Hyesuk’s Famous Pumpkin Pie Recipe

A few months after we were married, my wife Hyesuk and I moved from Korea to Fort Meade Maryland.  It was challenging for her to adjust to a new culture.  Imagine leaving your family, friends, language, job, and entire way of life behind.  Fortunately, her English language skills, adventurous spirit, and the close friendship of a neighbor helped her adapt in record time.   Brenda Ross was truly a blessing to our family from the first day we arrived.   The help of a good friend makes all the difference when you’re trying to navigate in a new world.  Hyesuk taught Brenda how to make Korean food, Brenda returned the favor, and I ate well.

Hyesuk took an immediate liking to American appliances.  I laughed until my sides ached when she told me that, “I love my new Washdisher!”  A stove with an oven was also new to her.  At that time, most Koreans cooked over gas burners and some still used charcoal.  Baking opened a brand new culinary world for her.

We’d only been in our new home a few weeks when I came home from work to find six pumpkin pies cooling on the dining room table.  One by one, they disappeared as she visited five of our new neighbors.  I was pleased when the door stayed shut and one pie remained.  After dinner, Hyesuk served dessert and watched with interest as I took my first bite.  There wasn’t any hope of masking the experience. The pie left my contorted mouth faster than it went in.  HyeSuk quickly took a small bite, ran to the kitchen, and then ran out the door.  Over the next half hour, I watched as the table once again held six pies.

 It didn’t take long to unravel the mystery.  When we left Korea, the movers must have taken a glass jar holding a small amount of sugar and poured it on top of a jar containing a large amount of salt.  When she was making her pies, Hyesuk only saw the small layer of sugar on top.  The filling in her recipe was made from scratch and required a cup of sugar for each pie.  Unfortunately, the six cups of sugar that should’ve gone in the filling had been replaced with six cups of salt.

 While they never let Hyesuk forget the event, I’m convinced the experience endeared her to the neighbors (plus none of them actually ate any pie).