21st December 2021, New Delhi. 2nd All India Korean Culinary Challenge 2021 jointly organized by Korean Cultural Centre India and Banarasidas Chandiwala Institute of Hotel Management and Catering Technology came to an applauding end today.
In Non-professional category, Gazal Taneja (24 Years) a student from Chandigarh won the 1st prize in Non-Professional Category. She is making kimchi from last 4 yrs, and after doing 2 months sampling of her Kimchi supply she is to start kimchi making and delivery business to Delhi and Chandigarh. She prepared Korean Snack Platter in the finale round which had Korean fried chicken, corn chesses, Vegetable Pan Cake and Chiken Kimbaps.
26 years old Saba Naj won the 2nd position and will receive 30,000 rupees in cash along with a LG dish washing machine. Cooking came to her as an inherent property from her mother. She runs a cook show ‘Cook with Saba’ on YouTube, which is also a source of inspiration towards Korean dishes. She made Bimbap in the final round.
Hufrish K Sethna the 3rd place winner will receive 15,000 rupees in cash along with LG water purifier. Hufrish is a Korean language student and is planning to study in Korea. She is found of cooking and had learned Korean cooking from Social media channels. She prepared Indo _Korean fusion with Japchae and Parasi bafat, which was mouthwatering.
In Professional category, Junaid Sharif won the first prize, which will receive 50,000 rupees in cash along with a LG refrigerator. Shreshth Jangir, the 2nd place holder will receive 30,000 rupees in cash along with a LG dish washing machine. In 3rd position Akshita Kashyap will be awarded the 3rd prize will receive 15,000 rupees in cash along with LG water purifier.
Mr. Hwang Il-yong, director of Korean Cultural Centre India said to PTI that, “Food is essential part of our soul and mind as we know. I believe most of Indian people will miss Dal makhani, Shahi paneer, all home cooking curries out of country like Korean people miss Kimchi and all home cooking cuisines and these foods remind us our beloved family, country. It builds us our identity, our character and soul. Our friend, India is cooking Korean foods and localizing it in new forms is really inspiring and heart touching. It is very symbolic and meaningful event building up our two countries` friendship. I wished to experience and taste glocalized kimchi and Korean foods by our Indian cooks through this event.”
He added, with the rising interest about Korean culture through online contents like K-Pop, K-Movie, K-Drama, etc., K-food also has been exposed and explored in India, and now it has been producing some products. The glocalization phenomenon of Korean food in India shows us the increased mutual understanding between two countries, Korea and India. We are working to strengthen this mutual relation and understanding between two countries and I believe we can grow it more till we may see together certain tangible fruits in near future.
Yoo Jung-hun, chef of Dalgrak(Korean restaurant in KCCI) said, we also have been watching the increase of response and customers. Out of many possible reasons for the rising popularity of Korean cuisine in India, I can tell two points based on my observation and experience, the first one is recognition as healthy food to help our immune system in pandemic situation, and the other is refined convenience menu development. City busy life, and these days young generation prefer to neat and convenient food menu rather than heavy meal. Understanding these demands, Korean food experts and relating industries have developed the menu.
Event details
The event was divided in two categories; professional (Hotel management & Culinary School Students included) and Non-Professional (open to all).
In first round participants had to choose any Korean culinary with authentic recipe or innovative fusion with Indian cuisine and had to share their own cooking video of any one Korean culinary at registerkccindia@gmail.com . The best 20 videos based on the criteria, creativity, performance, authenticity (recipe, ingredient, etc.), cooking skills, final dish demonstration, video editing, etc got selected for the 2nd round.
In 2nd round the 20 best videos were judged based on the number of views and likes on two hosts` SNS channels from November 23 to December 4. The professional judges evaluate all processes and results of each participants` cooking. This system was designed for including netizens` participation and the importance of public opinions and trends.
10 finalists, 5 from each category participated in the 3rd round – the final round. The 10 finalists were requested to submit their second cooking video for the final competition, and a 4 professional jury judged the submitted videos.
The four expert jury included Amit Lohani, national convener, founder, and director for Forum of Indian Food Importers (FIFI), who also runs Max Inc. (a luxury grocery trading company). Professor Kundu Ranojit, who is in charge of the Bakery and Pastry Department at Banasidas Chandiwala Institute of Hotel Management and Catering Technology, and Kim Ji-yeol, chef of the Embassy of the Republic of Korea who has won numerous culinary competition awards, including the Gold Medal in the 2016 International Culinary Competition hosted by the Korea Culinary Association.
Chef Kim Ji-yeol, who judged the final 10 finalists, said, “I was surprised that the participants have a high level of understanding of Korean seasoning. As a Korean chef working at the Embassy, I am proud that Indian people are showing keen interest in Korean food after seeing Korean-style fusion dishes that contain Indian culture.” And H.E. Chang Jae-bok, the Ambassador of the Republic of Korea to India said, “Having tasted the richness of Indian food locally, I understand why my eldest son in Korea loves Indian food so much and Indian food is gaining popularity in Korea.”
