Gamtae is one of South Korea's rarest seaweeds. For centuries, this earthy, sweet seaweed was mainly harvested and eaten raw by locals in the Seosan region. Today, thanks to the efforts of Ju-hyeon Song and her family business, Badasoop, it's become a hit among Michelin-starred chefs in South Korea and abroad. But because of gamtae's unpredictable harvests and rising prices, turning this small industry into a thriving business presented a challenge. So how did Ju-Hyeon take gamtae from a local delicacy to a worldwide sensation? And why is it so expensive?
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00:00Pulling these mossy green threads by hand is the only way to harvest gamtae.
00:08And after hours of washing, shaping, and drying, they will be transformed into one of South
00:16Korea's rarest seaweeds.
00:22When Joo Hyun Song started her business, Padasuk, gamtae was mainly harvested and eaten raw
00:27by locals in the Sosun region.
00:31But turning this small industry into a thriving business presented a challenge.
00:42So she worked to get this earthy and sweet seaweed to people outside the region.
00:49Not just to anyone, but to the culinary world's biggest players.
00:54All while navigating unpredictable harvests and rising prices.
01:10So how did Joo Hyun take gamtae from local delicacy to worldwide sensation?
01:15And why is it so expensive?
01:38But before reaching restaurant kitchens, gamtae's journey starts on the freezing cold western
01:43shoreline of South Korea's Garurim Bay.
01:47Unlike other types of edible seaweed, like nori, that can be farmed, gamtae can only
01:52grow in the wild on mudflats, coastal wetlands that form when ocean tides wash in sediment
01:59and mud.
02:20Because of this, gamtae can only be harvested by hand.
02:24Any other way could destroy the root of the plant, impacting the supply for next year.
02:38Since gamtae can go bad if exposed to high temperatures for too long, harvesting happens
02:43from December to March, when the sea is the coldest.
02:47For these four months, Joo Hyun and her team must collect as much gamtae as possible to
02:54meet demand from buyers for the rest of the year.
02:57They can spend six hours a day pulling gamtae from the mudflats.
03:18The intense harvesting process is only the first difference between gamtae and more common
03:24nori seaweed.
03:25Compared to nori's dark green color and slightly coarse feel, gamtae's bright green, fine strands
03:32have a more delicate texture.
03:36This laborious process is just one of the reasons gamtae costs so much more than other
03:41seaweeds.
03:43And relying on the rhythms of nature means supply can be unpredictable.
03:53Recently, warming sea temperatures have disrupted the growth.
04:07To make up the difference, Joo Hyun buys gamtae from local fishermen who collect it.
04:22Gamtae also has a richer, more pungent flavor than nori.
04:37But that flavor comes with a price tag.
04:40An eight-sheet pack of gamtae costs $16.
04:44Fifty sheets of nori can be bought for the same price.
04:49But whether it's harvested by workers or locals, all the gamtae has to be washed back at the
04:55factory.
04:57It's the most crucial part of processing, because any mud, debris, or critters left
05:02on the seaweed could affect how it tastes in the end.
05:24Years ago, workers would have done this completely by hand.
05:28But this washing machine can clean 100 kilograms in less than 10 minutes.
05:33It's just one of the changes Joo Hyun made to the gamtae processing techniques she learned
05:38from her father.
05:52Like many locals, Joo Hyun's father, Jeol Su Song, grew up eating gamtae.
05:58But one day, he was struck with a new idea for processing it.
06:20Joo Hyun and her team of 15 still uses techniques to process gamtae at Badasup.
06:35Workers use a technique called harrowing to form the gamtae into paper-thin sheets.
06:42They submerge a handful of the seaweed in fresh water and mold it on top of a bamboo
06:47mat.
06:49While it may look simple, this technique can take three years to master.
07:15Joo Hyun uses this press to remove excess water from the gamtae.
07:30The sheets dry the rest of the way in these dryers.
07:37Badasup sells gamtae sheets either raw or roasted at 230 degrees Celsius for 10 seconds.
07:54Badasup produces 3,500 sheets of gamtae in a single day, and exports roughly 500,000
08:02each year.
08:04But carving out a market for gamtae outside of Seosan was anything but easy.
08:22Joo Hyun knew the only way to create a market for the seaweed was to teach people about
08:40it.
08:44She focused on promoting it to the high-end market, sending samples of gamtae to Michelin-starred
08:50chefs and writing articles describing its unique taste and texture.
08:55Eventually, her years of tireless promotion paid off.
09:00Joo Hyun says she began getting inquiries from chefs around the world.
09:28One of them is Chris Chipolone.
09:30He's the chef-owner of the restaurant Francie in Brooklyn, New York.
09:35It's one of several Michelin-starred restaurants that sources gamtae through badasup.
09:48Chris has been using gamtae in his dishes for the last 10 years.
09:52It's a key ingredient in one of the restaurant's signature dishes, conchiglie.
10:13Chris mixes the seaweed into the pasta dough.
10:27The pasta is then cooked in a buttery wine sauce and topped with clams.
10:43While Chris could opt for cheaper types of seaweed, he says gamtae's one-of-a-kind flavor
10:48is worth the price tag.
10:54Chris isn't the only one willing to pay.
10:57Badasup provides gamtae for high-end restaurants in Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Dubai, as
11:05well as Belgium, France, and Germany.
11:09But this new demand has caused raw gamtae prices to rise.
11:14Joo Hyun says since 2020, more producers have popped up.
11:44But there is a silver lining.
11:46Joo Hyun says this new market for gamtae is helping local communities in Suseon.