Traditional Korean rice Doughnut - Gaeseong juak 개성주악
“Named ‘juak’ after the shape of a pebble, this traditional Korean dessert is a perfect combination of chewy, sticky rice bathed in jocheong (rice syrup). In the past, Gaeseong Juak was an essential dessert for special guests and wedding ceremonies. Today, it’s a steady seller at Korean dessert cafes and has actually become somewhat trendy.” - Jung Eun Chae
Monk fish ball soup - Agwi saengsun eomuktang 아귀 생선 어묵탕
“We’ve put this fish ball soup on the menu at CHAE. It’s nice on a cold day because it’s hot and a bit spicy. The main tip for success is to make the kelp stock the day before and cook it for at least 5 hours. If you can’t find monkfish, you can replace it with another firm fish such as snapper; prawns (shrimp) are fine too.” - Jung Eun Chae
Pork kimchi stew - Dwaejigogi kimchi-jjim 돼지고기 김치찜
“Kimchi-jjim is one of Korea’s favourite dishes, a daily food that every family will prepare in a slightly different way. Even when the recipe is the same, everyone’s kimchi is different so the dish will have its own character. I’ve even changed my recipe from my mum’s version: she doesn’t use stock. I’ll eat this any day, any time with boiled rice.” - Jung Eun Chae
Northern-style kimchi dumplings - Ibuksik kimchi mandu
“My paternal grandfather was from North Korea and I grew up dutifully making these northern-style kimchi dumplings with my family as long ago as I can remember. My father insisted on practising the technique religiously for every family gathering or national holiday – large or small…
Hangover cure soup - Haejangguk
“What we have here is a reasonably quick homestyle version of haejangguk. Using smaller chunks of beef and more widely available dark greens, the dish satisfies the need for something hearty with relative ease. While I have kept the process simple, I do remain respectful to the tradition by seasoning the blanched greens generously with a garlic-heavy paste before adding them to the soup…
Salted soy sauce caramel bites - Ganjang caramel
“One of the things I always try to hunt down whenever I visit Korea are these beautifully packaged milk caramel bites. Often found in convenience stores, these perfectly bite-sized squared caramels come individually wrapped in silver foiled paper; they are a classic confectionery, loved by all for their milky toffee-like taste and softly chewy texture.” - Su Scott
Korean fried chicken
Growing up in Korea, fried chicken was a special meal that we didn’t get to have often. Back then we had two choices — plain or gochujang — but these days, there are fried chicken shops all across Korea, doing their own flavours and styles. Fried chicken can seem incredibly simple, but in fact it’s quite complex…