가지나물의 추억

보라색이라 항상 시선을 끄는 채소, 한국 마켓에 갈 때마다 짙은 보라색 가지 서너 개를 집어 들며 문득 옛 생각에 빠진다.  

중학교 시절, 아침마다 학교 가는 길에 눈매가 서글서글하고 마음 씀씀이 또한 넉넉한 친구 집에 들러 함께 등교하곤 했다. 

하루는 친구 집에 가니 등교할 준비도 안 하고 이불을 덮어쓰고 마지 못해 “왔니?” 했다. 내 시선을 피하는 표정이 어두웠다. 집에 무슨 일이 생겼는지 자주 우울한 그녀의 아픈 마음을 건드리기 싫어 혼자 학교 가는 날이 많아졌다.

친구의 부모는 이혼했고 형제들도 뿔뿔이 흩어져 아버지와 살고 있다는 소식을 다른 친구에게서 들었다. 집안일을 도맡아 하는지 그녀는 우리 또래와는 달리 어린 태를 벗고 성숙했다. 

어느 날 방과 후에 친구가 새로 이사 간 집에 함께 가자고 했다. 산동네인 집에는 아무도 없었었다. 그녀는 잠깐 앉아 있으라며 부엌으로 들어갔다.

텐마루에 앉아 훤히 내려다보이는 산 아래 동네를 구경하며 한참을 기다렸다. 갓 지은 하얀 밥과 김치 그리고 파를 송송 썰어 넣고 무친 가지나물이 놓인 밥상을 들고나왔다. 가지나물의 물컹거림과 색이 싫어 입에도 대지 않았는데 친구의 성의를 생각해서 먹지 않을 수 없었다. 가지나물은 꿀맛이었다. 

한국 마켓에 갈 때마다 그때 그 나물 맛을 못 잊어 친구를 닮아 어둡고 슬퍼 보이는 보라색 가지를 집어 든다. 가지나물은 시간이 꽤 걸리기 때문에 좀 느긋한 날을 잡아서 한다. 너무 찌면 물러질까 봐 수시로 먼저 쪄진 것을 골라내느라 신경 쓰며 냄비 뚜껑을 열었다 닫았다 한다. 물러진 것은 미리 꺼내어 가늘게 쪽쪽 찢는다.

보라색 가지에 마늘과 초록색 파를 송송 썰어 넣으면 색이 살아난다. 후추를 뿌리고 간장을 넣어 색을 약간 죽인 다음 참기름으로 윤을 내고 검은깨를 뿌려 마지막 처리를 한다. 그림을 그리듯 열심히 만들어 보지만 친구의 그 가지나물 맛이 아니다. 나를 텐마루에 앉혀 놓고 부엌에 들어가 가지나물을 만드느라 얼마나 조바심이 났을까! 그 옛날 그 친구가 고맙고 그립다.

Memoirs of eggplant namul

It's purple vegetable, so it's always eye-catching. Every time I go to the Korean market, picking up three or four dark purple eggplants and suddenly fall into old memory.

When I was in middle school, I used to stop by my friend's house and go to school together on my way to school every morning. One day when I went to my friend's house, she didn't even get ready to go to school and reluctantly "did you come" under the blanket. The look on her face was dark. I didn't want to touch her depressed heart about what had happened at her home. I have more days to go to school by myself.

I heard from another friend that the friend's parents divorced and their siblings were scattered. She lived with her father to charge of household chores.

One day, after school, my friend asked me to go to her new house. The house was on the mountain and nobody was there. She went into the kitchen asked me to sit down for a while.

I sat looking around the village under the mountain, and waited for a long time. She came out with a table with white rice, kimchi, and eggplant namul. I didn't even eat it because I didn't like the color of the eggplant, but I had to eat it because of my friend's sincerity. The eggplant namul tasted like honey.

Whenever I go to a Korean market, I can't forget the taste of the eggplant namul. I pick up purple eggplants that look dark and sad like the friend. It takes a long time to make eggplant namul, so I do on a leisurely day. I often open and close a pot- lid, to pick out what was steamed first, fearing that the eggplant might become too steamed.

Take out the steaming eggplants and tear it into thin strips. When the chop garlic and green onion put into a purple eggplant, the color comes back. Sprinkle with pepper and add soy sauce to kill the color a little. Put sesame oil and sprinkle black sesame to finish the process. I try to make it as hard as I draw, but it doesn't taste like my friend's eggplant namul.

Not only is it hard to tear into thin strips the hot eggplants that just steamed, but also it takes a long time. How impatient it must have been to sit me on the floor and went into the kitchen and made the eggplant! I miss that old friend.