Video about Asian fermented foods

January 23, 2008 10:15 AM

Where to find an on-demand Korean Air video about Asian fermented foods?

I was flying Korean Air Incheon-Los Angeles in 2006, and they had an excellent video about Asian fermented foods in their video-on-demand system. Among other things, I remember the camera crew going to a remote village in China where they preserved fish for 40 years, and another place where the cameraman literally started vomiting from the smell of fermented pork. There was also a segment about three Japanese women with chronic health problems who got put onto a traditional diet of rice, fermented vegetables, and fish, and their health improved considerably. They also covered natto, soy sauce brewing, and the making of maotai (a Chinese liquor).

I remember seeing some guy on the internet had taken pictures of the video, but now I can't find them anywhere. But better yet, does anyone know where I can find this video? I imagine Korean Air must have licensed it from someone else.

posted by pravit to grab bag (6 comments total)

I'd like to rule this out right away because it keeps popping up in searches - could it have been an episode of Bizarre Foods of Asia, hosted by Andrew Zimmern? youtube
posted by iconomy at 10:25 AM on January 23, 2008

Nope, it was a Korean production, with English subtitles. Thanks for the suggestion though.
posted by pravit at 10:27 AM on January 23, 2008

Do you remember whether the video was in a wacky/fun style, or in a more informative style?

There's an MBC documentary called 곰팡이 - literally, fungus - and it's a three-part documentary about fermented foods. Do any of these screencaps look familiar? That's only for the second part, but other episodes (in korean) seem to talk about fermented pigs, duck, a fish fermented for 100 years..
posted by suedehead at 11:54 AM on January 23, 2008

It was in an informative style - the screencaps look familiar, actually! Anyplace where I could find that video?
posted by pravit at 5:45 PM on January 23, 2008

Hmm. It seems that you can watch it here: episodes 1, 2, 3. They're in Korean, though, and won't be subtitled, and it requires login and (perhaps) viewing a free ad.

Your best bet is to probably contact MBC (the broadcasting company) directly and ask if you can somehow get a copy of the subtitled ones.

Hope that helps!
posted by suedehead at 7:07 AM on January 24, 2008

Oh, and the small red '300k' button is the one that will start the streaming, if you're going to give it a try. It doesn't seem to work on Macs.
posted by suedehead at 7:10 AM on January 24, 2008