Numbering anywhere between 13 and 18 courses, the degustation encompasses everything from the best marbled cuts of Hanwoo grilled over charcoal to the likes of katsu sando, beef ramen or pho, and even brisket claypot rice or a Philly cheesesteak. Jung is adamant on serving beef only from female Hanwoo cows aged between six and seven years old for their deep flavour; he singles out the marinated galbi ribs served bansang-style—that is, with the full accoutrements of rice, soup and different banchan side dishes—as the best showcase of Born & Bred’s philosophy. 

In Jung’s eyes, South Korea is currently at the peak of its dining culture, both in terms of the diversity of the cuisines as well as the level of service. “There are so many ways for [Korean cuisine] to evolve, from street food to fine dining,” he explains. “The Hanwoo at Born & Bred is the same. Currently we are not able to export Hanwoo to many countries; however, in the future I believe there will be ways for people around the world to experience Hanwoo. With soups made from meat and bones, and namul (vegetable side dishes) made with different in-season ingredients, there will be different ingredients used to propel the growth of Korean food around the world.”

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Perhaps one of the biggest proponents of K-cuisine outside South Korea is Junghyun Park, the charismatic co-founder, alongside wife Ellia, of Atomix—one of the most sought-after dinner tables in all of New York. He’s recognisable thanks to the ever-changing colour of his hair, but it’s Park’s cooking that has earned the 14-seat NoMad restaurant two Michelin stars, while he himself was recognised as the best chef in New York state at the 2023 James Beard Awards. 

Inside the spartan, Zen-inspired dining room of Atomix, guests are served a tasting menu that both educates on important pillars of Korean cuisine and turns expectations on their head: each dish is introduced with a card that translates the name of the dish from Korean while listing its ingredients, origin and meaning; though the actual dish itself is most often a rarefied, highly refined version of its namesake, or as The New York Times put it, embodies “wonderful intricacy, sophistication and beauty”.

Born in South Korea, Park began his culinary career by making pizza at the Hilton hotel in Seoul, before moving to the UK to work at London’s The Ledbury. But it wasn’t until he joined Jungsik, the pioneering French-Korean restaurant opened by chef Yim Jung-sik in Seoul, that he encountered what Yim has coined ‘New Korean’ cuisine. 

Indeed, Park views the opening of Jungsikdang in 2009 as a turning point, the beginning of a period of introspection by Korean chefs where they grappled with defining the essence, the culture and philosophy of the cuisine. “There is still much to be discovered, progress to be made, but compared to even just the last two decades, the public perception or simply awareness of Korean cuisine has hugely progressed,” he says.

While Jungsikdang’s ethos was to apply the influences of European fine dining culture to create New Korean cuisine, the cooking at Atomix looks to highlight “what is inherent and unique to Korea; the holistic essence of Korean cuisine and its food culture”. To this end, Park says, “I incorporated as many essential Korean techniques, ingredients and [elements of] culture as possible. The names of Korean ingredients were spelled as is, and through our restaurant I was honoured to (and thought of it as essential to) showcase the works of many Korean artisans, ranging from food artisans to ceramicists.”

According to Park, the new inward focus among Korean chefs and restaurants is here to stay, and if Atomix has its way, it will lead to a flourishing in the diversity of Korean cuisine as more and more non-Koreans take their lessons from the tenets of K-cuisine and apply them in their own manner. “Of course, I don’t think that every person [working at Atomix] will commit their professional paths to Korean cuisine; but naturally, Korean cuisine—its culture, ingredients, techniques—will become a part of their toolkit to apply or pull inspiration from. From where I am, I will also work and study hard to define what my Korean cuisine will evolve into in the future.”

See also: Who is Cho Hee-Sook? Meet the Asia’s Best Female Chef winner and owner of Michelin-starred Hansikgonggan

Bibimbap is the name of the dish, although at Juksunchae—which lays claim to the title of Bangkok’s first Korean fine dining restaurant—the course that’s brought to the table at first seems to resemble the traditional rice bowl in name only.

“We’ve reinterpreted one of the most common dishes in Korean cuisine,” explains Korean-Canadian chef-founder Henry Lee. “It started with the meaning of the word bibimbap, which translates to ‘mixed rice’. If you know that meaning, then anyone can create a bibimbap using a variety of ingredients. So we designed a version that is completely different in aesthetics, flavour profile and textural profile.”

The result is positively Mondrian-esque: uni, caviar and puffed rice with a sprinkling of shiso leaf, kimchi and braised shiitake mushrooms are neatly lined up along one side of the plate, while a perfectly uniform field of pastel-yellow uni egg custard occupies the rest of the negative space, save for an empty triangle into which a white kimchi beurre blanc is poured.

It’s a fitting metaphor for the evolution of K-cuisine outside of its birthplace, which Juksunchae (which translates to bamboo shoots) takes fully into its stride. The Thai capital, as it turns out, has lent itself beautifully to this endeavour, with Lee noting that the biggest similarity between Thai and Korean palates is a similar love of intensity of flavour.

Read more: A food lover’s guide to Bangkok

Despite this, he says, the fundamental difference between the two cuisines is their underlying purpose. “I believe that Thai food was created primarily to provide a high source of energy due to the extremely hot weather. [Meanwhile], Koreans believe that food is medicine and that what you feed your body will sustain your health and cure any ailments.”

That belief informs other dishes on Juksunchae’s tasting menu that draw inspiration from Korea’s temple cuisine—which arose to meet the dietary needs of Buddhist monks and was made famous by nun and chef Jeong Kwan when her cooking was featured in a 2017 episode of Netflix’s Chef’s Table series. In the same vein, Lee presents a course comprising seven types of grilled mushrooms indigenous to Korea’s pine forests, alongside burdock, juba berry oil and black raspberry gel.

Elsewhere in the tasting menu, Lee traverses the terroir and gastronomic culture of the Korean peninsula in inventive dishes such as raw sea bream with bright red chojang sauce, compressed snow pear and pomegranate reduction; and charcoal-grilled foie gras served with five types of chestnut bites, which references bapsang, the typical format of a balanced Korean meal that includes bap (rice), guk (soup), banchan and kimchi.

“We want to use traditional Korean ingredients in a way that most Koreans would not, and to show our guests that these components can pair well—even excellently—with elements that are not Korean,” says Lee. “Progression needs encouragement and I believe Bangkok is the perfect place for it.”

Don't miss: Vegan bibimbap and other stories: Cooking with Korean nun Jeong Kwan of Chef's Table

“When I was in school, the textbook question we asked foreigners was ‘Do you know about kimchi?’ Now, it’s ‘Do you know about Blackpink?’,” observes Steve Lee, head chef at Hansik Goo, on the proliferation of Korean pop culture around the world. 

The culinarian, who was recognised by the 2023 Michelin Guide with the inaugural Young Chef Award in Hong Kong, has certainly established himself as the face of K-cuisine in the city, with his role at the Hong Kong sister restaurant of famed Seoul institution Mingles catapulting him into the limelight. 

Key to his success has been a deft approach to incorporating the city’s produce into a contemporary Korean tasting menu. “Our philosophy is always to keep the seasonality and the authenticity of Korean cuisine; but I love to use local ingredients in a way that is sustainable and that respects the local market.”

Channelling the refined, seasonality-driven approach to Korean cuisine at Mingles, Lee’s cooking at Hansik Goo deftly weaves in local ingredients in seamless fashion. On the most recent summer menu, the opening course adapted the recipe for traditional Korean congee—juk—using the juice of local winter melon, while the flesh of the melon was thinly sliced to create the skin for the accompanying dumplings. Local sweetcorn appeared in the dessert, an ingredient the chef deems “underrated”; meanwhile, Lee is trialling the use of dried abalone in a dish of chicken roulade and risotto that takes inspiration from Korean ginseng chicken.

That Lee has achieved such a thorough understanding of the local foodscape in just three years—he moved to Hong Kong and joined Hansik Goo as head chef at the onset of the pandemic in 2020—is astounding, but speaks to the effect of his close relationship with mentor and founder of Mingles, Mingoo Kang, who Lee met after working with him for a short stint after graduation. That relationship continued for the seven years that Lee spent cooking in Sydney, culminating in his appointment as the head chef of Kang’s first overseas restaurant, where Kang has groomed Lee’s culinary skillset into one that stays true to his vision of authentic Korean flavours served with contemporary flair. 

Still, being based in Hong Kong affords Lee the space to graft local influences into Korean cuisine in a way that would not be possible within Korea. “Korean food is getting bigger, but I think we still need the time to adjust [to using] ingredients from overseas. But I have no doubt it will work—it’s just a matter of time.”

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