Chua Lam, referred to as ‘Hong Kong’s God of Cookery’ and a world famous food critic, paid a visit to Seoul in June, 2011. Chua Lam, who is a fan of Korean food, has written over 100 books on cooking. While here, he visited a Korean restaurant and, after tasting various Korean dishes including samgyetang, galbijim and traditional medicinal foods, gave a speech at the Korea Tourism Organization on the tastes of Korean cuisine.

He says. “Galbijim, seafood dishes, bibimbab and mul-naengmyeon (buckwheat noodles, similar to Japanese ‘soba’, in chilled broth) and Korean street snacks can be popular with Chinese visitors to Korea.“

“One of my favorites is bulgogi. When it’s being cooked the meat juices gather around the edge of the grill and it’s so delicious scooped up and mixed with rice. For a while now I’ve also been enjoying makgeolli, a Korean rice wine delicacy with a long history, which I think is the best alcoholic beverage, because this fermented drink is easy to digest and nutritious. Some other Korean delights that are difficult to find anywhere else are Korean wild eel and sea eel and, for a regional experience, Jeju abalone and Busan pufferfish.”