Three Meals A Day: Mountain Village: Episode 1

by Benjamin Liu

Na PD’s Three Meals a Day is back with its latest season. This time around, the cast is making their home in a cozy mountain village as they farm, cook three meals a day, and welcome special guests.

EPISODE 1 RECAP

img

We open with an adorable animated intro before segueing into shots of nature, growing plants, and close-ups of some tasty dishes being cooked like stir-fries, soups, and noodles.

At a cafe, Na PD meets with this season’s three cast members, Yeom Jung-ah, Yoon Se-ah, and Park So-dam. Jung-ah and Se-ah have been best friends for 10 years and So-dam is a close hoobae. Na PD tells the cast to order generously and So-dam jokes that they’ll eat well at the cafe and end up eating grass over at the mountain village.

As they talk about the show, Jung-ah asks Se-ah about her cooking skills and is surprised when Se-ah says she’s not a very good cook. Jung-ah’s alarmed and asks what all those food pictures on Se-ah’s Instagram are about; she’d assumed Se-ah had been cooking everything she’d posted. An abashed Se-ah says she just uploaded the photos, but that she didn’t cook everything herself.

img

Na PD explains that their concept for the new season will be focused on going back to the basics, so the staff will be providing fewer resources than in previous seasons. The intention being that the women will use ingredients they grow and gather themselves. That seems to worry Jung-ah the most, to the point that as Na PD jokingly asks her not to cry.

It seems that none of them are particularly good at cooking. Apparently Jung-ah used to cook a lot, but she lost motivation because people kept saying her food tasted bad (aw, but lol). The trio decide that she’s still the best among them so she’s designated their main chef.

Na PD then asks who will tend to the fire and Se-ah volunteers herself but Jung-ah says they can all share fire-tending duties. Next on the agenda: sleeping arrangements. Jung-ah asks if they can all sleep together and Se-ah explains that Jung-ah can’t sleep on her own. She says was concerned no one would want to sleep with her and in the end they decide to just sleep in one room, with Jung-ah as the filling in a Se-ah-So-dam sandwich. Na PD voices his concern about just how tiring it’ll be to film in the summer heat but Jung-ah reassures him they’ll be happy as long as they’re together.

img

A few days later, the cast is off to Jeongseon in Gangwon Province and Jung-ah is visibly nervous about driving. As they move further through narrow country roads, they’re in awe over the beautiful scenery and So-dam jokes that the green fields match her hair colour.

They’re excited when they finally arrive at the house and they set out to explore. They laugh at all the personalized items the staff’s provided for them, like rainboots and hoes engraved with each woman’s name. While Se-ah and So-dam are still checking out the outdoor pantry, which is stocked with all the basics (rice, spices, flour, etc.), Jung-ah ventures into the house.

img

Inside the house, they discover bean sprouts that the production team has sprouted for them, saving them time (unlike in previous seasons). After unpacking their luggage, Se-ah wanders around, looking for the stove. She recruits Jung-ah to help her search, but they end up asking the production team where the stove is. The team helpfully directs them to…a bunch of bricks. It takes the two of them a second to register that they’re expected to actually build their own outdoor stove.

Jung-ah and Se-ah move the bricks to the front of the house while So-dam turns to her cellphone to see how they should build their stove contraption. Se-ah says she thinks they should come up with a plan before moving the bricks so they don’t do their work two times over. Jung-ah, “I agree. So let’s move all the bricks first.” That gets an exasperated laugh from Se-ah but she does as Jung-ah says. While they’re hard at work a cable technician arrives to set up the television and Jung-ah confirms that they’ll need it because she watches Kang’s Kitchen (you can hear the staff laugh when she says that).

img

They manage to assemble two brick stoves in as many hours and they take a much-deserved break with one thing off their to-do list. They have some cold barley tea and discuss what to have for lunch. They’re not sure what crops are available to harvest and when Na PD tells them there’s a map of the farm on the fridge, Jung-ah pops up to check it out before even finishing her drink. With a wealth of fresh veggies and greens available, they decide to cook bean sprout soup and radish bibimbap.

With their menu set, the women work together to start the fire and just when things seem to be going well, it starts to rain. They rush to move their giant pots onto the stoves to prevent the fire from going out. Crisis averted, the prep the rice (and switch the lunch menu to bean sprout bibimbap and dwenjang jiggae (soup made with a fermented soybean paste base). As the two pots boil away, the girls head over to the field with the map to get some vegetables.

img

They explore the field and grab some green onions and chillies. When they try to figure out if the peppers they found are spicy, Se-ah tells Jung-ah to sniff it to see if it’s spicy. Jung-ah examines and sniffs very seriously, then brings the pepper away to tell the others she doesn’t know what she’s doing. In the end, Se-ah takes a nibble (they’re spicy) so they proceed to where the potatoes. So-dam’s grandparents lived in the countryside so So-dam has some experience with digging potatoes, which is handy here. They dig up potatoes, and grab a squash too.

While they were busy in the field, the pots started to boil over and Na PD runs over to tell them that the rice smells burnt. Jung-ah rushes back to check on the rice, which looks brown on the edges. She yells for Se-ah to come over and they scoop out the rice and thankfully, it’s not burned. The soup looks fine too so after adding some more ingredients to the soup like dwenjang and gochujang, the trio being to cook in earnest. There’s lots of washing, chopping, and dicing.

img

2 While they were busy in the field, the pots started to boil over and Na PD runs over to tell them that the rice smells burnt. Jung-ah rushes back to check on the rice, which looks brown on the edges. She yells for Se-ah to come over and they scoop out the rice and thankfully, it’s not burned. The soup looks fine too so after adding some more ingredients to the soup like dwenjang and gochujang, the trio being to cook in earnest. There’s lots of washing, chopping, and dicing.

img

3 While they were busy in the field, the pots started to boil over and Na PD runs over to tell them that the rice smells burnt. Jung-ah rushes back to check on the rice, which looks brown on the edges. She yells for Se-ah to come over and they scoop out the rice and thankfully, it’s not burned. The soup looks fine too so after adding some more ingredients to the soup like dwenjang and gochujang, the trio being to cook in earnest. There’s lots of washing, chopping, and dicing.

img
4 While they were busy in the field, the pots started to boil over and Na PD runs over to tell them that the rice smells burnt. Jung-ah rushes back to check on the rice, which looks brown on the edges. She yells for Se-ah to come over and they scoop out the rice and thankfully, it’s not burned. The soup looks fine too so after adding some more ingredients to the soup like dwenjang and gochujang, the trio being to cook in earnest. There’s lots of washing, chopping, and dicing.

img