By John Redmond
The Seorae Global Village Center will hold a Korean cooking class in Banpo, Seoul, Dec. 17.
Participants will learn to make royal palace tteokbokki and donkatsu. The class will be in English.
Tteokbokki is one of Korea’s most popular street foods, but it actually has a much older history.
“If you are familiar with tteokbokki, you may easily imagine the spicy red tteokbokki ― but that’s not the dish you will be making in this class,” said the organizer. “The chef will be demonstrating how to make royal palace tteokbokki.”
Royal palace tteokbokki differs from the street food in that it is flavored with soy sauce rather than red pepper paste.
This dish is derived from one that was served to the king or the royal family.
Donkatsu (pork cutlet) is traditionally a Japanese dish, but it has been adapted into Korean cuisine.
“This dish consists of pork (sirloin or pork chop) that is flour- and-egg battered, then rolled in bread crumbs and fried,” the organizer said. “Bread crumbs give the katsu a delicious crunchy shell. The pork is pan-fried to a golden brown and is usually served with katsu sauce or BBQ sauce.”
The class is from 1:30 p.m. to 3 p.m. and costs 20,000 won to cover the expenses of the ingredients.
The center is at the Jeon Building on the 3rd Floor in Banpo, Seocho-gu, Seoul.
A reservation is required as space is limited to 12 participants. Registration can be done in person or via email to seorae@sba.seoul.kr or by calling (02)2155-8949 or (02)2155-8916.
Payment is by cash or wire transfer to Woori Bank account number 1006-301-366319.
To get there go out exit 6 of Express Bus Terminal Station and transfer to local bus (green bus) 13 (to Isu Station) and get off at Seorae Village.