[HIGH TO LOW] Two North Korean restaurants serve sundae interpretations

Omakase is the hip, new trend in Korea’s dining scene, and it isn’t limited to just sushi. Lee Buk Bang in Mapo District, western Seoul, is the first-ever sundae (Korean blood sausage) omakase, run by chef Choi Ji-hyung, 37. Through his restaurant...

Seoul is a city where you can find top-tier street food as well as world-class premium dining experiences. In this series, the Korea JoongAng Daily interviews chefs and cooks across the city, to introduce two restaurants offering the same dish at vastly different price points. Lee Buk Bang

Chef Choi Ji-hyung at Lee Buk Bang in Mapo District, western Seoul [PARK SANG-MOON]

Omakase is the hip, new trend in Korea’s dining scene, and it isn’t limited to just sushi.

Lee Buk Bang in Mapo District, western Seoul, is the first-ever sundae (Korean blood sausage) omakase, run by chef Choi Ji-hyung, 37.

Through his restaurant, Choi is striving to change people’s perspective on sundae, widely viewed as a cheap snack playing second fiddle to tteokbokki (spicy rice cakes) rather than a gourmet dish.

Lee Buk Bang’s prices start at 49,800 won ($39) for its eight-course lunch on weekdays. Its nine-course dinner is 69,800 won. There are also extensive wine, soju and traditional Korean liquor listings.

Sundae dish at Lee Buk Bang in Mapo District, western Seoul [LEE BUK BANG]

Choi’s biggest inspiration for Lee Buk Bang was his grandmother, a 1950-53 Korean War refugee from North Korea’s Hamgyong Province.

“She was a tremendous cook,” said Choi. “She lived with us and I loved watching her cook. I learned a lot just by watching and was even able to stuff sundae as a kid.”

But becoming a sundae chef wasn’t part of the plan when he first took up the profession.

After graduating with a bachelor's and a master's in culinary arts in the United States, he cooked mostly Western cuisine, working in restaurants including Michelin-starred plant-based fine dining restaurant Eleven Madison Park in New York City and Orsone in Italy.

He decided to return to Korea, in large part due to his grandmother’s health.

“You sometimes don’t realize how quickly people age,” he said.

Returning to Korea after years of studying and working abroad made Choi realize his new dream of a hansik (traditional Korean cuisine) chef.

“I wanted to cook dishes that more closely represent me as a person and I chose sundae because it reminded me of my grandmother, who was just so filled with love,” he said. “Cooking was the way that she expressed her love for us. I was privy to that for some 30 years and wanted to share this love I received with others.”

Lee Buk Bang is designed like a Korean grandmother's kitchen [LEE BUK BANG]

From the restaurant's interior, designed like an old kitchen, to the actual recipes themselves, everything about Lee Buk Bang is an ode to his grandmother, who passed away at the age of 105.

All the sundae is made in-house.

“From the intestinal casing to the stuffing, we don’t buy anything that is pre-made in factories,” he said.

Some 28 ingredients go inside the sundae. The insides are filled with protein instead of the typical glass noodles.

The menu varies slightly by season, but its signature offering is the sundae plate, which includes four different types of sundae such as white sundae and sundae with vegan casing.

Choi has also applied some modern twists, like replacing pork with duck or lamb and incorporating non-Korean sauces such as chimichurri and cumin on the side.

“Lee Buk Bang strives to maintain key characteristics of North Korean cuisine while also adding a bit of my own flavor,” Choi said.

His efforts are paying off, particularly among the restaurant’s foreign customers.

“We have customers from a variety of countries, including France, Mexico, Colombia, Japan and the United States,” he said. “It is actually one of my goals to take0 Lee Buk Bang overseas.”

(0507) 1421-2347 @leebukbang Mapo Station exit no. 1

Dongmu Bapsang

Sundae at Dongmu Bapsang in Goyang-si, Gyeonggi [LEE JIAN]

Dongmu Bapsang in Goyang, Gyeonggi, is an authentic North Korean restaurant run by North Korean defector Yoon Jong-cheol, 69.

Yoon’s sundae (13,000 won) is a classic North Korean-style sundae, filled with chapsal (glutinous rice) and ugeoji (dried radish stems).

“I’ve never seen a sundae filled with glass noodles before coming to the South!” he said. “As for the ugeoji, all North Korean sundae have it inside. It balances out the greasiness.”

Yoon used to be a chef in North Korea.

Yoon Jong-cheol, the owner-chef of Dongmu Bapsang in Goyang-si, Gyeonggi, poses with sundae (Korean blood sausage) and nanaengmyeon (Korean cold noodles). [LEE JIAN]

He cooked at Okryugwan, a traditional North Korean restaurant in Pyongyang considered one of the best eateries in the country.

But he didn’t always want to be a chef.

His grandfather was a cook but in North Korea, male cooks are looked down upon. So his grandfather educated his son, Yoon’s father, who went on to become a high-ranking official in the government.

Thanks to his father’s high status, Yoon was sent to Okryugwan instead of the army after his graduation at 18 years old.

“At the time, I remember feeling a little disappointed actually because I wanted to shoot guns,” Yoon said, chuckling. “But since I was there already, I wanted to do well. So I spent all day and all night honing my cooking skills.”

His hard work paid off when he was sent to cook at a restaurant for a handful of generals.

During that time, he had a chance to travel to China and learned how well off the South was.

“I saw on television there how wealthy the country had become, contrary to what I was taught in North Korea,” he said.

He defected to the South several years later, in October 2000.

“The saying goes that even mountains and rivers change after 10 years, but when I returned home from my mandatory service, things were the same. Actually, they were worse. It felt as if the country had regressed for 10 years.

“There were people dying from hunger. Neighbors disappeared and no one knew why or asked questions. Nothing was right about that world.”

In the South, Yoon initially kept his profession as a chef a secret.

“People in North Korea say that males who cook in the kitchen see their dicks fall off,” he said. “But after some time here, I saw male chefs being praised and appearing on television. So then I opened up about my job, eventually opening up my own restaurant.”

Pyongyang naengmyeon or cold noodles at Dongmu Bapsang [LEE JIAN]

He is the sole cook at Dongmu Bapsang. He and his wife spend a half-day every week making the sundae, just as they have been for over a decade or so. Dongmu Bapsang also offers various other traditional North Korean dishes such as Pyongyang naengmyeon or cold noodles (12,000 won) and North Korean-styled dumpling soup (9,000 won).

“There are many more restaurants in the South selling North Korean cuisine, but I never visit any of them because I am afraid of losing my center and letting them influence my dishes - like I might feel the need to add more toppings or season my food a different way after tasting theirs,” he said. “My recipe has never changed. It is the same as what I learned and cooked in North Korea. So I am confident when I say, ‘If you want to taste real North Korean food, come here!’”

If one thing has changed, it is the chair in the corner of Yoon’s pristinely-kept kitchen where he sits in between orders.

“I turn 70 next year, and I am proud that I am still in the kitchen every day, cooking,” he said.

(031) 969-9199 @dongmu_bapsangWondang Station exit no. 1

BY LEE JIAN [lee.jian@joongang.co.kr]