By Honorary Reporter Imane Bouhnika from Algeria
Photos = Min Kyung-jin

A food artist named Sibatable on Instagram has impressed social media with her fascinating creations.

Min Kyung-jin, the owner and designer of Sibatable, is a self-taught chef who shares photos of her adorable and savory meals on her Instagram account. Her food creations sport high visual appeal with works ranging from puppies with noodles and cereals shaped like gimbap (seaweed rice rolls) to raccoon-resembling rice balls and other dishes appearing like animated characters.

The following are excerpts from an email interview with Min from Aug. 27 to Sept. 1.

On the left are Sibatable's rice balls decorated as pandas and on the right are those resembling raccoons.

Why choose the name Sibatable and what inspires your creations? 

My Shiba Inu dog Ichi is a big presence in my life. I initially wanted the name Ichitable but that was taken. So I used Ichi's breed name to make Sibatable.

I draw inspiration from the things I adore such as animation, horror movies, comic books and music. These are reflected in my food art, transformed into meals and expressed through my cooking.

The photos show Sibatable's signature food art dish, Puppy Noodles.

How does Korean culture inspire your culinary art?
Since I was born and raised in Korea, most of my dishes contain a Korean cultural element. Korean cuisine uses a variety of ingredients good to use in creations, and I'm inspired and proud to familiarize myself with Korean culture and Korea through its ingredients. I also enjoy expressing what I like through familiar Korean cooking methods and ingredients I usually use.

These are cereals that looks like gimbap.

How do you balance the artistic and culinary aspects of your work? 

Because I'm a cook, I avoid making dishes simply for exhibition and artistic purposes that aren't edible. Cooking has to be cooking, I try to make cool food with good taste and appearance. What is seen might look simple but often requires a lot of time and effort.

What signature dish best represents your style? 
Among my works, I think "Puppy Noodle" is the dish that best represents me. It entertains me so much every time I see it. 

Sibatable bases most of her work on cartoon and animation characters.

msjeon22@korea.kr

*This article is written by a Korea.net Honorary Reporter. Our group of Honorary Reporters are from all around the world, and they share with Korea.net their love and passion for all things Korean.