Chinese food with Korean flavor

Chinese food with Korean flavor

Maria Endah Hulupi, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Korean cuisines have, apparently, been on its heyday in
Jakarta if the number of restaurants is the yardstick.

Epicurants who have a particular taste for Korean cuisine with
already 50 restaurants to choose from, now have one more choice.
The new comer on the block is Kuk Bin, which officially started
operation in April.

Located on the 9th floor of the Wisma BRI II in Central
Jakarta, means to be different. Instead of serving the regular
fares, it serves popular Korean-style Chinese dishes.

So if you happen to go there, you will not find traditional
Korean dishes such as bulkalbi (roasted rib eye) or bulgogi
(seasoned beef with sesame seed) on its menu.

The interior of the restaurant, which is the second Korean-
style Chinese restaurant in Jakarta, has been designed to radiate
the oriental nuances that match the food.

"Chinese food is very popular in Korea but when it comes to
flavor, Koreans are quite conservatives. Chinese cuisine is
modified to suit the local palate," said the restaurant owner
B.S. Chin.

In fact, it is not only the Chinese food which has been
modified by the Korean. The Japanese dishes, another popular
cuisine in Korea, has also been "reinterpreted".

Geographically, because Korea borders Japan to the east and
China to the west, the cuisines of its neighboring countries have
a strong influence on the local cuisine.

And though it shares most of the characteristics of Chinese
traditional cuisine, basically Korean-style Chinese dishes are
more spicy and less oily.

Both countries, Chin says, also use a slightly different
cooking method with the Chinese usually prepare their meals by
using very strong fire.

"Basically, we use the same cooking items, the spices, the
herbs and the meats but the end result can be different. Korean-
style Chinese dishes are spicier than traditional Chinese food,"
Chin says.

Seafood-based meals are not very popular in Korea, mainly
because seafood items, like shark fins, lobster, prawn and
shrimp, have to be imported and this makes the dishes more
expensive than beef, chicken and pork.

Chinese sauces like oyster sauce, black bean paste and sesame
seed oil are also widely used but Koreans do have its special
condiments like pickle (the one served in Kuk Bin is specially
made by Chin's wife) and the vinegar-soaked sliced onion, dipped
in black bean paste.

Most of the ingredients, Chin said, can be procured locally at
Chinese stores in Glodok, West Java, but few others, like ground
red pepper and flour (to make the noodles), among others have to
be imported from Korea. "We try to maintain the original flavors
as served in our country," he added.

The restaurant's two experienced chefs, Kim Jong Gun and Kim
Young Gi with 40 years and 30 years of experience respectively,
prepare a la carte and set menus. The latter consists of seven to
eight courses with rice or noodles being served almost at the end
of each course.

"Most Koreans still have room in their stomach for their basic
staples, rice or noodles," Chin says with a laugh.

Each course is named to reflect good wishes or expectations,
like the su-tak course, (su-tak literally means long life). The
course is wrapped up with an assortment of fresh fruits. Korean
alcoholic drink, soju is also served.

Among the restaurant's specialty includes, sizzling seafood
rice soup (shredded seafood soup served with rice crackers),
sweet and sour beef (beef slices coated with flour and drizzled
with sweet and sour sauce), fried prawns with garlic sauce,
assorted seafood and vegetables with mustard sauce (this
appetizer's sauce has a similar sting to Japanese wasabi) and pan
fried dumplings (the dumpling is crispy when it's still hot).

Although the restaurant's initial target is mainly Koreans
living in Jakarta, Kuk Bin's chefs also plans to create new
dishes to lure more Indonesians by incorporating some of locally-
known Korean ingredients, like ginseng.