I've had great fun of eating at Jung Sik Dang in Seoul just over a month ago, then in Jung Sik in Manhattan a week ago. I figured this would be a rare chance that I could share pictures from both places in one post. I put in descriptions where I could, as much as I remembered.
In case anyone cares, let me start by clarifying my stand first. Having worked in restaurant kitchens, I will always be partial to the chefs and restaurant staff. I do write about Korean food scenes in New York in my articles with a focus on the people and their efforts. My curiously biased position of bringing out the positives and inevitable questions that come along is the basis of my views on food-related topics.
Ok, let's get right to it...
Lunch at Jung Sik Dang, Seoul
Early February 2012
amuse bouche - homemade tofu with doenjang (된장 - fermented bean paste) cream, lobster chip with garlic dip, and salmon with green grapes and wasabi sauce (from left to right)
Crispy Salad (아삭 샐러드)
Bibim - tomato gelee on the bottom and topped with basil sorbet on a bed of tomato, mozzarella and greens
Rice Topped with Pork (보쌈 덮밥) - crispy pork belly, plump oysters...
Anchovy Paella (멸치 빠예야)
Sole (가자미) with squid broth
Crispy Snapper (제주 옥돔) with homemade tofu, bok choy, flavor bomb mussels and naengyi broth
Five Senses Pork Belly (오감만족 돼지보쌈)
Duck with figs, smoked Korean pear cubes and pear purée
Jungsik Patbingsu (이열치열 팥빙수) - condensed milk granité, sweet red bean ball with angelica root (당귀 - dang gui) ice cream underneath
Soojunggwa (수정과 - traditional sweet cinnamon drink often flavored with ginger, garnished with pine nuts and dried persimmon) with ginger cream, Korean pear sorbet, pistachio crumble, cinnamon & pine nut gelée
Jang Dok (합천에 눈이 내리면) - milk chocolate pots in the shape of traditional Korean clay pots called jang dok, on top of burdock chocolate cake with sugar craft
You get a choice of tea - above is angelica root tea - with petit fours of almond, Andong soju (soju from Andong town known for its high quality) candy and white chocolate
Done for lunch after 2 relaxing hours. Getting right to dinner tasting at Jung Sik, NYC...
Jung Sik, NYC
Mid March, 2012
Amuse bouche - tapioca-squid ink chip with kimchi dip, homemade tofu with doenjang cream, cucumber and shrimp topped with phyllo dough crisps, chicken with spicy dip (left to right)
...along with short rib mini slider
followed by smoked potato soup
Looking familiar? Bibim
Mushroom - mushroom dashi, Parmesan chip and sous-vide egg
Spicy Kalguksu (매콤 칼국수) - with creamy soup base (traditionally clear broth) but keeping it light and refreshing, not too spicy. also zucchini, garlic, and clams
Sea Urchin (성게) on the left - underneath the crispy quinoa, sea urchin, kimchi and onion slices, there is moist rice bursting with seaweed and sesame oil flavors; Champs-Elysees on the right with rice, foie gras and kimchi
Crispy Snapper (바삭도미)
Classic Fish (은대구) - buttery, plump black cod with red pepper sauce
Seoul Duck for 2 - apple rosemary puree, wild sesame jus, mustard seeds and baby radish
Classic Galbi (전통갈비) on the left - short ribs with cripsy rice cake balls; Five Senses Pork (오감만족 돼지보쌈) on the right
Pre-dessert - Pear granité on the bottom, gojee berry (오미자 - oh mi ja) granité and lavender cream
Apple Rice Wine Baba (청사과 막걸리 바바) on the left; Pumpkin Pannacota on the right
Strawberry Creameux with lychee sorbet and spinach sponge cake
Angelica root (당귀 - dang gui) chocolate pot de crème on the left; petit fours of mugwort (쑥) financier, mango chocolate, and ginseng macaroon
Thoughts...
Having had the chance to visit both locations in a relatively short span of time, it was fun for me to find similarities and differences of Jung Sik Dang in Seoul and Jung Sik in NYC. Both places are great for guiding you through Korean cuisine in a different light. Some dishes veer more toward traditional and others less so at varying degrees within the umbrella of new/modern Korean cusine. Here are a few things I noted...
The dishes in Seoul seemed to highlight Korean elements better partly because of an easier access to ingredients. For example, despite the similar preparation of Crispy Snapper with crispy scales and homemade tofu side at both locations, the one in Seoul seemed more Korean with the fish from Jeju Island and naengyi broth and naengyi powder. Naengyi is a representative spring herb in Korea, and it is usually made into a simple homey soup with doenjang (fermented soy bean paste) and garlic.
There is also this part poetic, part witty, and more playful Korean menu in Seoul. One of the poetic examples would be the dessert Jang Dok written out as "When snow falls in Hapcheon" in Korean. Even without knowing where Hapcheon is, Seoulites get an imagery of a small country town with these traditional clay pots in the backyard, evoking that warm fuzzy 'awhhh' feeling inside.
In comparison, I wonder if many of Korean elements - ingredient seasonality, parings, tradtional food customs, etc. - get lost in translation in NYC. For example, the pre-dessert omija granité became gojee berry granité in the server's description. At that point, the granité lost the association with omija as the fruit of five flavors that is traditionally served as chilled tea in the warmer days in Korea.
On another occasion, Korean elements came hidden on the plate, like baby radish for duck which is a popular kimchi ingredient in spring and summer. The wild sesame (a.k.a., perilla) seeds mixed in the dark jus for duck were easy to miss despite its distinctively different look and taste (light to dark brown, round, earthy, just as tiny as sesame seeds). Although it is widely used in Korean cooking, more so in the countryside of Korea, its character may be difficult to detect because it's not used or known much in the U.S.
Classic Cod was introduced as black cod with red pepper sauce, looking like an innocently fancy piece of fish from any fine dining restaurant. Yet, if I ever saw the prettiest piece of fish that came from saengseon jorim (생선조림 - a common Korean dish of hearty braised fish with equally important braised radish) but made a few stops along the way to dress itself for a special occasion (of meeting me), this would be it.
Does it matter to notice all these little elements? For some, no. It's a perfectly enjoyable dinner that's pretty, well-seasoned and flavorful throughout the evening. Enough people seem to notice the creativity and effort with added Korean elements at Manhattan fine-dining calibre. But for those who question if it's really Korean or Korean enough, I wonder if many efforts that are put forth on the plate by the team at Jung Sik got lost in the new setting.
If there should be better descriptions of the dishes for the guests, then the question of balance follows, i.e., the degree of details that should be explained by the servers without bordering a mini lecture before each course. Some may be just looking for great food and service. Others may be looking for something extra at a new Korean fine-dining restaurant.
The general direction of this modern Korean cuisine (however it's defined) is a difficult water to tread anyway. One step into 'traditional' that looks or tastes similar to something that can be done somewhere else in Korea (or in many cases, Koreatown), some say 'why so expensive for something I can get at 'home' (as in any familiar Korean place)." One step into 'new' - which in itself holds a wide spectrum from 'never been done' to 'some guests haven't been exposed to it' - you've just invited the criticism of 'this is not Korean.'
For this reason and many others, I respect anyone who sets out his or her direction in Korean food in their own way - fine dining or not, modern or not, whatever words are used to describe the direction for that matter - executes 'it' every day with consistency and stands on the spot to be judged by the general public.
So, thank you Team Jung Sik Seoul and New York for being at your own forefront.
It is truly an exciting time to be in New York and see how Korean cuisine is evolving.
