This article contains spoilers for 'Awkwafina's Korean Homecoming' on No Taste Like Home
In new TV programme No Taste Like Home, presenter Antoni Porowski and a celebrity guest set out to explore a particular country’s cultural heritage, as well as the celebrity’s own family history.
Antoni and actor, rapper and comedian Awkwafina begin their journey in New York. Awkwafina, whose real name is Nora Lum, was born there. Her father is of Chinese origins and her mother was from Korea.
Nora’s mother died when she was four and she was raised by her father and her paternal grandmother. Antoni and Nora go to see Nora’s beloved grandmother and together they cook jajangmyeon, a traditional Korean dish of pork and noodles in black bean sauce. Jajangmyeon is popular both in Korea and northern China, where Nora’s grandmother is from, and they used to bond over the dish.
“I want to go to Korea,” Nora says. “I want to understand what it is today. I want to really immerse myself in the culture and I want to see where my mom was from.”
Nora and Antoni start their journey in the South Korean capital of Seoul, where they visit Tongin street market. In its history, Korea has been invaded by Mongolia, China and Japan, and each country left its mark in Korea’s traditional dishes, from dumplings to the sushi-like kimbap.
Next, they head to the village of Daeyul-ri, where Nora’s maternal grandfather Hong YeonChang was born. Indeed, everyone in the village is related to Nora and is part of the Hong family, a clan of powerful landlords.
Nora and Antoni help to make teok, a steamed sweet cake made from rice flour, and take it with them on a visit to Hong Chungheon, the village elder. He is a distant cousin of Nora’s as they have the same 5x great grandfather, and he knew her grandfather. Nora is deeply moved when Chungheon shows her the jokbo, a family book of genealogy.
Nora and Antoni go on to meet Jun Lee, a Michelin-starred chef. He shows them a farm where cows are bred for eating. Cows in Korea were traditionally used to pull ploughs, but are now used for Korea’s famous beef. They are fed with rice hay to make them fattier and even played music to relax them. Jun Lee cooks gogi-gui, or Korean barbecue, for his guests. It’s a traditional dish which a whole community will gather to eat.
Nora and Antoni go to Daegu, the city where Nora’s mother Hong Hyun Joo was born. Nora is moved to tears to try seaweed soup, her mother’s favourite dish. It’s particularly symbolic as the soup is traditionally eaten by mothers recovering from childbirth.
“I remember this almost ancestral feeling of fullness,” Nora says.
It’s even more emotional when Nora meets two of her mother’s old friends from school, who show her photographs of her mother when she was young.
“It was so difficult for my family when she passed,” Nora says. “This part of her life for me was erased. It’s nice to know that she was happy, she had friends. I feel like I can move on to the next phase of my life in peace knowing that I came here, because she really wanted me to come back.”
To finish her journey, Nora takes part in kimjang with one of her mother’s friends. This is a mother-daughter tradition where the older woman teaches her the recipe for kimchi, or fermented cabbage.
“To be here physically is very very profound for me,” she says. “As every day went by, I came to feel more Korean, I came to feel more a part of this place.”
Awkwafina's episode of No Taste Like Home will air on Disney+ from Monday 24 February and on National Geographic at 10pm on Wednesday 5 March.
