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Robin Lynam

HONG KONG IS blessed with an abundance of Korean restaurants, but for most resident Koreans there is nothing like the taste of home cooking.

Annie Park Joo-youn and her friend Bobie Kang Bo-bei both live in the Sai Kung area and get together frequently for lunch at their homes.

Ms Park is well known in Korea as a popular song lyricist and some of her hits have been translated into Cantonese and performed by local artists such as Jacky Cheung. Ms Kang has her own business in Hong Kong, which involves selling medical products sourced in Japan to Korea.

Both are devoted Korean 'foodies', and accordingly have kitchens equipped with special rice cookers for the brown rice that is a staple of the cuisine.

They also have purpose built kimchi fridges to keep the potent fermented cabbage in optimum condition and away from other food that might take on its assertive flavours and aromas.

Sourcing the right ingredients to cook authentically at home is not easy, according to  Ms Park. Although many similar foodstuffs and seasonings are available from China, they often differ significantly in taste.

Both  women shop occasionally at the New World Supermarket in Kimberley Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, which imports kimchi and a wide range of ingredients from Korea, but they also buy ingredients locally in the markets and supermarkets of Sai Kung.

'In Wellcome and ParknShop we can buy a lot of stuff, but for tofu and bean sprouts the taste is a little bit different and it is impossible to buy the seasonal vegetables. The meat and fish are a little bit different as well,' Ms Park said. Acceptable versions of the staple seasonings for Korean food - chilli, spring onion, ginger, sesame oil and seeds, and garlic - are available here, although Ms Kang believes Korean garlic has more 'sting'.

She also points out that vegetables are important to Koreans, and that spring vegetables, in particular, are closely associated with health.

'Many people think that Koreans eat a lot of meat because in restaurants barbeque is the first thing people order, but at home we don't eat meat every day. We like to have fish and a lot of vegetables. Once in three or four days we have chicken, and some beef stock soup, but that's it,' she said.

Both regard making kimchi the traditional way at home as too much hassle, but can make an 'instant' version and otherwise buy imported packaged products. Their bean paste, chilli paste, and soy sauce - the latter used mostly in soups - often are home-made, although packaged products are also available.

Both are partial to strong salty bean paste soup. It is relatively easy to make, according to Ms Kang, although she points out that Korean food is labour intensive.



There's nothing like home cooking