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Koreaculum 101, Seoul of Sydney, Bar H

There’s nothing that I love better on a Friday night than going to Korean restaurants for some KFC (Korean Fried Chicken!), beer, kimchi and great times with friends. When Teresa gave me the heads up about a new Korean crew setting up shop in Sydney, I immediately put on my stalker cap to find out as much as I could about Seoul of Sydney and what I saw only made me want to find out more.

Describing themselves as the Kimchi Crew, Seoul of Sydney is an eclectic group of young chefs who all have one thing in common, a passion for Korean food. Between the lot of them they’ve managed to work in pretty much every single restaurant around Sydney (Bilson’s, China Doll, Flying Fish, Glass Brasserie to name a few). They’re headed up up by Peter Jo who used to manage a restaurant owned by his parents, you may have heard of Madang?

Despite the minor inconvenience of being in Melbourne the morning of Koreaculum 101, I snag my old eating buddy Astroboy for a last minute dinner date and we manage to nab a few of the last seats available. Dinner tonight is at the gorgeously decked out Bar H, a bar which has been floating around on my to-go list for a few months.

We’re the first ones to arrive at the restaurant and have our choice of seating, naturally I’m fixated on the bar seating which gives us front row seats of the prep work for tonight’s dinner. To start off the night we’re given two glasses of Suljoongmae, to those familiar with Umeshuu, Japanese Plum Wine, it has a similar sweet overtone to it while not being overpowering. Light on the palate it’s a great way to start off the night.

The Chefs are all credited with an individual dish for our 6 course dinner but for the actual plating up it’s all hands on deck as they squeeze past one another in the tiny kitchen area to begin prep for the first course. It’s a fascinating process to watch as they tweak certain elements on the dishes before looking back and giving each other looks of satisfaction.

Pickled radish with housemade black sesame tofu with soy braised beef shin blade (Pyeon-yuk). Brunoise salad of peppers, cucumber, carrot and celery with a Korean style mustard and nashi pear dressing. Served with 2010 Ocean Eight Pinot Gris – Mornington Peninsula, VIC.

Housemade black sesame tofu is the first savory of the night, the black sesame giving the tofu a greyish tinge while finishing with a nutty aftertaste. The texture is firmer than the tofu I’m used to, but melds well with the beautifully tender Soy Braised Beef Shin Blade which is hiding just below, all finished off with the bite of the Pickled Raddish.

We’re sitting within touching distance of the Chefs as they continue working (I somehow manage to resist), and I’m loving the show that’s being put on in front of us. There’s something to be appreciated about watching a dish come together from all its various components, culminating in delicious delicious food.

Ground mung bean, bean sprouts and pork shoulder ‘jeon’ (pancake) with orange and soy pickled onions. Served with 2008 Gembrook Hill ‘Mayer Vineyard’ Pinot Noir – Yarra Valley, VIC.

With a mixture very much resembling Fish Cakes our next savory dish is the Mung Bean, Bean Sprouts and Pork Shoulder Jeon (Pancake). The texture is much heartier than it’s Fish Cake brother and with a crispy exterior that crunches to the bite the only thing that could make it better would be a fierce kick of heat. Ryan Hong, the creator of this particular dish looks up at us and grins, asking if we like it. I think my mouth was full preventing me from answering, but it’s an emphatic, ‘Yes ’ from me.

We’re onto the last of the entrees now, and the trend of bright colours continues on! A giant metallic bowl of colourful vegetables and herbs is tossed about before a careful handful is placed on each plate, all topped off with one last dusting of herbs.

‘Chung Po Muk’ (Korean style green bean jelly) salad with semi dried shimeji and oyster mushrooms with fresh herbs and vegetables with a spicy black sesame and soy vinaigrette. Served with 2009 Emmerich Knoll Gruner Veltliner Federspiel – Wachau, Austria.

Somehow I’ve gotten so distracted with the food that I’ve managed to forget to take a photo… of the food! I was so upset at myself last night at the PC when I realised this because the Chung Po Muk was one of my favourite dishes of the night.

Deceivingly simple, it’s the the Mushrooms and the spicy black sesame and soy vinaigrette which makes this dish so fantastic. They’re a punch of flavour and the dish is a great mixture of soft and crunchy textures all finished off with the spiciness of the
vinegarette. The Seoul of Sydney website promises that recipes will be up soon and this will be the first thing that I’ll be looking up!

We take a break from our proceedings as the entrees come to an end, our host Mr Peter Jo is taking the center stage as he thanks us all for our support as well as introducing the Chefs who are cooking for us tonight.

Despite the never-ending service the mood is joyous, this is a group that’s not afraid of poke fun at itself (somehow the only person who I don’t manage to get a photo of is Peter Jo!). It’s not long though before it’s full steam ahead again as the team turn back to start plating up the first of the mains.

There’s a clear progression in the plating, I’m not sure if it’s been pre-planned or just Chefs picking up the jobs as they go, but each Chef seems to have a clear responsibility in the plating of each of the dishes. The plating is methodical, as the components are carefully laid out on the endless rows of plates, followed up with various toppings all before being lovingly bathed in a stock which has been tormenting us with its delicious smell.

Interpretation of Saeng Tae Tang (Alaskan Pollack Soup). Braised leather jacket cutlets in a leather jacket and dried anchovy broth with chrysanthemum leaves and ‘minari’ (Korean water spinach). Served with Gyeong-ju Beop-Ju, Korean rice wine made with white and glutinous rice fermented for a period of 100 days with yeast and malt.

The sheer simplicity of the Saeng Tae Tang is it’s selling point, the Braised Leather Jacket Cutlets has a texture which is a little firmer than expected but the clearness of the broth gives through a clean tasting fish. It’s the Dried Anchovy broth that I adore, slightly salty in that addictive way and the Chrysanthemum Leaves and Minari provide a slightly bitter counterpoint. It’s all of the Asian soups of my youth and the reason why I love soup so much.

The Gyeong-ju Beop-Ju scares me for a moment, that deceptively clear liquid has led to more than few hangovers for me, but combined with the broth it’s a brilliant match. The saltiness of the broth parries with the hit of alcohol leaving only the slightly taste of the rice wine to linger afterwards. My favourite wine match of the night.

If I thought the prep for the previous dishes was hard work, it’s nothing compared to the effort required for the Bo Ssam. The team at this point are literally on top of one another as they put together these individual cabbage wraps of Pork Belly, it’s an intricate process with enough components that I lose count of them as we’re given a description of this last savory dish.

Pork belly braised in a dwen-jang (fermented soybean paste) stock with Coffin Bay oysters (pacific), day aged daikon radish kimchi, ssam jang (fermented soybean and chilli paste), nashi pear with pine nut salt, wrapped in salted cabbage. Served with Mak-guli (Korean fermented cloudy rice wine).

The result of all this hard word are three delicate rolls of Bo Ssam, the list of components is long and involved and when Pete advices us to one shot each roll we can only look at him incredulously. They’re slightly too large to eat comfortably but after a few awkward chews the flavour suddenly hits with a vengeance, gorgeously soft Pork Belly with a hit of chilli paste, the sweetness of the nashi pears pairing (heh) with the saltiness of the cabbage. And the finale? The oyster taste that spreads as a final aftertaste.

All of this served with a glass of Mak-guli? I could be happy eating this dish all night long!

Set ‘Su Jeong Gwa’ (traditional cinnamon punch) jelly, ‘Shik Hae’ (barley malt and rice based beverage) granita, ‘Yak Gwa’ (traditional Korean cookies made with flour, sesame oil, honey, rice wine, cinnamonand ginger juice), ‘Yu Gwa’ (Korean pastry made of rice, oil and honey) with pine nuts and dried jujubes. Served with Baek Sae Joo (Korean rice wine infused with ginseng, and 14 other medicinal herbs).

The desserts have been pre-prepped downstairs, so it’s a surprise when they arrive in front of us. Korean Cuisine is not overly known for it’s desserts and we’d been wondering how this team was going to tackle the sweet course. The Shik Hae Granita is mildly refreshing and what I’d assumed was a cold syrup actually turns out to be a Cinnamon Punch Jelly. The resulting combination makes me feel as though all the herbal concoctions I’d loved as a child have been transformed into dessert form.

The matching Baek Sae Joo immediately has Astroboy proclaiming, ‘Ginseng!’. It’s not my favourite wine of the night, but paired with the herbal nature of the desserts it works.

There’s a clear level of passion in this dinner, the chefs clearly love Korean food and teaming together to form Seoul of Sydney is a fantastic way to get their message across. I know they’ve got an event planned for SIFF this year as well as monthly dinners (Koreaculum 102?), it’s a great team they’ve got together and I’m looking forward to seeing what they come up with next!

Seoul of Sydney
Koreaculum 101 was held on the 31st of July, 2011. Their next planned dinner is on the 28th of August, and details can be found from their Twitter, Facebook or Website.

Bar H
80 Campbell Street
Surry Hills NSW 2010
Phone: (02) 9280 1980
Web: http://www.barhsurryhills.com/