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.