we're back now with more of "today" on a wednesday morning, march 21st, 2012. not the nicest day we've had in a couple of days, but the temperature is moderate, in the 50s and 60s now. going up to about 70, as hopefully it clears off a little later in the day. we're expecting a day nr 80 degrees tomorrow. as we roll into spring. i'm matt lauer out on the plaza along with ann curry and savannah guthrie. you know the expression an apple a day can keep the doctor away. >> of course. >> some people are saying perhaps an aspirin a day could keep the cancer away. series of new studies has really got people talking about the effects and benefits of aspirin. could it prevent certain kinds of cancers?

dr. nancy synderman is going to be here in just a little while to talk more about that. >> that's right. and so far she's already calling it a game changer. very significant development. and also coming up this morning we're going to get advice for financial emergencies, including when to consider reverse mortgages, and also how to talk about a deal with credit card debt and also when to call in a financial planner. eve got our money 911 straight ahead. >> and it is that time of year. all hands on deck. george oliphant is here. he did a rescue of a deck for a brooklyn homeowner and he's going to be here if you're dreaming of backyard fun with family and friends he will tell you how you can renovate your deck with some beautiful flowers and plants coming up. >> it's always good to have george here. let 's go inside right now. we should mention, al is down in clearwater, florida. we'll check in with him in a second. first the headlines of the morning from natalie over at the news desk. >> all right. good morning, everyone. we begin with an overnight gun battle and place standoff in france with a suspect wanted for monday's deadly shootings at a

jewish school and the murders last week of three french soldiers. police say the 24-year-old gunman claims to have trained with al qaeda in pakistan and afghanistan. he told negotiators he targeted jewish students to avenge the deaths of palestinian children. the murders of the paratroopers he said were to protest western military intervention overseas. the family of an unarmed florida teen who was shot to death by a neighborhood watch volunteer says there is a new account of the confrontation. the family says 17-year-old trayvon martin was on the phone with his girlfriend when he noticed george zimmerman following him. the girlfriend reportedly says trayvon felt betrayed. but police in sanford, florida, say zimmerman -- police in sanford, florida, say zimmerman shot trayvon in self-defense. a grand jury will now investigate. go >> an easy win overnight for mitt romney at the illinois republican presidential primary. romney took 47% of the vote to rival rick santorum's 35%.

now santorum is looking ahead to saturday's louisiana primary hoping to raise his delegate count by picking up some southern states. extremely dangerous flash floods this morning in louisiana, eastern texas, after widespread heavy rain and more downpours are on the way. flash flood warnings also in effect for parts of arkansas, missouri, mississippi, and eastern oklahoma. a series of new studies suggest that aspirin may have surprising benefits in both preventing and treating cancer. researchers found that a daily dose of aspirin can reduce cancer risk along with deaths and the spread of cancer especially in patients with colon cancer. the research is published in the medical journal "the lancet." prince william returns to the uk this morning after completing his royal air force duties in the falkland islands. nbc's michelle kosinski is at buckingham palace with the very latest. michelle, good morning. >> hi, natalie. he was gone for six weeks. not as prince william but as flight lieutenant william wales a rescue helicopter pilot which

is a tough job. they go out in the worst conditions to save people's lives. this was also considered a controversial posting because britain went to war with argentina over the falklands in the 1980s, argentina has not accepted the outcome and considered prince william going there provocative. back home the palace has kept william's bride kate very busy with appearances. just this week she gave her first speech in which she said she wished william could be there. the palace says william will take a little time off and return to his usual post in wales. natalie? >> hopefully catherine gets to spend a little time with her husband. thank you so much michelle cosenny outside buckingham palace. for the first time since they were born in november polar bear triplets ventured outside of their den tuesday at the moscow zoo. they enjoyed playing in the snow and exploring their surroundings. nothing seemed to please them more than snuggling with their momma. now let's go back to al with a check of your weather in clearwater. al? >> hey, thank you so much, natalie. we are here at the u.s. coast

guard air station clearwater, the largest and busiest air station in the coast guard system. i'm standing in front of one of these c-130s, their search planes, and you can hear there's another c-130 they're firing up, they're doing maintenance on that. we're here because we're very excited, we've got our series on the weather channel, coast guard alaska, we're doing a spinoff, coast guard florida. we start production in two weeks. and you'll see those episodes later on the weather channel this year. let's check your weather. big, big problems down as natalie told you in the news cast, flading in louisiana and texas. we've got more on the way, that strong upper level low really isn't moving. so it's bringing up a lot of moisture. you can see tornado watches throughout much of louisiana. rain falling off anywhere from another 2 to 5 inches of rain over the next 24 hours. as you can see, most of that rain is in eastern louisiana on into mississippi.

>> and that's your latest weather. natalie? >> al, thank you. now to "today's money 911" where we tackle your financial prob m problems. jean chatzky, "today's" financial editor and author of "the money blues" david bach, author of "debt free for life" and sharon epperson is cnbc's personal finance correspondent. good morning to all of you. >> good morning. >> a lot of great questions to get to so let's get right to it.

first one is an e-mail question comes from christine in pennsylvania and she writes, my now 72-year-old mother took a reverse mortgage loan out of her home, which was paid off, for frivolous reasons, without cutting family or learning more about the consequences. she now realizes that she will be losing her home after she either can't live there anymore or passes away leaving her children without an inheritance. is there any way out of this situation? okay, jean, tough one. a lot of seniors are taking reverse mortgages. is it a good thing? >> it can be a good thing. and here's the deal, christine. when your mother took out this reverse mortgage, she went to a counselor. she knew what she was doing because you are mandated to go to counseling before you go through this process. so, getting out of it is difficult. it means you have to repay the loan, and you have to come up with the money or help your mother come up with the money in order to do that. i actually have a problem with this notion that she owes her

daughter an inheritance. you know, if your mother has a place to live for the rest of her life, that is paid for, no worries, then you're not going to have to step in and pay for a place for her to live, and that in and of itself is a gift. and this notion that our parents, who put us through college and take care of us our whole lives then owe us something at the end. i have trouble with that. >> i think she should be happy that her mother is financially free, that she's able to pay her bis, that she's not a financial burden on the family. and the reverse mortgage is for the parents. it's for the person who takes it out. it's not for her child. >> the thing is -- >> last week talking about how more and more seniors are doing this now because they realize they better enjoy the money. >> absolutely. and it's their money. and frivolous reasons is really a value judgment. >> okay. i think you guys are ready for the professionals. >> okay. >> let's go to the phone lines now and we have christopher in new york joining us now with a question. go ahead, christopher.

what's your question? >> good morning. my wife and i, our two children have a couple of credit cards, both with balances of around $2,000. we do also have one major credit card that has a balance of $30,000. i wanted to know what the best way is to attack the credit card with the $30,000 debt. i have already contacted the credit card company and asked them to reduce the mortgage rate and they have from 17% to 12%. what's the best way to handle that? should we contact a debt reduction service, or is there any other options for us? >> okay, david, sounds like they're on it already. they reduced the kritd card rate. >> that's really a key thing that you just accomplished. i want to make everybody sure they heard what you said. you called the credit card company, asked them to reduce the credit card rate and they did. they took it from 17% down to 12%. now if you can make the payment, i would keep making those payments, and simply chunk that debt down. if you're having a hard time making minimum payments, then you may qualify for what's

called a debt management plan. you can go to a credit card counseling organization, go to debtadvice.org you're referred to a nonprofit credit counselor. now i just spoke to them the other day. the average person that went to a nonprofit credit counselor last year had right around $27,000 in credit card debt. because you've got $30,000 in credit card debt my guess is you're a good candidate. with a debt management plan, what can happen, not promising, but what can happen is that your rate can be taken down to zero percent and they'll give you three to five years to pay off that credit card. here's the thing you do need to know. they'll freeze the credit card, you can't use it anymore, and it may, key word is may, get reported to your credit filing credit bureau so could impact your credit score in the short-term. last tip i'll give you is other than going and doing a dmp plan what you could do is try to take a chunk of that $30,000, maybe $10,000, transfer it to a zero percent interest rate credit card and there's all kinds right now. zero percent interest rate credit card no transfer fees. all the credit card companies right now are aggressively

looking for new business. you can transfer part of that debt, get zero percent, no transfer fees, that might pave the way to start without going to a debt management plan. >> how long do they stay at zero percent? >> can be 12 to 18 months now. the key thing is you can't be late. if you're late the rate can go back up. >> it's probably a good idea to figure out how you got in the $30,000 credit card debt in the first place. >> exactly. next anna from maryland. good morning to you. anna, what's your question for our panel? >> i spent the last about six years paying college tuition and this june i am finished. >> congratulations. much applause here in the studio. >> i am several steps behind in the retirement savings area. we need to find a financial planner, and we've used one in the past, and weren't real happy with him and just need to know how we find somebody we can trust. >> all right. very important question. a lot of people looking for a financial planners and you don't have to be rich.

>> you definitely don't have to be rich to do this. and it's such a good idea to get advice. we talk about that all the time. a couple key things you need to do. first of all you need to ask some family friends, maybe a colleague. find someone you think is financially independent, on the right track and you want to follow them. find out who they're using. and then you want to look for someone who has the proper designations. try to find someone who has a cfp. that stands for certified financial planner. they have to go through a rigorous test, through the board of standards, and get that cfp. you can find them through cfp.net. the other thing you want to do is make sure you find out how they're compensated. a lot of financial advisers take commissions based on whether they're selling you certain investments, stocks, bonds, insurance products. so sometimes you may think i don't know if they're really unbiased or not if they're getting a commission. you can also get a financial adviser who is paid only by a fee, a flat fee, $1500 to help you with the initial plan. 1% of the assets. the total assets. that's one way to go. the other way is to just find

someone that you can hire by the hour. there are financial advisers who will do that. two websites, the first is napfa.org and garrett planning network. this is a network of hourly planners and you can then just sign up. the key thing is make sure you can are they experts or do they focus on retirement planning because that's your goal right now. and also make sure they're not just pushing investments on you but talking to you about how you can manage your cash flow, cut back on your spending, and crank up your retirement savings because that's going to be your ultimate goal. >> great advice as always. good luck to anna, as well. thank you again. jean chatzky, david bach, and sharon epperson. for those of you on the east coast we're going to be offering more of your questions during the next hour or so. head to today.com and our panel will get to your questions. coming up next, all decked out for spring. george oliphant shows us how to enjoy the great outdoors at home. and then a little bit later on, take years off your face with the right anti-aging products.

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this morning on "today's home," the dos and don'ts of building a deck. with all this warm weather you may already think about going outside or maybe even building a deck. george oliphant and the team from "george to the rescue" decided to pay a visit to a lucky brooklyn homeowner whose old deck was beyond repair. >> anita is a 25-year employer of the nypd and her life goal is to achieve the american dream of owning her own home. >> it was such a joy to know we are on our way to achieving the american dream. but once i moved in and got organized i learned some of everything is wrong with the house. the plumbing. my drafty bedroom. the deck that i'm scared to walk down the steps. it's a struggle but it's a good struggle. >> we're here at the 90th precinct in the heart of williamsburg, brooklyn and we're going to surprise anita clark and let her know she's being rescued. >> oh!

i'm going to take care of the house here, all right? i know you got some problems. >> yes! >> the reason her deck is falling apart is because it was made with low-grade material. it's a mess. and definitely not safe. so it's got to go. after we destroyed the deck we knew we had to rebuild a great one so we had my friend lou here from deck's unique design a whole new game plan. what's going on? >> what we're using here is timber tech. it's ultralow maintenance. no screwing or nailing whatsoever. snap and go. that's it. >> all right. the deck is all framed up, just got to cover up our posts, put in our rail systems, and i'd say barbecue time. why are we going with a final versus a wood? >> it's all a manufacturing

composite material. it all has a 25 or 30-year life span. it's all no maintenance. >> what an amazing team. i had so much fun working on this project. what do you say we go get her and bring her home? >> absolutely. >> oh, stop it! oh! oh, my gosh! i'm full over the love that everybody's given me. >> george oliphant is here. that's got to make you feel good. >> every rescue makes me feel good. >> all right. let's talk decks. if you want to build your own you're starting from scratch, what's the best material? >> i think right now you want to go with something like a timber tech, something that is a pvc, because it is a lot more money up front but it's so much -- there's low maintenance. you can't say no maintenance but there's low maintenance. you'll never have to stain it. you can wash it off with a hose. you don't have to worry about it bowing or cupping or fading.

so i would say go with a manufactured product. a timber deck. trex, something like that. >> it's synthetic. some people are going to want to use real wood. if they do what's the number one consideration? >> cedar. definitely cedar. it's the greenest. >> higher quality? >> if you have a lot of knots in your wood that means it's a cheap wood. you want to stay away from cheap wood. >> we're showing bad wood. >> this is bad wood. this is not an ideal deck. also you want to make sure that you use screws. these are structural screws but you want to use screws not nails. because you can see that these nails are popping up, that it's cupping. that it's cracking. actually you want a safe deck. if you do use a cedar deck you're going to want to stain it with something good because then you know it's going to last a long time. the last thing you want to do is stain it year in, year out. >> once you seal your deck

you've got to put some furniture on it. >> we have three different styles here. this is your urban style from frontgate. this is for places like new york city, any urban place. it's light. it's easy to clean. it's stylish. you can put it on your patio. you can put it on your balcony. >> it looks good. >> where would you put this kind of stuff? >> this is cast aluminum. this is midwest basically it's just a heavier furniture. it's not going to blow around in wind storms. so you're going to -- as you can see we have a rug here, cushions here. take your indoors, move them outdoors. you don't have to worry about the rain, the weather. all this stuff is washable. mold and mildew resistant. >> and for this? >> this is teak. teak is awesome for coastal living. teak is great for sun, for salt, for humidity. >> real quick what's your favorite flower? >> me, i love tulips, i love daffodils, i love lilies. >> we want to remind everyone

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still to come this morning beauty products to make you look younger. >> and in "today's kitchen," korean style. promise beauty miracles. but the chemicals that can end up on your face may not be so beautiful. ♪ that's why there's new puristics totally ageless powered by a naturally derived collagen builder, puristics measurably reduced the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles in 100% of women after just 3 weeks. beautiful, younger looking skin. that's puristics, the power of pure. that's puristics, (belhi.ings) good morning. big news. we're spreading the word about new honey bunches of oats fruit blends and their unique taste combinations. like peach/raspberry... and banana/blueberry. we're telling everyone. with one flavor in the granola bunch and one on the flake. try some. mmm! two flavors. in harmony. yummy.

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>> live, local, latebreaking. this is a wbal-tv 11 news update. >> we have a little bit of an east wind going. double keep clouds around for a while. sunshine will break through the cloud it back. most of you won't see rain. high temperatures in the low 70's.

♪ >> country superstar randy travis wrapped up 22 number one singles, and taken home a boat load of awards including grammys, academy of country music awards and a star on the hollywood walk of fame. this morning one more honor, he will sit next to hoda kotb as he fills in for kathie lee on the fourth hour. we are looking forward to that. >> the week of country continues with kathie lee out. all right, also coming up, two dreaded words for every woman, swimsuit season. >> oh, please. >> right. well if you are one of those who is battling maybe want to shed a

couple of pounds, what if we told you you could weigh less by actually eating more. it probably sounds too good to be true. but guess what? it is not. it even includes dessert. we're going to tell you all about these drop tendaiates. >> and once we've got the body sorted out we'll move upwards to the face. a lot of us aren't sure how to wear our makeup, we need some tips so we've got good anti-aging makeup and skin care ideas. and then in "today's kitchen" we're going to get a lesson in korean cooking. it's braised short ribs and kimchi. >> from a former professional snowboarder now chef. >> exactly. first up let's check in with mr. roker. he's down in clearwater, florida, with your forecast. good morning, mr. roker. >> hey, guys. how are you? we're here in clearwater at the us coast guard air station clearwater. largest and busiest one in the system. having a great time. they've been terrific to us.

let's look at your weather today. terrific weather eastern third of the country. the big problem has also been because of all this warm air there's been an explosion in pollen. look at these temperatures. we're talking about afternoon highs, 80s and 70s from the northeast all the way to the mississippi river valley. 50s and 40s back through the rockies. and on into the plains states. the western plains, as far as your weather today, more rain along the pacific northwest coast. we've got the risk of strong storms in the lower mississippi river valley. record highs up and down the east coast. it's going to be warmer in cleveland than it is in los angeles today. chicago is going to get up to about 85. that's what's going on around the country.

and that's your latest weather. see you back in new york tomorrow, ladies. >> all right. we miss you al. >> hurry back. >> still to come. >> coming up we've got this diet that we've been talking about where you can actually eat more and weigh less. [ female announcer ] gross -- i'll tell you what's really gross: used dishcloths.

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if nur you're trying to slim down for beach season but don't want to starve yourself, listen up. we're going to show you how to fill your plate and your stomach with foods that can actually shrink your waistline. lucy danziger is the author of "the drop 10 diet" add to your plate to lose the weight. >> thanks for having me. >> you can actually eat and lose weight at the same time. >> yes. >> sounds too good to be true. >> i know. well we found 30 superfoods that actually do the work for you. they are scientifically proven, they tap into your body's natural fat burning ability. so what's cool is you eat more, and you lose naturally. >> you lost 25 pounds. >> i did. >> five years ago. you kept it off eating this way. >> i did. >> you're a billboard for this. >> that's right. real women on this diet they've all lost weight and they are all saying oh, my god, i feel full. >> let's get to the superfoods. the first one being eggs. you say rise and dine on eggs. what is it that packs such a bunch with eggs? >> breakfast eaters are 50% less

likely to be obese because you start your engines running. that's how you start burning throughout the day. and eggs are great because they have some protein, some vitamin d that tells your body not to store fat and just don't have them fried. you can have a frittata, a sandwich, hard boiled, soft boiled. eggs are a healthy, perfect food. it keeps you full longer. >> they keep you full longer. and if you don't eat breakfast your body is in search of calories all day long. this will keep you full all day long. >> another way to fill you up is to fight fat with fiber. >> again that volume, right? >> lots of different foods here. >> i always eat blueberries and i love -- i call them nature's candy. i always carry a baggy of almonds. like 20 almonds is perfect. sweet potatoes, lentils. fiber fills you up so much. if you have enough fiber 6% of your calories don't count. they literally don't stick. that's a lot, 6% are free. so, fiber is a perfect superfood. >> and this has protein. the lentil.

>> fiber, a perfect combination. right? >> yes. okay. and playing up protein, another way to drop ten pounds. and how much protein are we talking about? we see pumpkin seeds, if you like legumes and beef. >> beef you've heard the deck of cards. even more important is lean beef. not the fatty marbleized steak. the really important thing about beef is, or any protein, is plan two it builds muscle. muscle helps you burn calories sitting in your chair, lying in bed at night you're burning more calories. so you're building a bigger engine and it burns more fuel. the other thing that's great about protein is people don't know that 100 calories of protein requires 25 calories to burn it. so you're getting 25% off. so really, you're getting 25% off of calories. >> with protein. >> protein is good food. doesn't have to all be meat. >> that's right. >> all right veggies. of course you can't get enough veggies. veggies are crucial. they're sort of like the empty calories. you can keep eating them. >> eye roll, eye roll. eat your veggies. but, in fact, it's true.

i order as -- i sit down, i actually, can you do a steamed spinach or steamed broccoli and they always say yes. >> kale. >> and since i have it with my dinner, and it fills you up right at the table. >> right. >> so while protein keeps you full longer, this fills you up as you're eating. and of course, fiber, antioxidants, you're building a better body from the inside out. >> really more the free calor calories. >> that's right. if you can grow it, you can eat it. >> now you can actually have your dessert, as well, too. what is in the drop 10 diet plan for dessert? >> the drop 10 diet requires you to have 200 happy calories a day which basically is for me -- you can actually roll them over. let's say we're going out and we're going to have margaritas tomorrow night we can roll them over. so you have to splurge. some people like fruit. i like chocolate. >> a banana. on a banana? >> right. and for me, dark chocolate is great because it is filled with

antioxidants and it satiates your body. antioxidants are really important. any 200 calories you want. you can eat gummys. same thing with fruit you're getting a better benefit. then you'll stay on it. >> we're running out of time, some real quick healthy snacks as well, as coffee. >> coffee revs you up. calcium. people say what's the magic bullet? if you drink calcium you shed your belly fat. women who had 1200 milligrams of calcium lost five pounds doing nothing different. >> fantastic. so calcium is a superfood. i was looking through the book yesterday, lots of great recipes in there, as well. >> we can drop 10 together at facebook. check it out. >> or just hold onto ten. just keep working out. >> we don't need to drop ten. >> thanks so much. coming up next we're going to turn back the clock with the right makeup and skin care. today, we stand against the tyranny of meager travel cards. battle speech right? may i? capital one is issuing a venture double miles challenge.

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so skin feels pure and healthy. [ female announcer ] from neutrogena® naturals. in a delicious special k protein shake. with 10 grams of protein and 5 grams of fiber, it helps satisfy your hunger longer. [ telephone rings ] satisfaction. what will you gain when you lose? this morning on "today's beauty," looking younger without surgery. a few simple skin care ingredients and makeup tips can take years off your face. linda wells is editor in cheer of "allure" magazine. >> good morning, savannah. >> you've got the magic potion secret ingredients. we'll go by them one by one. what are they? >> it's so confusing because there's so many anti-aging ingredients. we asked dermatologists to name the top four power players. so you can really figure out which ones you want. they're retinol, alpha hydroxy

acids, hydroquinn own and anti-ax doesn'ts. that will take care of what you need for your skin. >> let's start with retinol. a lot of people know it's very powerful. some people think you can only get this by prescription. >> right. there's a huge range of power in retinol products. doctors think every woman should use them but they can be very irritating. you can get a prescription or over the counter. they can be very mild if you get them over the counter. we have roc retinol protection cream and the neutrogena rapid wrinkle repair. what you want to look for is a product that comes in an aluminum pocket with a tiny opening because they degrade with the sun and with oxygen. or a pump bottle because it makes a big difference. >> okay, great. our next item are these alpha hydroxy acids. >> those actually break down the bonds between the dry skin and help the skin sweep away so skin looks less dull. so it can help with fine lines and wrinkles and dullness. you can get a peel like this avon anew peel. and the trick is you only want to use that twice a week, not more, because it can really

compromise the barrier of the skin. so even if the product says use it more often, don't do it. or you can use a lotion which is a little bit milder and that you can use every day. >> can you use all of these items in conjunction with one another? >> you can. but you want to watch out that you're not overdoing it. to me women do too many things and you can't trace back what's causing irritation. >> hydro quinone. >> that's a bleaching cream. but you actually attack the dark spots and it turns out according to one study that dark spots make skin look older than even wrinkles. we spend so much time thinking about wrinkles, all of a sudden it's like here's something else. dermatologists love the ambi fade cream which is $6.50 for a tube. >> it really works? >> yeah, and it just takes a long time you have to be patient. clinique, even better is an elegant product you can use. more expensive. >> now what do we have here? >> these are antioxidants.

these are the things that you would use in the morning. a lot of those other things you use at night. these are things you use in the morning. they protect against environmental damage from the sun, from smoke, from pollution, and you want to look for a lot -- there are a lot of different vitamins and ingredients that are antioxidants that have different powers. look for ones that have a combination of antioxidants in them. this one is from garnier. it has lieco peen and vitamin c and this is ole with vitamin e and green tea. >> let's do makeup tips. foundation. you say use one with a little bit of yellow to it. >> i know which sounds kind of awful like big bird. it's not. you want to use something that has a warmth to it. this is l'oreal paris true blend and we have one called maybeup forever. >> you say dump the black eye liner for brown eye liner. >> it's just softer. it's not perceptively different but it's a little bit softer. there's l'oreal paris and the estee lauder won the allure best beauty award. >> for mascara, a lot of us are

like our lashes aren't as thick as they once were. >> and you don't want to put on too much thickening because it's too heavy. you want a lengthening mascara. cover girl makes one as does lancome. >> and for the lips. a lot of folks say you can't wear the bright red colors as you age. >> you don't want to wear something that's too dark and too strong and too vampy and also too matte. the revlon just spitting. it's a tain. you put a balm on top and you're done. >> a little gloss can be good, too. thank you so much. coming up next a lesson in korean cooking.

this morning in "today's kitchen" we're spicing it up with some korean ribs and kimchi. executive chef at yellowtail japanese restaurant and lounge in las vegas is here to add a twist to his mom's traditional

recipe. good morning. >> hello. >> you have professional snowboarder and you gave it up for cooking? >> yeah, you know, luckily i was a professional snowboarder from aspen, colorado. then i just decided like i like cooking. >> why not? >> and then i'm just here now. >> there you go. seems to be working for you. >> the snowboarding demonstration would not work. >> exactly. >> so you are trained in japanese cuisine. we're going to make the korean style. >> absolutely. >> so i'm just going to teach you how to make this. yeah, please. >> this traditional recipe, and my mom gave me this recipe and i just tweaked it a little bit. right now it's 2012. we don't have that much time so i don't have time to braise for nine hours. >> yeah, long time. >> i want to cut it in half. you know. new school, new generation. first there's warm water. you put the beef inside. the reason why is korean people don't like blood. and when you stew something, the blood actually make a sourness of the beef. when you eat it.

so it smells really not so -- >> not great. >> not so sexy. so after that pretty much you pat it. >> dry it off. >> maybe dry it off. pepper. >> yeah. >> how long do you cook it? >> about five minutes. >> okay. >> and then salt. >> you guys can go like this. or you can do this. >> yeah. >> oh, we've done that. >> absolutely. and after that, you know, cornstarch. >> and you use white cornstarch instead of flour >> if i use a flour that means i have to use a little bit of butter and mix it together. >> right. >> otherwise it wouldn't go well. >> right. >> and again i want to make this thick as possible. and then you know, with less time. >> perfect. >> okay, so next. >> so two minutes to go. >> and then you just toss it. >> put the meat in there. >> it's very important you heard that noise, right? >> sizzle. >> sizzling. >> you want the oil to be a little bit hot. >> yeah. >> and then here's the sugar. dump it. >> the secret, right?

>> vinegar. >> okay. >> you hear the noise. the noise i realize, thank you, so much. let it brown a little bit. then you have to make sure the sugar is -- >> okay we're going to let it brown and then you're going to add the sauce. >> and then absolutely, again, it's hot right now so you've got to be very careful. >> what is that? >> this is beef stock. >> okay. but if you like chicken, you guys can put chicken. whatever you guys want. you guys are chefs. >> so it's a beef. >> right. >> soy sauce? >> and then you put ginger and garlic, everything, and i'm going to show you how to peel ginger. >> got about a minute left. >> put that. and soy always later. >> that's the last step? >> yeah. >> got it. and then, after that, close it. >> what's over here? >> that is braising.

>> then there's blanched carrots, blanched potatoes. can you guys punch this for me? >> sure. >> so it's very simple. when you boil it put it in cold water. >> i really don't know how to do this. >> you don't know me but am i doing it? >> oh, yeah, yeah. >> then ginger. this actually -- >> yes. >> so you have to use a spoon, you know, go like that. so you don't have to use a peeler. you guys don't waste a lot. >> look how gorgeous it is when it's served. >> beautiful. >> so the quail eggs. >> absolutely. >> and then if you don't have quail eggs, regular egg? >> everything goes well. so here's the finished product. >> oh, that looks beautiful. >> great. >> thank you for being here. >> thank you. we're really glad to have this. hoda and kathie lee are next.