Why Michelin-star chef Yim Jung-sik has fallen for North Korean food
Pioneer of ‘New Korean’ cuisine is opening a new casual restaurant at Seoul Incheon International Airport
Michelin-star chef Yim Jung-sik pioneered “New Korean” cuisine with the opening of his restaurant Jungsik in Seoul eight years ago. This expanded the boundaries of traditional Korean fare.
He was in Hong Kong over the weekend, collaborating with VEA’s Vicky Cheng when they presented a cross-hands set menu for two nights.
Video by Matthew Furniss
One of Yim’s dishes on this special menu was his interpretation of famed Korean street food kimbap.
“It’s the most famous street food [in Korea] and it’s kids’ favourite picnic food,” Yim says. “Whenever kids go [to a] picnic, mums make kimbap. It’s like a Japanese sushi roll and I reinvented it. It has some rice and seaweed inside, some fish and vegetables, but I make the roll crisp, so I dry the seaweed for a couple of days and deep fry and roll the seaweed. That’s why it comes out crispy.”
Yim says his cuisine wasn’t an instant hit in Seoul.
“Fine dining had never happened before in Seoul,” he says. “The reaction from the customer was that they hated my food, everyone said, ‘This is not Korean food’, so I learned that some people are conservative. They don’t like new things.