apologizing for this kind of like rejection of like who she was and her culture. It was really emotional, because I looked back and just realized there was so much richness, and there was so much connection and so much beauty in the fact that I could be from two different cultures. [ Music ] Soon after that, I went to Korea again with her. I'd went a couple times as a child, but I went again, and then I applied to study abroad there and really submerged myself with the culture and the people and started to identify more as Korean. And I remember like when I went to Korea, there was just like all these little cultural things that I couldn't really verbally explain but felt like that's me or that's my mom or that's how I was raised. The food kimchee, like all of the food -- that was nice. [ Music ] We probably eat it too much, you know? Clay and I eat it every single meal. >> Yong McClendon: Oh, that's okay. >> Marlyn McClendon: Yeah, can you put it down so I can squish it? [ Music ] [ Woman humming ] There's the sun coming through. I'm always surprised to find myself in this place. I never thought that I would live in the middle -- not the middle of nowhere, but a pretty rural place. And when I moved here, and the more I became closer to nature and like growing food, I just felt like I was growing this little like kernel of myself, and I felt like I was finding myself. And I feel like nature does that. I feel like community and I feel like being closer to nature really helps you to feel okay with yourself and who you are and have a strong like inner voice or connection. Oh, the [inaudible]. Learning where my food came from, learning how to grow food, to be more in nature, it really kind of stirred something inside of me that felt like something I just wanted to know more about. Like I just felt more connected to myself by becoming more connected to nature. Little pricklies all over the leaves, the back of the leaves, and the stems. Nutritious plant, but very defensive, I guess [laughter]. There's another one. >> Mike Costello: Marlyn and I have been friends for over a decade. And early on, we didn't talk much about food. But over time, I started to notice when she posted online about exploring her Korean and Appalachian heritage through cooking. And so often, that was about wild food. >> Marlyn McClendon: Oh, what's that little fellow? That's a little something-something. >> Mike Costello: And Marlyn's a professional photographer, so at first, these gorgeous pictures of Korean dishes made with ramps or nettles or some other wild plants really caught my attention. But her words about connecting the mountains of West Virginia and the mountains of Korea really made me realize how much meaning there was in all of this beautiful food she was cooking and sharing with the community. [ Woman humming ] >> Marlyn McClendon: Recently I heard about this song. It's about bellflower root, which is something that Korean people eat a lot of -- which I have some, and I was going to make it -- but it's a song about picking them in the deep, deep mountains. It's a really beautiful song, and it gets stuck in my head, and even though I've never been in the mountains in Korea [laughter], I feel a connection to it. It's a pretty song. So I think about that song when I come outside and pick things. Because I didn't grow up doing this, but now I find myself doing it. When I've thought about how a lot of the foods grown in Korea can be grown here because of the same latitude and geography, it's made me think about my ancestors and where my mom came from. And then also where my dad came from, Preston County. Super mountainous. Curvy roads. When I go out into the forest, I just think like is this what my mom's parents did? Is this -- you know, and I think about my dad growing up. Oh, yeah [water swishing]. That feels good. But I guess I've just started to think about the parallels of where my parents have come from. That both of these places are mountainous. The whole thing of moving back to the mountains is funnily like a life my mom does not want for me. And she's like no, no, it's too boring. It's too boring. But I have [laughter] found so much connection to my Koreanness through it, which is just funny. Yeah, I think being raised here in West Virginia, feeling like this place is my home, but looking like this place isn't my home has made me think about my identity and where I come from and, especially after having children, I think a lot about ancestors and origins. And so, you know, foraging and cooking food that is from my Korean culture has made me feel more connected to that side of me. [ Woman humming ] In order to make sure that my kids feel a connection to their Korean ancestry, I wanted to give them food -- an appetite -- like for Korean food. So they've always eaten kimchee. They've always eaten rice. They love everything my mom makes. All the stinky like stews and stuff. They love that stuff, and they know the words for them. And so that's one of the main ways that I can instill that in them, because I can read and write, and I know some like phrases, and my mom and I can talk a little bit with each other, but I don't have a large grasp of the language, so I can't really give them that. So what I can give them is the food. Okay, easy on the eggs. Let's not bust them. >> I mixed the chives up and cut them up. >> Marlyn McClendon: Oh, good. You put them in there? Here's some more. Good, good, good. And I've tried over time to like teach them little Korean nursery rhymes and stuff like that. And when my mom visits, I try to make sure that, you know, speak Korean to them even if they don't understand it. Just whatever little ways possible. But I think food is the main way that I can give that to them. That's going to be their connector for when they maybe go out into the world or go to Korea. You know, they can eat with people. They can share food, right? And that's how we connect to people is through food. That's one of the ways that we can traverse, you know, language and any kind of barriers. Through food. And food is a huge way that people connect here. You know, the potlucks and going over to each other's houses for dinner is a way that people I think kind of drop everything and just meet as humans. So that's something that really impressed me, meant something to me. I don't think I ever found a community that I felt connected to before I moved here. You know, over time, I've had to be like, oh yeah, this is something to be proud of. This is something that I can share with people. People do like this. It does taste good to other people. And so as I've learned to make more things from my mother and from, you know, various other Korean chefs or cooks, I've started inviting my mom up to help make these bigger dinners. Those have been like opportunities to challenge myself to make more Korean dishes and to also like further this connection with my mother. You know, something that we can share. And if you've ever met a Korean person, they will always offer you food. From the time you walk in until the time you leave, are you hungry? Here, try this. Here, try this. It was always like -- you know how like in other cultures you say like bon appetit or something like that? Korean people say mani mogo. So it's like eat a lot. That's like how they tell you to like start your meal. Like eat a lot. Eat, eat, eat. And so that's something that my mom has always done. And we don't have a lot in common, but food is the one thing that we do have in common. So as I've learned more -- how to make more Korean food and she's come to help me make Korean food, to help me make these dinners, we've just grown closer together. And we talk about it. And like this morning, she told me she was very proud of me. She said, you know, I've never tried to make a lot of the stuff you've made, and it all tasted really good. And I'm really proud of you for doing that. And that is not a common thing for a Korean mom to say -- or my Korean mom to say. So that made me feel good, you know? So over the years as I've learned to make Korean food, she's taught me what she's known, yeah, we've just grown closer. We laugh, we cook together, she comes more often, and then, you know, we satisfy our bellies together. So we've grown closer. [ Music ]