^- Hi, Mom.

(laughing)

Brandon!

(playful music)

- Hi, I'm Michelle.

- I'm Brandon.

- Today, we're going to be making kimchi

for the very first time.

- [Brandon] Kimchi is a traditional Korean side dish,

made from fermented vegetables and a bunch of spice.

- It's like the foundation of Korean food.

- It's a very pungent dish.

- You can eat it with like any meal.

- I never thought I really had the skills to make it.

- Watching my mom do it,

it just looked like a lot of physical labor.

- So this time my mom is the one teaching us

how to make kimchi.

- I've actually met Brandon's mom.

She's just the nicest person ever.

- I'm super nervous.

She'll probably embarrass me.

- Brandon!

Brandon!

It's too big.

^(speaking foreign language)

(laughing)

- First time kimchi making, let's do it.

- My name is, I am Brandon's mom.

I'm very exciting today.

^(speaking foreign language)

- Brandon and Michelle, are you today ready?

- Yeah, sure.

- As ready as I'll ever be.

- This morning we actually did the first step already.

It was a lot of salt and water and soaking the cabbages in.

^- [Producer] It was the first time you did it, right?

- I didn't do it, my mom did it.

^I just watched, visual learner.

^(speaking foreign language)

(laughing)

^- Thanks mom.

^(speaking foreign language)

- Sweet rice flour.

- [Michelle] I didn't realize we

had to use flour to make kimchi.

^(speaking foreign language)

^(laughing)

- Fellas, I'm ready.

^(speaking foreign language)

- Try, Brandon.

^(speaking foreign language)

- Here your finger, here.

- Okay, I got it.

That's a bad knife.

- No, very good.

- [Michelle] Oh my God.

- Brandon, power.

Ooh, too big.

Okay, stop.

Michelle.

- It's harder than you think.

- Is this how skinny is should be?

- Brandon.

(laughing)

- Good job, Brandon.

- Weren't you a food writer?

- Shh.

- Brandon, C.

(laughing)

- Michelle, B.

- Oh, I feel when you're a parent,

you get better cooking skills.

Like kimchi pad-awon.

- Yeah.

(speaking foreign language)

- I think I'd be better at this.

Oh no, nevermind.

^(laughing)

- There's nothing sweeter than the approval of a Korean mom.

- I've been trying for the approval, 22 years.

- This one is just option.

- Michelle's bad too.

^(speaking foreign language)

- She like scrapes with her knife off her palm.

- I know.

- I like it.

^(speaking foreign language)

- Grinding it?

Grating not grinding.

(speaking foreign language)

- I could do this.

(speaking foreign language)

- [Michelle] I love ginger.

^- Can I do it?

^(speaking foreign language)

- Brandon, you try.

- Ooh, yeah, I'm good at this.

Is it A?

- Yeah, A plus.

- Now that we grated up all the onions, ginger, and pear,

^we just put it into our original base.

^- Literally every Korean mom has one of these.

(speaking foreign language)

- How much?

- Hmm, I don't know.

(laughing)

- OG kimchi is when you just eye it, and you just know.

- It's like mini salted shrimp.

- Yeah.

- It smells like the fish part of the market.

- [Michelle] This looks way thicker

than I thought kimchi was.

^(speaking foreign language)

- I would buy a squeeze bottle of this.

- This is legit.

You know because we have gloves on.

- [Michelle] Yes.

^(speaking foreign language)

- You have to rub it in while mixing it?

- Yeah.

- It's like fun cause you get really hands on.

^(speaking foreign language)

Thank you.

- I feel like they've gotten closer.

(laughing)

And I feel really awkward being here.

^- I think we're going to go shopping later without you.

^(speaking foreign language)

- Mm.

- Good?

- Mm-hmm.

^(speaking foreign language)

- My mind is blown.

I didn't know it was so deliberate.

- I thought the cabbage gets thrown in,

and you just mixed it around.

^- Yeah!

^Wow, honestly I did not know this is how it worked.

^(speaking foreign languague)

- Inside, okay.

^- This is our kimchi container, just to first to one.

^- Start from the back, take one layer.

^(speaking foreign language)

(laughing)

- Alright, here we go.

Throw it on there.

- Brandon.

^(speaking foreign language)

- It'll be more tender now.

Seeing how complicated this is, seeing how long it takes,

makes you appreciate all the mom's out there making kimchi.

- Don't push it.

- Okay (laughs).

- It's your baby, your kimchi baby.

- [Brandon] Gotta be gentle, just a baby.

^And there we go.

^(speaking foreign language)

Last one.

- [Michelle] Kimchi for days.

Oh my God, I'm so excited, it's so beautiful.

I could eat this whole thing.

- This is traditional OG kimchi.

(laughing)

- This is really good.

^- It's the love, you taste the love.

^(speaking foreign language)

- I actually feel like I leveled up as a Korean.

I'm definitely going to KaKaoTalk my mom,

tell her some cheesy thank you

^for doing this for so many years.

^(speaking foreign language)

- To actually make it definitely really special.

^(speaking foreign language)

^(calming music)

^(laughing)

- She forgot an ingredient.

- [Off Camera Woman] What is that?

- [Brandon] Just garlic.