middle of the night to discover a strange and fabulous and delicious slice of america i had never known was there, but i'm never known was there, but i'm trying to figure it out -- -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com ♪ so we begin at the end. after a wild week in seoul,

there was, i believe, something called soju involved. there were many, many strange and delightful things to eat. things might have spun slightly out of control. ♪ i took a walk in this beautiful world ♪ ♪ felt the cool rain on my shoulder ♪ ♪ found something good in this beautiful world ♪ ♪ i felt the rain getting colder ♪ ♪ sha, la, la, la, la, la,

♪ sha, la, la, la, la, the biggest difference between korean fried chicken and american -- >> chicken tonight? >> i feel so clean. >> where is my ticket? >> next i'll be performing a medley from "flavor town." who is everybody here? >> oh, yeah, baby. come to me, come to me. powerful in a small girly way. is this drinks that goes with food or food that goes with a triumphant return to korea? it should surprise no one that i'm in a happy place right now. >> maybe the best way to tell this story is to start at the end. like a dog returning to its own vomit, i keep flashing back to was it last night, the night before?

i smell fried chicken on my clothes, so perhaps -- >> hello. >> we meet again. >> am i glowing and healthy pink? >> you look like a better version of yourself. why is that? >> because i've lost about eight pounds of dead skin. >> koreans really like the idea of being the optimal cleanliness, you know? we like to be the most clean possible. >> i don't know. you know, i'm okay with soap and water, frankly. and beer. >> yes, of course. all right. let me see if i can properly pour this for you. yeah, there you go. >> thank you. >> so do you know about this? >> no. >> koreans have many eating traditions. if you have a very big production or a very big event that's very important, you celebrate that in a proper way. >> what are we celebrating? >> celebrating the end of this, you know, korea show. >> i thought you said something

important. >> this is important. this is the most important thing. >> i don't have to rub that into my skin right now. raw, pink skin. i'm a broken man. >> i seem, beneath the shame and the headache, to be missing a few layers of skin, as if i've been rubbed somehow raw. i believe in clean, really. but this, this is beyond clean. this is sanded, stripped, filleted. >> here's to korea. >> the beer is not helping. no, maybe it is. >> soju, i think i've had enough.

the gleeful embrace of mixing whiskey, rice wine, beer, and oysters. i mean, it seems to tempt the fates. oh. >> oh. >> yes. >> well, let me ask you one more question. what do you think about han now after your trip? >> i'm brimming with han. i mean i could never actually have a han because i'm not korean. this is, you know, a genetic almost cellular thing, but it's something i feel i can relate to. revenge is a dish best served cold kind of guy. but also hot. i'll take revenge any time i can get it actually. going to eat some more chicken. >> you've eaten a lot of chicken.

you didn't eat all day, did you? >> no. i did not love myself this morning. >> but you felt better after your scrub down. >> it was like evil, go away evil, punish the evil. >> the social contract, the confusion hierarchy of age before everything fades away. we are no longer mr. hau, mr. park, mr. no, and mr. tony. we move as one. a band of bros through the night, the world our oyster.

♪ >> we shall go to the next whiskey bar. i feel like a boy band. [ laughter ] >> johnny cash. >> johnny cash. >> yeah. >> all i can say is thank god there was no karaoke. i must have blocked it out. all roads led here. i knew that. no escape. only embrace. i am now after an evening of full-on cultural immersion, acutely aware of my role as big brother. all right guys, let's party. ♪

>> soju? >> nice to meet you. >> so correct me if i'm wrong, it's dried squid, m&ms, and mixing your alcohols? >> yes. >> wait. come back. ♪ >> seemed like a good idea. back at the office. >> next i'll be performing a medley from "mama mia". >> come on baby light my fire. >> fire, yes, fire. >> mouse? mouse fish?

♪ >> tony! >> we got to go somewhere else. we got to go somewhere else. wii -- we're not finished here, tony. >> squid treats and m&ms? sure. makes perfect sense. in fact, there were oysters somewhere along the route. a detail that becomes increasingly worrying with our alcohol intake. >> oysters, awesome. >> wow. >> nice. competitive drinking and shellfish. >> you ever play any korean

drinking games? >> no. >> no? well, they have a lot of them. it keeps the energy up and keeps everyone kind of drinking. >> stop two. >> all right. we're going to play a little game first. tony, we're going to let you start the festivities. you just got to use a chop stick, hit everything forward. it's going to splash up. >> a strike or a push? >> a push. >> whoo! >> sinister. >> there's a lot of games. we're not going to go through because it'll take forever and we'd be really, really drunk, but this game is called the bottle cap game. we're going to pass it around in a circle. you're going to flick it as hard as you can, right? >> right. [ laughter ]

>> that was bro-tastic. don't play this game with engineers. >> oh! >> don't hurt the man. been hitting those oysters hard. see you in flavor town. >> that's pretty good. >> no, that's good. >> we got to go somewhere else. >> yeah, we're going. let's hit the street, guys. soju bottle number nine. the idea that only an hour earlier we sat like gentlemen and had barbecue. a rapidly fading memory.

>> tony, how many bottles can you drink? >> we'll see. >> yes, i remember now. somewhere near the start of the evening, the moment little brother grabbed the reigns of our soon careening chariot unfettered by earthly conventions called good sense, a reality of work tomorrow. >> eat the eye! eat the eye before it gets cooked too much. >> oh, that's good. >> this being korea, beer is a must as is apparently soju. i had forgotten that part.

>> what seems to define korea as i know it is it anticipates the future very, very well. this is a country that's famous for looking forward, looking into the future. where does one go to see korea's past, and are these guys sentimental about it at all? >> yes. right, yeah. >> younger brother. >> younger brother. all right, younger brother. >> my mission, for purposes of television, is to ingratiate myself into a total group of strangers, observe what they call -- and please excuse my painful pronunciation --. in korean business culture, this

would be a regular thing. a one-night corporate retreat if you will. which is how i ended up at my appointment with the fates, a barbecue joint popular with the salary man. >> who is everybody here? >> mr. noh. >> park. >> tony. tony. >> i think they like me. >> do you drink soju? >> i do. [ speaking in a foreign language ] i could feel our deadlines racing towards us. we didn't need a loan. we needed short-term funding fast. building 18 homes in 4 ½ months? that was a leap.

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this is anthony bourdain, cnn. good night. [ speaking in a foreign language ] >> notice the totally blissed-out happy look on my face. observe the bowl with nothing left but fiery remnants. behold the magnificence that is this dish. that's enough, enough. that's good. geez.

oh, man. that's going to go straight to my hips. >> yes? >> yes. >> okay, okay. thank you. >> this is a magical dish. >> so most people are not sentimental about their time in the military. why do this? everybody serves in the military, right? >> yeah, it's mandatory in korea. >> very happy.

>> you want the recipe about this? >> i got the recipe now. >> it's everything mama warned you about, and it's got it all, baby, and when the music is over, your life will have changed forever. >> one, two, three. >> okay. okay. yes. yeah. dating back to famine years of the korean war, scrounging from american military bases, it is a classic example of necessity feeding the mother of deliciousness. hot dogs, canned baked beans, spam, and instant noodles put together with kimchi.

it became an enduring and deeply loved classic. like i used to say to my first girlfriend, how can something to wrong be so right. you got that right. no, no, no. >> wow! no. >> i tell you. sorry about that. sorry, man. regrettable incident. looks healthy. i mean look at this thing. look at the color alone.

in go the noodles. >> wow. >> yeah, baby. yeah, that's good. come to me, come to me, my love. >> yes. >> little spam in there. good job, chef. >> good chefs. >> yes, yes, yes. >> thank you. >> my pleasure. any time.

>> in a society reeling from conflict and deprivation, largely without meat or fresh ingredients, this was the gift of the g.i. the korean war lasted from 1950 to 1953, but in many ways it never ended. the country is split in half and in a constant state of alert. 120 miles to the north, a crazy dictator with an enormous standing army, a bad haircut, and a nuclear arsenal. this we know. but the war divided a country and a culture also divided families. altered forever the korean character. the chef's early experience working the mess hall during his mandatory military service led directly to super stardom. now from this unassuming army surplus tent, he beams his cooking show live in more than 50,000 homes today via something called the internet. and he's not the only one. there's competition. lots of it. broadcast eating, it's kind of a

phenomena in korea, which is how i suppose i wound up in a tent on the outskirts of seoul. >> hi, how you doing? right here? all right. classic, indigenous ingredients. >> no, no, spam. >> excellent. all right. it's a slaughter fest. i've gotten killed like 12 times he said humira is for adults like me who have tried other medications but still experience the symptoms of moderate to severe crohn's disease. and that in clinical studies, the majority of patients on humira saw significant symptom relief. and many achieved remission. humira can lower your ability to fight infections, including tuberculosis. serious, sometimes fatal infections and cancers, including lymphoma, have happened; as have blood, liver, and nervous system problems, serious allergic reactions, and new or worsening heart failure. before treatment, get tested for tb.

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it's a slaughter fest. i've gotten killed like 12 times already today, so i think i'm going to hang it up. all right, i'm ready for some food. >> in korea, the food delivery system is really good. >> really good. >> a whole bunch of food you can just order. >> order food while you're

playing? >> yeah. >> pc bomb sounds like a male porn star, i know, but this one has a smoking lounge and a well stocked snack bar. energy drinks seem a popular order. here in seoul, given that there's an entire strata of professional gamers, more substantial food from time to time is required. no problem. anything you want right to your console. >> real-life, does it have any attraction? >> real life? >> real-life. you know, like non-gaming world. >> people love it. professional gamers, people love the professional gamers. they get a lot of fame for that. >> right. thank you. oh, man. oh, man. this is too much. >> you got to get the sauce with the noodle. >> yep. >> it's a black noodle. it should be all black. >> tasty. >> good? >> that'll work. >> some of the games you can play while still eating. >> yeah. one handed?

>> basically, you eat a little bit and then play the game, eat a little bit, then play the game. >> the only game i've ever really gotten serious about and lived with for a year. i spent a lot of time and it was gta vice city. >> in my opinion, it is a little bit violent for me. that's my personal opinion. >> look, little red riding hood here was doing a lot of bleeding out in this game. >> that's true. >> over the mountain and through the woods to grandmother's house we go, blowing some shit up on the way and was it right shift, left click, down or the other way around? >> okay. i'm looking for the little guys with the red over them. >> yeah. [ laughter ] >> that doesn't look good. >> yeah, you got killed too. >> oh, geez. i'm respawning. >> yeah, respawning. you could target. you can basically pull long distance or short distance depending on what your target is. >> i'm just learning how to move here.

oh, poor little red riding hood. she's not good. if i'm shooting something, it's me. oh, no. little red riding hood, you're bleeding out again. oops. didn't make it. i don't see any bad guys. are these friends? >> oops. >> back in the old days before time itself, spending 17 hours a day at places like this was frowned upon by family. now gaming has become a respected and often lucrative profession in korea. simon has pretty much retired

from gaming, per se. instead he makes a living advising rising stars in the industry. >> you do this for a living? >> yeah. >> how many hours a day? >> the professional gamers, they spend all day playing this game. they wake up, play a game, practice. have lunch, practice again, have dinner, and go to sleep. >> today the game is one of those multiplayer kill fests where mighty avatars boast a wide range of powerful abilities. raining death across the globe or just over there. >> there we go. this is all about love. >> really cute. little girl. >> that's me? oh, geez. can we choose another avatar maybe? something more killy? i don't know if i'm going to strike fear into my enemies. >> oh, yeah. it's very powerful. >> powerful in sort of a small girly way.

>> little girl comes around the corner having a big fireball on her head. >> i'll try to keep up with you for a few minutes. >> press w to go forward and then press the right and left click together. then the right key on the mouse. >> forward is w. >> yeah. >> this other skills. e shift and left together. >> left shift and then -- >> left together, yeah. then space, right click, left shift with left click together. >> brutal. how long did it take you to figure out how to move around in this world? >> about ten minutes. >> ten minutes, yeah. >> okay, me and simon are going up against these kids and i'm expecting to pistol whip some bitches unless time has once again passed me by.

the life of a professional video gamer is a concept that's not easy for me to grasp. these young nerd lingers are famous. they have tv shows where they compete and are making actual cash money. they have sponsors and super fans. they probably even get laid off this shit? and that explains how little red riding hood ended up bleeding out on the cold, hard, virtual %-p? >> sure. okay, where's our opponents? righ home's professional team thoughtfully selects caregivers to provide help with personal care, housekeeping, and of course, meal preparation. oh, that smells so good. aw, and it tastes good, too. we can provide the right care, right at home.

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[ laughter ] >> fire your ass. >> don't say anything about wayne newton. he's the man. >> he's early 90s west coast. >> i'm an east coast guy. >> i'm not entirely convinced that korean food is healthy. >> have you always been a food guy? >> i feel like i've appropriated the hot. very happy here. >> last one? >> yeah. is this drinks that goes with food or is this food that goes with drinks? >> the culture here is you have to have something that goes well with that drink. >> we should probably be drinking that, right? >> yes. have you tried soju before? >> oh, yeah. how often can you come to a place like this a week? would you come every day? after work? >> if you want.

>> if i just slumped to the ground and fell asleep, would that be okay? >> i wouldn't recommend it, but i've seen it done many times. >> what's good to eat here? >> i'd like to recommend the soup of death. it's a soup, but the main ingredient in that is silk worms. >> okay. >> that okay? >> yeah, sure. oh. >> nice? >> oh, yeah. >> eating bugs, that is so last network. >> how do you like the soup? >> the soup is awesome. i'm going to go home and have benisans tonight. >> in the old days, they didn't have the soup. they just oiled it. they put it in like these little paper cups and ate it like an hors d'oevre. >> get the [ muted ] out of my soup and make me a sweater. >> even koreans don't eat this all the time, but i guess this country makes you feel like if you can't eat this, then you're

not korean. >> what were you born? >> in new york. >> in new york. >> yes. >> and were there until -- >> until roughly 21. i grew up on the streets and new york city. it was automatically you're a chink. wait a minute. isn't that supposed to be chinese? i'm korean and i'm proud to be korean. >> mark is what's called a korean who has lived abroad. as things get better and brighter over here, more and more people, like mark, are moving back home for the ever more numerous opportunities. >> when i came here, it just felt right for me. i'm here. these are my peoples. this has what i've been missing. i was considered an outsider in my own country. i had like this thing going on because i was like am i not korean enough if i don't do this, if i don't drink this, if

i don't eat this, but there was a certain sense of well, i want to learn this if that makes me feel more korean. >> nice. the best part is the skin. is this so hard to walk in and eat delicious food and get hammered in the street? being korean is pretty awesome. >> last one. >> yeah. >> nighttime in seoul and everywhere you go it seems, food and drink. this is what they call kind of like a pub, if pubs could operate in the street. you could have drinks and, well, i guess you could call it pub food. >> we're about to go eat some really, really good. welcome to seoul. let's do this. >> my new friend mark helped popularize western style hip hop in korea. an event that led directly to me eating silk worms in a tent. >> how you doing? good to meet you. >> thanks for having me on. >> so where are we?

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>> come on. i'm getting like this weird sense of deja vu. haven't we been in a fish market in seoul at some point in a previous life? >> what should we toast to this time? >> to a triumphant return to korea? second time around for me. >> there's something i've been craving since i got off the plane. the snacks that accompany your meal in korea. >> i missed this. this is for me one of the most exciting things about korean food actually. >> yeah. doesn't that just make you want to drink more soju? >> is that a hint or something? >> i know the formality of it all. >> the appetizers, yes, i remember these guys.

>> our old friend. >> this looks familiar. >> bringing back memories. here we go. >> so this is spicy stew. >> i need it to burn. >> it has everything under the sun seafood wise. you can find crab. you can find all different kinds of fish. >> fishermen stews all over the world. >> exactly. this bowl for me, that's the perfect example of koreans in general. we love being together in a space, huddled around a bubbling pot of something. >> what can i tell you? oh, this is good. you are failing in your duties as a young assistant. >> i'm sorry, i'm sorry. >> we don't have to drink it immediately, do we?

face planting. >> koreans, they just want each other to drink as much as possible. peer pressure drinking is kind of a big deal. may i have another glass, please? >> korean drinking etiquette 101. you never pour your own drink. younger pours for the older and you never drink alone. >> how come all the korean guys are so tormented? they're all carrying around some unseen weight. >> every single korean person is born with this thing called han, which is a deep sorrow and anger. it has nothing to do with upbringing. it's genetic. it's in our blood. >> han, my favorite korean word. it has many implied and specific meanings, but generally speaking, it is a mixture of endurance, yearning, sorrow, regret, bitterness, spite, hatred, and a grim determination to bide your time until revenge can at last be exacted.

>> revenge is a very, very sweet tasting thing for koreans because there's been so much wrong that's happened to us. >> what about little timmy mcmasters who made fun of you in second grade for bringing kimchee to school? he laughed at you and said it smelt like garbage. is there vengeance coming their way? >> i want those people to think about that time that they made fun of me. i want them to actually love korean food now. >> that doesn't sound anywhere close to endless suffering. >> well, that's my personal story. >> i would think electric nipple clamps. then i drive over them. not killing them. they slowly bled to dead from artery wounds. >> the reason that koreans are able to just not wallow in that is because of this other emotion called chung. it is a deep fondness that you have for your other koreans, and people always focus on han and i am like, yeah, i know, han, yes,

yes, it exists. no one is denying that. we all have it. but chung, no one talks about that and it's equally strong. >> okay. i believe you. >> i don't think you believe me about this chung thing. >> no, i believe you. like i like the whole idea of han. i totally get that as an engine. i like that. i like that dark side. the fact that this word exists is sort of awesome because a negative emotion has been converted into a number of very, very, very positive developments. >> absolutely. koreans are, you know, this amazing group of people that don't curse and eat amazing food, and we like to drink and have fun. >> oh, stop sucking up. so, to the han. >> we need to make a serious dent in this. >> we're unique and we're amazing. >> that describes me. >> i'm not drinking this. >> no, you don't have to drink

it. >> my relentlessly cheerful friend and colleague nari. she loves korea and all things korean and wants nothing more than to make everybody love it as much as she does. that's why she brought me here to the garak fish market where you find the casual joints i love. i will have, let me see, perhaps the fish. i want some enchana and spicy stuff and we'll start off by drinking some soju, i think. >> yeah. >> i'm getting a weird sense of deja vu. haven't we been at a fish market in seoul at some point in some previous life? rs were rushing i. i could feel our deadlines racing towards us. we didn't need a loan. we needed short-term funding fast. building 18 homes in 4 ½ months? that was a leap. but i knew i could rely on american express to help me buy those building materials. amex helped me buy the inventory i needed.

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>> the past, present, the future. if you're there for the whole ride, one explains the other. drop into the middle, it makes no sense at all.

korean culture, as far as i can tell is defined by the drive to succeed, a churning engine fuelled by decades of han. a remarkable ability and remarkable willingness to anticipate the future. it reaches back across time, finding millennials and generations long since past. last time i was here, i was working for some other network, the bacon channel or the competitive eating channel. what was that old show called? it was so long ago. back then, i was dragged around in naraki's tiny but powerful wake. that was a decade ago. things have changed since then. i've changed. i'm guessing nari's changed. and korea, korea has certainly changed. the korean war ended more than

half a century ago, but in some ways it's still going. the north and south have been on per september you'll war footing ever since. it's a psychological and physical scar. korea is literally split in half. but that's not what this thousand is about. there aren't many comparisons to south korea's stratospheric rise in the last decade. one of the poorest countries as early as the '60s, today it claims one of the world's fastest growing economies. the government has been extremely shrewd and forward thinking about selling the world all things korean. underwriting, encouraging, financing and supporting the export of intangibles, things like music, movies, tv shows, food. the whole korean sensibility. and the world is responding, learning to love what koreans have always loved. the heart of korea is seoul,

capital city, a bustling metropolis. futuristic in look and character, population, 25 million. >> look at that, they've got a selfie stick. people are taking pictures of their food. in october, 2014, i went back to korea. this is what i saw. >> this makes me so happy. >> the kimchi. >> oh, that's good. >> it should surprise no one that i'm in a happy place right now. >> oh, yeah. first night back. right to the market, bunch of unrecognizable but invariably and inevitably delicious food. good to be back, man. good to be back.

♪

pity the salary man. tokyo's willing cog in an enormous machine requiring long hours, low pay, total dedication. and sometimes, what's called koroshi, death by overwork. here in a society of tight spaces and many expectations, the pressure is on to keep up appearances, to do what's expected, to not let the interior life become exterior.