Most Popular
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Over 82,000 Korean young people unemployed, not searching for job long-term
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40% of Korea's workers who reported bullying faced retaliation: survey
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600 evacuated as heavy rain floods roads, homes in southern regions
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[KH Explains] Can smart chargers ease tensions over EV fires?
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Torrential rainfall forces 1,500 to evacuate, causes widespread damage to homes, roads
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[Weekender] Young Koreans more open to Japanese cultural products
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New Fifty Fifty off to strong start
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1 in 5 households to have breadwinner over 80 in 30 years
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Jeju's solo traveler-friendly spots offer solitude as well as camaraderie
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Doctors defend colleague accused of blacklisting non-strikers
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Elegant French sweets at Maison M’O
Maison M’O opened in Seoul’s Bangbae-dong in March. (Chung Hee-cho/The Korea Herald)In a quiet, unassuming corner of Seoul’s residential Bangbae-dong, pastry chefs Tetsuya Otsuka and Lee Min-sun craft elegant French pastries with a subtle modern twist at Maison M’O.Madeleines are coated in a citrusy lemon glaze, arranged, plump and inviting in their baking trays for passersby to stop by and pop into their eager mouths, while chaussons shed their more conventional apple filling for tart apricots
July 3, 2015
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How to decipher a wine label
A wine label is more than a pretty marketing device. Most of the information printed there is highly regulated and can tell you a lot about what to expect. (Handout/TNS)Trumping whatever aesthetic value a wine label may have, its main function is to impart legal information to the consumer. As such, the bottler, winery or winemaker, as well as the legal authority in the country where the wine is sold, have an interest in shaping that information. For their part, the people who put the wine in th
July 1, 2015
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[Weekender] Chef helped turn quiet street into dining mecca
Just a short stroll away from the bustling multicultural neighborhood of Seoul’s Itaewon lies the lesser-known, yet trend-setting street of Gyeongnidan-gil.A short walk from Noksapyeong Station, this stretch of road is filled with craft breweries, terrace cafes, unique restaurants and quaint shops steeped in culture and creativity. Located two blocks away from the main streets of this up-and-coming neighborhood is a narrow alley, nestled away in a residential district that is even further off th
June 26, 2015
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Tteokgalbi (short rib patties)
These fancy beef patties are called tteokgalbi, literally translated to rice cake ribs. But don’t expect any rice cakes in the dish. The name comes from the way the minced meat is kneaded and shaped as rice cakes are made in Korea. Tteokgalbi is made with beef short rib meat. The meat is separated from the bones, finely minced and then marinated. The marinated meat can be attached back to the rib bones before being cooked. Here, I simply shaped them like burger patties. Beef short ribs are an ex
June 26, 2015
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Hungarian winemaking blends traditions
If one good thing came from the years of communist control in Hungary, it was to hew Hungarian winemaking to its traditions. For the most part, Hungary’s wine is still made as it has long been made, by small vineyard owners and wineries and down-to-earth, everyday folk. Fertilizer use is infrequent; sustainable farming practices are common. This somewhat bucolic image belies Hungary’s past as a winemaking country. From the 17th to the early 20th century, Hungary had the third-most sophisticat
June 26, 2015
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Healthy recipes from top chefs
With South Korea’s well-being trend showing no signs of abating, health-conscious dishes are an increasing fixture on the menus of many restaurants and cafes throughout Seoul. It is with such dishes that chefs demonstrate their flair for using wholesome ingredients to create palate-pleasing fare and drinks that keep one coming back for more. Now, three prominent chefs are making it possible to recreate healthy favorites at home by sharing their recipes.Haap’s baesukEver since Haap owner-chef Sin
June 19, 2015
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Private raw food chef lends expertise for next line of Organica products
Christine Cho, a plant-based private chef based in New York City and one of the flavor masterminds behind Organica’s “Just Juice Cleanse” detox juice line, has returned to Korea to once again join hands with Organica in extending her healthy eating expertise for the next line of products from the premium organic whole foods company. With the global trend of heart-smart eating and the ever increasing demand for natural and organic foods, Organica’s non-processed foods and raw juices are looking t
June 14, 2015
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[Herald Interview] Veteran chef Butz on mission to ‘wow’ guests
Bernhard Butz, the culinary director at the Millennium Seoul Hilton, appears to be a tired and stressed chef at first glance.But it’s only natural that he looks that way after hearing his story and understanding what kind of responsibilities he has for the hotel.He manages five specialty restaurants, a bar and a deli, in addition to making sure breakfast, lunch and dinner are served properly to the highest standards. Pastries called “Namssants” designed and made by Bernhard ButzAnd that’s not a
June 12, 2015
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Gamjajeon (potato pancakes)
Gamjajeon is a variety of Korean savory pancake made with grated or ground potatoes. It’s a humble dish that can simply be made with potatoes. But, a little bit of onion helps prevent discoloring of the potatoes without overpowering their flavor. This is a basic recipe, but you can add other vegetables such as garlic chives (buchu), chili peppers, and/or perilla leaves (kkaennip) if you like.You can grate the potatoes or grind them in a blender or a food processor. I like to grate them on a grat
June 12, 2015
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[Weekender] Soft or crusty ― bread that Koreans fall for
A hot, steamy bowl of rice was long considered an irreplaceable staple in Korean breakfast. “You manage a day with the power of rice,” Korean moms would tell their kids, encouraging them to finish their meal. This centuries-old, typical morning scene is changing rapidly now. Bread, which arrived in Korea through Japan only in the 19th century, is fast emerging as a tasty and convenient alternative to rice. At a Seoul branch of French bakery Gontran Cherrier, croissants and champagne with walnuts
June 5, 2015
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[Weekender] Korea’s oldest bakery boasts red bean buns
At around 12:40 p.m., people started lining up in front of Lee Sung Dang Bakery’s modest-size branch inside a department store in Jamsil, southern Seoul. The reason for the wait is the bakery’s signature red bean buns which come out at 1 p.m.“The line isn’t too bad today,” said Lee Yoon-mi, a customer in her 50s carrying five red bean buns and five vegetable buns on her tray. “I am just glad that I don’t have to go all the way to Gunsan to taste this treat.”Lee Sung Dang, the oldest bakery in Ko
June 5, 2015
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[Weekender] Born and ‘bread’ in Daejeon
Despite the vast demand for additional chains in other, more populated areas like Seoul and even abroad, Sungsimdang stubbornly refuses to expand beyond its three local stores, which have now become Daejeon landmarks. “We want to be unique to the Daejeon area and provide a flavor that people can only taste when visiting here,” said Kim Kang-eun, head of public relations at Sungsimdang. That flavor is the reason foodies and tourists from all over the nation have flocked to the Eunhaeng-dong area
June 5, 2015
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[Weekender] More bakeries on the map
OPS Bakery, BusanOPS’s signature menu is the hagwonjeon, which in Korean means “pastry for hagwon,” or after-school lessons. The idea was to create a simple, hearty snack that Korean children could gobble down with a glass of milk before heading to an evening of grueling studies. Made with eggs and honey from Gyeongju’s Mount Tohamsan, the sweet, spongy cake embodies a typical Korean mother’s caring for her child, said OPS.Another specialty of the bakery is the pollack roe baguette, which combin
June 5, 2015
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[Weekender] PNB choco pies an icon of Jeonju
During the recent Jeonju International Film Festival, everyone who visited Jeonju seemed to have the same souvenir in mind: a box of bakery PNB’s famous choco pies. The bakery’s bright orange shopping bags were ubiquitous around its branches, and hourlong lines snaked around corners.PNB (also known as Pungnyeon Jegwa) first opened in 1951 in Jungang-dong, Jeonju, and has been passed down through three generations. Instead of choosing to continuously change and expand its offerings, the bakery ha
June 5, 2015
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[Weekender] Street pastries that are uniquely Korean
Street food is an intrinsic part of Korean society, and where there are cups of dried squid, heated silk worm larvae and bowls of spicy rice cakes, there are also pastries that are uniquely Korean.Walk down almost any bustling shopping district or high-time nightlife area and street food vendors selling various types of pastry and cake snacks are an inevitable find; whether it’s the ever-so popular “boongabbang” ― a red bean paste-filled sweet pastry shaped like a fish ― or the sweet-eggy goodne
June 5, 2015
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[Weekender] The rise of ‘indie’ bakery
“Indie,” the word that Joo Eun-suk, who runs a bakery called Mill in Seochon, uses to describe the growing number of small-scale, artisanal bakeries in Seoul, aptly captures the independent spirits of these bakers. These artisans seem to see dough as a canvas, to be nurtured with natural starters and the right blend of quality flour to achieve a unique blueprint of texture, flavor and aroma that represents their idea of good bread, be it the ephemeral brioche at Mill, the chewy and crisp-edged c
June 5, 2015
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Coffee returns to the Stone Age
For 36 years, the Booheung stone company has been manufacturing stone goods from basalt rock originating in the Cheolwon area in Gangwon Province. Recently, the company’s most popular items have become its millstone ― or “maetdol” ― coffee bean grinders.The maetdol, a stone device used to grind grains by manually spinning one rock atop another, was a popular agricultural tool in Korea in the Neolithic Age and throughout the Goryeo and Joseon dynasties. Now, true to the cyclical nature of trends,
June 3, 2015
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Mini gimbap
This mini gimbap uses minimal ingredients, which takes no effort to roll up. I used three ingredients here ― pickled radish, carrot and spinach. This gimbap is called ggoma gimbap because of its small size. Ggoma means a little one or little kid in Korean. It’s also known as mayak gimbap. Mayak means narcotics, so the name comes from this gimbap’s reputation for being addictive. It’s a specialty of Gwangjang Market, a bustling, crowded market in the center city of Seoul, where the merchants came
May 29, 2015
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7 world-renowned chefs demonstrate love for food
Seven internationally renowned star chefs gathered at the JW Marriott Seoul, making for something of a culinary “Avengers” team, to participate in the hotel’s Culinary Art event, a global gourmet project featuring talented chefs from around the world.Each shared his distinct philosophy behind food, passion for cooking and enthusiasm for the “authentic” Korean food experience at Wednesday’s press conference for the event. For acclaimed chocolate master Andres Lara, a graduate of Chicago’s famous
May 27, 2015
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Around the Hotels
World-class chefs at JW Marriott Hotel SeoulJW Marriott Hotel Seoul will be hosting the Grand Gala Dinner, a collaboration among seven international star chefs, at 7 p.m. on May 28. The chefs are in Korea for this year’s Culinary Art event, a 12-day event running from May 18-30 at the JW Marriott. Professor Han Bok-jin, a master chef of traditional Korean cuisine, will begin the Grand Gala Dinner with a selection of appetizers made with premium ingredients such bamboo shoots and mullet roe. The
May 22, 2015