From cello to cooking Korean chef Jang Yun Jeong on why food and music are similar

    New Delhi, Nov 22 (PTI) As servers bring out Korean dishes, chef Jang Yun Jeong steps in occasionally to correct the way they are presented before explaining the philosophy and the story behind each delicacy -- all colourful, vegan and organic.
    Jeong, who is on a culinary trip to Delhi, runs a restaurant in Seoul, South Korea.     
     She came to cooking through her mother, Sim Yeong-sun, a famous culinary researcher.
    "I am actually a cello player. I am a musician. My mother is a very famous master chef in Korea. So I naturally learned and now teach cooking. I have a restaurant in Seoul. I love to cook and teach other chefs," she told PTI in an interview.
    Music, she said, has helped her explore food in a better way as both art forms are similar in some ways.
    "I have a musician's soul. Both are very hard things. Cooking needs strength and patience like music. You have to practice both regularly," she added.
    On her third culinary trip to Delhi recently, Jeong treated 25 guests to royal authentic Korean cuisine at the Dal-Grak cafe at the Korean Cultural Centre India (KCCI).
    On Friday, she celebrated the Korean Kimchi Day by hosting the ‘Vegan Kimchi Making Workshop' with the students of Institute of Hotel Management, Catering & Nutrition, Pusa.
    The dishes that she prepared, like Zucchini Porridge with Nabak Kimchi, she said, are good for stomach health. Gujeolpan, a traditional Korean platter with nine different ingredients, was once the food served to royals, she said.
    She also served Sanjeok (grilled vegetable skewers) and popular Korean dish Bibimbap.
    The guests were also treated to green plum Omij (five flavour berry tea) with traditional Korean sweets.
    Jeong said while she has not been able to explore the sights and the historical beauty of Delhi, she has been to restaurants and tried different cuisines.
    Indian dishes are slightly saltier than Korean cuisine, she said, adding that she was particularly impressed by pickled papaya and coconut curry.
    "I am interested in vegan food. We went to a restaurant and I enjoyed the vegan food very much. In my earlier trips, I always represented Korean food but this time I thought of combining Indian ingredients and developing menus in Korean cooking.
    "I can combine (Indian ingredients) with vegan Kimchi and other foods together and they will be very good," she said.
    Asked about the dish she would recommend to someone exploring Korean food for the first time, she said it would be Bibimbap, a dish served with rice and colourful mix of vegetables, meat and side dishes.
    "I would recommend Bibimbap because you can experience traditional Korean vegetables and this menu is very popular in Korea. I would recommend it very much," she said.
    How did she start making vegan kimchi, the fermented dish that is staple to Korean cuisine and is made of vegetables, mostly napa cabbage and Korean radish.
    Traditionally, fish sauce is used in its preparation.
    Jeong said many who visited her restaurant in Seoul liked the vegan version of her dishes and she realised that vegan kimchi would be popular with vegan food lovers.
    Hwang II Yong, director of KCCI, said the purpose behind the three-day event was to introduce refined, authentic, and luxurious Korean food to the Indian audience.
    "With the expertise of Korean chefs, we hope to show how Korea's most traditional cuisine can be harmoniously incorporated into Indian society. We hope that this event will help spread the word about Kimchi, a traditional Korean fermented food, in India and provide an opportunity to understand the cultures of our two countries more deeply," he said.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)