Michelin-trained chef swapped foie gras for fermented foods as he learned Korean temple recipes
- Forget your chef ways, nun Woo Kwan told Gu Jin Kwang, who’d worked with Albert and Michel Roux, when he went to her to learn how to make Korean temple food
- ‘You have to make it slowly,’ he says of the pickled and fermented seasonal vegetables in temple cuisine, which he showcases at Soil to Soul in Hong Kong
How did you get into cooking? “I was born and raised in Busan, South Korea. My mother was a good cook and made traditional things like rice dishes and pancakes. Sometimes I wanted to try to make them but she wouldn’t let me.
“When I went to university, in 1995, I started cooking and people liked my food. After class I worked part time in a Korean restaurant. The first year I was just a server, but one time I asked if I could make the staff food, and then they let me cook in the kitchen.”
Why did you go to London? “I studied mechanical engineering in university, but in 1997 South Korea was hit by the Asian financial crisis and the International Monetary Fund had to bail the country out. So by the time I graduated, in 1999, I couldn’t find a job because of the economic downturn. I didn’t want to continue studying either, but I had saved money from working part time and wanted to go overseas.
“Koreans usually go to the United States, but I didn’t want to go where there are Koreans. They don’t go to England, so I thought I would try that, and went to London. I didn’t know English, only a few words. I needed to find a job to survive but I couldn’t speak English or understand what they were saying.
“From 4am to 7am, I delivered newspapers, and from 9am to 12pm, I went to English school. In the afternoon, I worked in a Korean restaurant as a porter, washing dishes. Then I worked in a Japanese restaurant from 6pm until midnight as a sushi assistant.