Hermits' recipes popular on internet
Korea Times graphic by Bae So-young
By Kang Hyun-kyung
Foods that supposedly helped heal wounded souls are popular on the internet.
MBN's reality show “Into the Wilderness,” which features the rustic lifestyle of people who live in solitude deep in the mountains or on remote islands with no other inhabitants except themselves, is creating a quiet revolution.
A host of YouTube videos and footage capturing food recipes that featured in past episodes of “Into the Wilderness” are popping up online. Some of them are very popular and have hundreds of thousands views.
In each episode, the host spends three days with the person living in the wilderness following their daily routines. Comedians Lee Seung-yoon and Yoon Taek take turns hosting the show each week.
The people featured lead a simple life and their daily routines are focused on meeting basic human needs.
They begin their day with breakfast and then search for food ingredients in the nearby wilderness. Mountain ginseng and other herbs with health benefits are popular among them.
Wilderness people are knowledgeable about plants, explaining the health benefits of each herb to the TV show host.
All their food ingredients come from Mother Nature. The people craft their own food recipes based on their experience and knowhow.
Their dishes are organic, healthy and have no additives.
Each “wilderness man” has stories to tell, which keeps viewers tuning in even after their recipes have been unveiled.
The spicy sour sauce made by North Korean defector Lee Ju-sung, then 50, in the 165th episode of the program, was a big hit after it aired in October 2015.
Unlike South Koreans' sour sauce made with red pepper paste and vinegar, Lee used soybean paste as a main ingredient and added vinegar, a spoonful of sugar and red pepper powder. He served sour sauce trout sushi.
He demonstrated how to make a homemade tonic with shiitake mushroom, burdock and other natural ingredients, saying North Koreans use it to fight incurable diseases such as cancer.
Arriving in South Korea in 2005 after escaping from his home country, Lee was involved in trade with China but his small business went bankrupt due to his business partner's fraudulent deal. He juggled several manual labor jobs to feed his family and decided to leave the stressful urban life as his health declined.
Lee said he found a new life full of joy and satisfaction in self-sufficiency in the wilderness.
Herbal broth noodle is another dish that was a big hit in the early days of the show.
In the 10th episode that aired in 2012, Lee Kang-woo, then 59, unveiled his recipe. He put shiitake mushroom, sliced onion and sliced zucchini into boiling water and then removed the vegetables from the container after a while. He put instant noodles into the boiling vegetable broth.
Hermits' recipes are simple and easy to follow as they use minimal ingredients.
Other popular ones include soybean milk noodles and rice burgers made of cooked fried rice and various vegetable toppings.
These isolated humans are storytellers.
Before they settled in the wilderness, they were no different from urban dwellers. Most were breadwinners who worked hard in various fields to feed their families and endured a stressful urban life to make a living. Their professions varied. Some were the founders of once-thriving businesses, and some were self-employed. Some were white-collar workers who had no knowledge of the rustic lifestyle. Some were laborers traveling all across the nation for construction work. Some are returnees who came back to Korea after their immigration to other countries had not gone smoothly.
All have one thing in common though _ they are wounded souls who were forced to leave the urban place they were familiar with. Some settled down in their current place after business failures. Some fled to the wilderness after they were sick and tired of the cruel, stressful urban life. Some came to Mother Nature after failing and finding no hope for treatment. Their dark past, however, became forgotten after they arrived in the wilderness.
They became healthy, physically and mentally, while going through years of struggle in the wilderness. Being self-sufficient requires them to do a lot of physical work as they can gain nothing without work. But they found themselves free of stress as no one harassed or troubled them. After struggling for years to make ends meet, they found lives that are fulfilling and satisfying.
Food is one of the critical elements that made them reach a state of genuine happiness.
Their recipes have saved some of their lives as they have lots of health benefits. Some of them cook rice with water from Mono maple trees and shiitake mushroom and so the cooked rice has a unique flavor with lots of health benefits.
Some make the most of fermented foods including vinegar, berries and vegetables.
“Into the Wilderness” is the most popular TV show among people in their 40s.