Foodbuzz 24, 24, 24: Behind-the-Kitchen with Chef Hu-nam Kim of Star Chef

Last month, we were helping the Travel Channel’s “Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern” scout locations, foods and guides for their upcoming Korea show. In our research, our friend Jennifer Lee (Naked in the Sauna, Between Pee and Kimchi) told us about this amazing restaurant with an amazing Chef, Hu-nam Kim. Cathy and David Harris (SeoulLife.net) concurred. They said it was one of the best meals they ever had in Seoul.

Really?

We had to check this out.

A couple of weeks later, we headed to the Maebong neighborhood in southeast Seoul, near Yangjae (you know, “Costco” Yangjae). Tucked in the corner of some back streets is this cozy little pub. Star Chef.

Jen, Cathy and David weren’t exaggerating. The food here was amazing (I’ve noticed that I tend to say, “Amazing,” as much as Andrew Zimmern says, “Fantastic.”)

I wanted to immediately post about the restaurant, but the evil self-promotional synapses started firing.

“Chef Kim, would you mind us going into your restaurant and filming you in the kitchen, say, sometime in September?”

Either it was our charm or the massive booze tab we racked up that pushed him to agree.

So here we are with Foodbuzz’s “24 Meals, 24 Cities, 24 Blog Posts,” where twenty-four food bloggers around the world have a special meal and blog about it on the same day. Cool concept. It looks like ZenKimchi is the sole representative of East Asia.

I hope I don’t embarrass everyone too much.

A few notes about Chef Kim and his restaurant. Chef Hu-nam Kim has spent much of his professional life in the kitchen. He did a couple-year stint in Connecticut and fell in love with the American French style of cooking and returned to Seoul, where the Japanese French style dominated the white tablecloth scene.

What’s the difference?

He put it this way. The Japanese French style obsesses over presentation. The American French style obsesses over flavor.

I’ve noticed this myself. The higher level Korean restaurants I’ve been to, such as The Gaon, didn’t impress me. They spent much time obsessing over the dishes, the expensive ingredients and the bloated wine list. Yet their food tasted no different, definitely not better, than little mom-and-pop shops in the suburbs. Oh, but the food made pretty pictures.

Seriously, Korean food doesn’t work with the Japanese French style. It has too much heart. It comes from the country. Tarting it up by arranging pine nuts with tweezers just makes it pretentious.

Chef Kim takes a more “BAM!” approach. (Yes, yes, I’m using an Emeril reference.) His food looks good because he substitutes prissiness and pompousness with passion and fun. He understands his Korean roots and where Korean food works with international palates. His fusion dishes borrow the best tastes from New York, Tokyo, Sichuan province and Bangkok without the need for squiggly patterns of squeeze bottle honey mustard (a common crutch for “fusion” in Korea) with names such as “Orgasm” Sausages, “Stamina” Omelet and “Million Won” Samgyeopsal. He also, whenever possible, uses organic vegetables and herbs from his own farm on the southern peninsula.

On Saturday, Eun Jeong and I met with our friends Hana, Jennifer (Fatman Seoul) and Rob (Roboseyo). They beat the rain to show up. It actually let up a little later, and the place got packed.

Chef Kim let me film inside the kitchen. He rushed around, cooked and plated our food. When it hit the pass, I didn’t linger for long. I weaved my way back to the table to eat. Jennifer let me use the photos she took for Fatman Seoul. For all of her photos, here’s her Flickr set.

Also, we made a video about it.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-9198220383797887395
VIDEO: Behind the Kitchen with Hu-nam Kim of Star Chef

BulGalbi and Grilled Mushroom Organic Vegetable Salad

Who thought vegetables could taste this good?

Mixed salad greens from Chef Kim’s farm, lightly dressed. Shaved sweet onions. Soft buttery roasted garlic cloves. Three kinds of smoky meaty grilled mushrooms. All topped with marinated grilled beef.

This still is Eun Jeong’s favorite. She’s told me of dreams where this salad took a role. What can I say about it? The flavors play around. There’s a good bite and sweet bitterness to the greens. The beef and shrooms give it that testoscerone quality that makes it okay for men to eat it. It’s easily a meal for two or three. Chef Kim made a special one for Rob sans cheese (milk allergy).

Beijing Style Sweet and Sour Beef “Tangsuyuk”

This was almost everyone’s favorite or second favorite. Tangsuyuk is the Korean version of Chinese sweet and sour pork. It’s one of the basic trinity of Korean Chinese restaurants. It’s usually heavy, gooey and greasy.

This surprised everyone. It was light and crispy. And it stayed crispy, even the last nugget buried in the sauce. The sauce itself had depth. It’s usually sickly sweet with a little citrus flavor. This one felt darker and more mysterious, where sweetness took a backseat to spicier fruitier flavors.

XO Samgyeopsal

Pillowy thick slices of braised pork belly on a bed of baby bok choy with a sweet Chinese-style sauce. Oh yeah, and there’s cognac in it.

Jennifer and I liked it. Eun Jeong and Hana felt it was too heavy. Maybe the sauce was too sweet without something acidic to break through it. The bok choy helped by giving an adult bitterness. If this was another restaurant, we’d have been floored by it. But we have been spoiled by what Chef Kim can do.

Million Won Samgyeopsal Jjim with Stir-fried Aged Kimchi

Now this was more like it–a truly updated Korean classic. We have the pork belly again. It’s been braised. But now it comes in a peppery red sauce with kimchi hanging out on the side. The sauce had some tang. Jennifer and I pondered about this mystifying flavor that swirled, barely undetected. My guess was pineapple. Jennifer swore it was something alocholic.

Or maybe that was a comment directed at me.

The only “controversial” bit was the cilantro garnish. The Koreans at the table had a hard time wrapping their minds around cilantro and kimchi in the same bite. As for me, I’d put cilantro in my cereal.

The samgyeopsal was the fastest disappearing dish of the evening. By then we were slowing down a bit. Drinks still flowed. The restaurant buzzed with all the patrons packing the place. I had noticed beforehand that most all the tables were reserved. A trio of gorgeous young ladies walked in and were informed that no tables were available. We clenched tightly to ours. We weren’t leaving until we were good and ready.

Crispy Cheese Frico

I still wanted something to munch on, so we got some frico–Parmesan and Emmental cheeses baked until they become like crackers. Intense character and remarkable beer food. Poor Rob could only sit there, smell them and watch us eat.

The Amazing Fried Whole Mullet

This is what everyone talks about. I’m not a big fish person. I mean, I’ll eat it and enjoy it, but I rarely crave it.

I crave THIS!

It’s a whole fish that has been deep fried. Chef Kim ladles a spicy tangy soy sauce, sizzling over the fish, and garnishes it simply with half a lemon, shaved red onions and a cilantro and pickled ginger salad. The server squeezes the lemon and debones the fish tableside.

Everyone was already busting full. Yet we still cleaned out as much of the fish as we could. The beers were truly flowing by that time. I’ve edited out a good part of the conversation as it turned south–saving it for blackmail.

It was a great time. Chef Kim takes care of everyone, and the place is full of regulars. Star Chef thrives on giving everyone a good time with great food in a young, energetic yet relaxing atmosphere.

Be sure to check out Fatman Seoul’s account of the evening.

Download a Google Earth bookmark for Star Chef’s location