Steamed Veggie Bundles

Jisoo arrived on Tuesday, April 15, at 2:47 PM Pacific Time, on a Korean Air flight from Incheon. I was at the arrivals gate with Hana in the carrier and James beside me and my hands shaking — not Parkinson's shaking, just shaking, the ordinary tremor of a woman about to see her birth mother walk through an American airport for the first time.

She came through the gate. She was small and upright and wearing the scarf I gave her and pulling a single suitcase and looking around with the careful attention of a person who has never been to this country and is taking it in, all of it, every sign and every face, until she saw mine. She saw my face. She stopped walking. I saw her stop. I walked to her. I said, "Umma." She said, "Dahee." She hugged me. In the airport. In America. In the place where Karen picked me up thirty-one years ago. In the same airport, the same city, the same country. Jisoo was here. She was in my arms. She was in Seattle.

Then she saw Hana. Hana was on my chest, in the carrier, awake, watching. Jisoo looked at her granddaughter. She said, "Hana." Hana said — and I am going to remember this forever — Hana said, "Halmoni." She said it clearly. She said it in the airport. She recognized Jisoo from the screen. She knew her grandmother's face. She said "halmoni" and Jisoo's face crumpled and she reached for Hana and I took Hana out of the carrier and put her in Jisoo's arms and Jisoo held her granddaughter for the first time. In the arrivals hall at Sea-Tac Airport. Two women separated by thirty-one years, reunited by one. Jisoo held Hana and she did not speak and she did not move and she just held her and Hana put her hand on Jisoo's face and said "halmoni" again and everything — everything — was complete.

James drove us home. Jisoo sat in the back with Hana. She held Hana's hand the entire drive. She looked out the window at Seattle — the highway, the skyline, the water, the bridges. She said nothing. She was absorbing it. She was seeing the city where her daughter lives, the city she has imagined for years, the city she has called into every Sunday and every Wednesday. The city is real now. The city is not a screen. Jisoo is here.

We arrived at the Wallingford house. Jisoo walked through the front door. She walked through the living room. She walked into the kitchen. She stopped. She looked at the marble countertops. She looked at the onggi pots. She looked at the photo of her hands above the stove. She stood in my kitchen and she looked at everything I built for her and she did not speak for a long time. Then she said, in Korean: "You built our kitchen." She said, "It is ours." She said, "I am home."

The recipe this week is the first meal Jisoo cooked in my kitchen: doenjang jjigae. Of course. She made it on Tuesday evening, jet-lagged, tired from fourteen hours of flying, standing at my Bluestar for the first time, using my onggi doenjang. She cooked and I stood beside her and she said, "The doenjang is good but it needs two more weeks of aging." She said, "The anchovy stock is correct." She said, "The tofu should be softer." She corrected me. She corrected my doenjang jjigae in my kitchen and the correction was the gift and the gift was thirty-one years in the making and the stew — her stew, made in my kitchen, on my stove — was the best doenjang jjigae I have ever tasted. Because it was hers. Because she was here. Because she was home.

Jisoo cooked the doenjang jjigae, and I stood beside her and did not interfere — that was hers, and I knew it. But I needed something to do with my hands, something to contribute to the table on the night she first said “I am home,” so I made these steamed veggie bundles: quiet, careful little things, tied together and set beside her stew. There is something about the act of bundling — gathering separate pieces, binding them, making them whole — that felt exactly right for that Tuesday evening. If you find yourself cooking on a night that is too large to name, make something with your hands that requires patience and intention, something that sits gently beside the main dish without trying to compete with it.

Prep Time: 15 min | Cook Time: 10 min | Total Time: 25 min | Servings: 4

Ingredients

2 medium zucchini, cut into julienne strips (about 3 inches long)
2 medium carrots, peeled and cut into julienne strips
1 red bell pepper, seeded and cut into thin strips
1 yellow bell pepper, seeded and cut into thin strips
1 cup green beans, trimmed and halved lengthwise
8 long green onion tops or blanched chive strands, for tying
2 tablespoons sesame oil
1 tablespoon low-sodium soy sauce
1 teaspoon rice vinegar
1 teaspoon toasted sesame seeds
Salt and white pepper to taste

Instructions

Prep the vegetables. Cut zucchini, carrots, and bell peppers into uniform julienne strips approximately 3 inches long and 1/4 inch wide. This ensures even steaming and makes the bundles easier to assemble and eat.
Blanch the ties. Bring a small pot of water to a boil. Drop the green onion tops or chive strands in for 20–30 seconds until pliable but not falling apart. Transfer immediately to an ice bath, then pat dry on a clean towel.
Assemble the bundles. Gather a small handful of mixed vegetables — 3 or 4 strips of each variety — and lay them in a neat, tidy stack. Wrap a softened green onion top or chive strand around the center of each bundle and tie it in a simple knot. Trim any excess. Repeat until all vegetables are bundled (you should get 8–10 bundles).
Steam. Arrange the bundles in a single layer in a steamer basket set over an inch of simmering water. Cover tightly and steam for 6–8 minutes, until the vegetables are just tender but still hold their shape and color. Do not over-steam — you want them to retain a slight bite.
Make the dipping sauce. While the vegetables steam, whisk together the sesame oil, soy sauce, and rice vinegar in a small bowl until combined. Taste and adjust with a pinch of white pepper.
Serve. Arrange the warm bundles on a plate or shallow dish. Drizzle lightly with the sesame sauce and scatter toasted sesame seeds over the top. Serve immediately alongside steamed rice or as a side to any brothy main dish.

Nutrition (per serving)

Steamed Veggie Bundles — The First Meal We Made Together in Our Kitchen