Korean food - Gangnam Style

I have many dreams in life - and after watching Korean rapper's Gangnam Style music video for the seventy sixth time, I'm adding another one to the list: Being able to do Korean rapper PSY's horse-dance with a flash mob in the middle of Edsa. Because really how awesome would be to spontaneously break into synchronized fake galloping in the streets of Manila?

Also, because of K-Pop fever, my hair kind of looked like this for six months:

Thanks Tony & Guy! That was a poorly made life decision.

Fortunately there's not much to be confused about with a steaming bowl of bibimbap. With Filipinos' ongoing infatuation for all things Korean, it's no surprise that Korean food - hearty, exotic, and often spicy - have many smitten. From family-run groceries that make their own kimchi to barbecue dens all over to chains like Bon Chon, Sariwon, and Bulgogi Brothers, the culinary floodgates are wide open.

Chef's Noodle, one of Korea's celebrated restaurant chains has finally arrived in Manila. Taft Avenue to be exact, and pioneering it is no less than the founder, Chef Choi In Sun:

Why does Chef Choi In Sun always wear a fedora? I'd like to believe it's because he moonlights as a gumshoe detective. Or archaeologist. You'll know him because he also shows up in your tamago.

How egg-cellent! . . . Shutting up now.

Their specialty, the aptly-named Chef's Noodle (P150) gives a potent kick of flavors with every slurp. This salty and peppery broth is chock-full of tender beef slices, tofu puffs, scallions, and beansprouts (giant togue that's a recurring theme in Korean cuisine). The noodles themselves have good 'bite' - not too flimsy or soggy. For most, a bowl is more than enough, but then again, there's more to Chef's Noodle than - er - noodles.

Chef's Noodles by Chef's Noodles

What makes it the restaurant's bestseller? Until Chef Choi tells us, we'll just have to assume only the most delicious of ingredients...

No, Po's father. Just no.

For starters, the Wanja Steak Jun (P175) reminds us of breakfast, the hearty kind had by high schoolers who pound their tables for more rice and egg in their meals. This Korean-style burger steak is topped with egg and cheese and comes served in a dimsum basket. Imagine a a deconstructed cheeseburger sans the bread buns. The meat as you'd expect is tender but with crisp, burned edges. It's slathered with a salty-savory-syrupy sauce that goes well with rice.

You've also got Ddukbokki (P150)- a dish that sounds like a special martial arts move in Street Fighter. But it's in fact a Korean favorite. And while sapin-sapin drenched in chili sauce gives me pause, it is in some ways the best description of Ddukbokki. Tube-shaped chunks of chewy rice cake will give your jaw muscles ample exercise. It looks and tastes spicy, but the heat is steady and never reaches scorching levels. Fruit juices add some measure of sweetness too.  

(For the stubbornly ravenous among us, Chef's Noodle has a Ddukbokki-eating challenge. Eat the most, and you can be part of a meet-and-greet with Chef Choi and Grace 'I-dated-the-president' Lee. Plus you get some sweet swag and bragging rights. I imagine a shirt that says "I Ddukbokkick Ass!")

Left: Hearty Wanja Steak Jun. Right: Ddukbokki rice cakes

Though Korean, there's sushi to be had too including raw beef on rice. Your order comes in a neat row of glossy, pink Australian strip sirloin and - because anything on fire is double the fun - is subjected to a constant flame by someone wielding a kitchen blowtorch. (Also, this is a bad ass method for lighting cigarettes.)  Dubbed the Starking Fire Sushi (P160), Chef Choi demo'd this first in South Korea's Star King talent show.

Several seconds under the flame renders the meat medium rare while leaving it raw beneath. The glutinous rice has a vinegar element that perks up your taste buds.

Fire: It makes everything taste better.

Seafood Pajun

Filipinos will find two other dishes surprisingly familiar: Torta's distant Korean cousin, the Seafood Pajun (P99), is an omelette pancake filled with chopped squid and vegetables. Leek Shrimp Twigim (P99) are crunchy, deep-fried shards of shrimp and leeks in tempura batter somewhat like ukoy.

Exotic yet homey, comfort food with a touch of K-Pop coolness, Chef's Noodle just might be Taft's answer to students craving all things Korean.

Oh, and it's almost as addictive as that Gangnam Style song.

Chef's Noodle
2nd Floor, University Mall, Taft Avenue, Manila (facing College of St. Benilde)
Tel. 09328715560
www.chefsnoodlephils.com

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Steamy Stories at the Mind Museum

Science geeks rejoice! There's much to be giddy about with the newly opened Mind Museum. While we imagine a dimly lit gallery of brains floating in glass jars, The Fort's brand new science center is somewhat more cheerful. Spanning two vast floors and containing a plethora of exhibits, the Mind Museum brings concepts in biology, geology, physics, and chemistry to life. (The dinosaurs however stay disappointingly dead.) But even for the rest of us who shy away from the joys of memorizing the periodic table of elements, there's still reason to have a blast: miniature tornadoes, faux fossil digs, and a 20-minute 3-D romp through the history of life on planet Earth. 

There's more than a grain of truth to the history of rice

Mind Burst weekends provide quirky, hands-on activities including t-shirt dyeing and sandwich-making. Coming up is Extra Rice Please!: an exploration of rice's grainy history from ancient Banawe Rice Terraces to today's infatuation with Unli-Rice. During the event, the culinary experts from The Cookery Place will also provide creative rice meals. Guess we all have a good reason to go carbo loading...

...except this kid. 

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