Top Chef Korean Food Challenge
My family and friends in Hawaii are obsessed with Korean dramas and I can see why. The characters, the stories, the culture, it’s all consuming.
I feel the same way about Korean food – it’s one of my favorite kinds of food to eat, either at a restaurant or if I cook it at home. Of course my recipes aren’t authentic, they are just *my* take on them – and that’s what is so fun about cooking, making your own interpretation of flavors.
Luckily for my love of Korean food, I was honored to be a guest blogger judge for the Top Chef Korean Food Challenge. It was a live event hosted by Cathlyn Choi, host of Cathlyn’s Korean Kitchen and buzz KOREA to promote the discovery of Korean food and culture. Not only that, it would be aired on television!
There were six blogger judges, (The Food Addicts, Gourmet Pigs, Mad Hungry Woman, Taste With the Eyes and Wine and Dine) as well as three main judges – Barbara Hansen of L.A. Weekly, actor James Kyson Lee best known as Ando on Heroes, and Cecilia Hae-Jin Lee -a fantastic Korean cookbook
There were three teams of paired chefs who were to compete to make their take on traditional Korean dishes. Each team pulled a scroll which revealed their dish and were given 30 minutes each to complete it.
The first team, the Red Team, was Chef Javier Plascencia and Chef Adria Montano from Villa Saverios in Tijuana, Mexico. Their dishes were Dak Galbi and Kalbi jjhim, both stews!
The chefs cooked and prepped as we watched, using everything they received from a secret basket of ingredients.
Both stews were warm and flavorful – they incorporated a lot of the same elements of their traditional Mexican cooking, like infusing fruit and juices into their dishes. Chef Plascencia even brought out a smoker to add a finishing touch to his stew.
The Dak Galbi, the chicken stew – definitely had the heat of Mexican/Korean cooking. While the Kalbi jjhim was rich and flavorful, a real feat to make such a comforting dish in just 30 minutes.
The second team, the White team – was Chef Bernard Guillas and Chef Ron Oliver from the Marine Room in La Jolla. Their dishes were Bibimbap and Tteokbokki, two of my favorites.
Bibimbap is such a traditional dish and Chef Guillas paid homage by making a traditional bibimbap in a stone pot for presentation, and then for serving he made the most lovely, individually deconstructed plates.
By using variations like a quail egg, a mixture of barley with the rice, and fennel powder – he definitely took hold of the challenge and made the dish his own.
I was particularly fond of the way this team was all about the little details. They added finishing touches like sakura rice crackers from Japan and check out the hand carved zucchini ‘buttons’! Adorable and deliciously playful. My kind of food.
Chef Ron really did his homework on Korean cooking and came up with a modern, delicious Tteokbokki. His take on the spicy rice cake was chewy and delicious, and it left me wanting more. But there was so much more to eat…
The final chefs – the Blue Team – was Chef Brian Hirsty and Chef Graham Norton of Blue Water Grill in Tustin. These chefs had their work cut out for them, as they randomly pulled the two hardest dishes: Gu Jeol Pan and Kimchi.
Making kimchi in 30 minutes? Not possible. But the chef did his best and came up with a nod to kimchi in the form of a salad.
Chef Brian had Gu Jeol Pan – Gu means 9 which means, you guessed it, he had to make NINE dishes. That’s rough going in 30 minutes. All eight ingredients are supposed to be laid out to be placed into a thin pancake and eaten. The components were a little thick, making it difficult to eat, but this traditional dish is hard to make even without time limits.
Considering they were making dishes that they weren’t completely familiar with, all the chefs did an amazing job. Food bloggers that we are – we had a great time taking pictures, tasting and judging all the fantastic food.
Starting on March 2, go to buzzKorea and vote for which chef you think will take it all in “Who Will be the Winner?” and you can also vote for this blog post!
Then on April 7th on PBS/KOCE, you can watch the show to find out which chef is the winner of the Top Chef Korean Food Challenge!
How fantastic that you had the opportunity to take part in this and EAT. Envy from here for sure! That Bibimbap looks so yummy. That’s what I order almost every time I go out for Korean food but the deconstruction and the unique ingredients are to die for !!! You are one lucky girl. Can’t wait to watch.
How cool! Korean food is one of my favorites too. I’ve been meaning to try making bibimbap at home, I think I’ll put that on the menu for this weekend.
Very cool, Jenn! Can’t wait to watch!
Wow, it’s a really interesting article from the begining to the end. You are such a great story teller. You even made me look forward to watch the online vote as well as TV show. Thanks, Jenn. I appreciate your contribution.
Oh, I can’t wait to watch this on TV! I really like the deconstructed plate of bibimbap, looks very nice~
I loved the appearance of the salad by Chef Graham Norton esp. since it was 1 of the 2 most difficult. I just heard how good kimchi is for you
Oh yum. One of the few things I miss about living in LA, is that I was in Koreatown, with all that great food at my doorstep.
That is soooo awesome. I am one of those people obsessed with Korean dramas. lol. and it all came from my “Hawaiian” influence. Of course. I am so in love with Korean food too. Please be sure to remind us when it gets closer to being on TV, I would LOVE to watch it!
That’s amazing! My aunty in Hawaii is an officer of the Korean Drama Club- and has done the K Drama tour to Korea! LOL I’ve had friends moms ask me to tell her to let them in. So ridiculous! All that food looks sooo good too.
Hi Jenn! It was a pleasure meeting you at the Top Chef event. We had a lot of fun eating and judging, didn’t we? Your re-cap is great! I finally posted mine today. Hope to see you again soon, since we don’t live too far away from each other.
Since I know about Chef Graham Norton’s extraordinary cooking skills at the Blue Water Gril Restaurant, I admire him and his partner Brian Hirsty for competing in the “Korean Food Challenge” contest…….Will definitely vote for them…….
Hi Jenn – Korean food has instantly become one of my favorite cuisines too. I am so inspired after Top Chef! It was great to meet you there! Your post is terrific, I especially like how you highlight the details in the Chefs’ dishes.
See you at the next one 🙂
LL
looking good! somehow i can feel the spiciness of Kimchi on my tongue now~ it’s amazing how the chefs can make out new creative dishes for best of the both worlds! i wonder where can i get to taste the dish anytime soon~
it’s been a while since I ate Korean dish when I last visited Jeju Island. i’m gonna hit nearest Korean restaurant tonight! 😀
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