LOVE LETTER TO KOREAN COOKING

A Korean-born Kiwi cook is bringing the flavours and textures of his native cuisine to Auckland diners in a way they have never experienced before.

Jason Kim’s love of cooking started young. At 13, his family emigrated to New Zealand from South Korea. “My family opened a small Korean restaurant in Birkenhead and ever since then the kitchen has been a huge part of my life,” he says.

Kim went from cleaning dishes and slicing 20kg bags of onions to sharpening his cooking skills at the Auckland University of Technology. He went on to chef at Auckland’s Jervois Steakhouse, Euro, The Grove and Sid Sahrawat’s iconic Sidart, where he was head chef. In 2017, he was named a San Pellegrino Young Chef semifinalist.

It’s these experiences, he says, that have taught him how to approach ingredients in different ways, to push his creativity and embrace the unknown. “Learn from your failures, which is how you succeed,” he says. “Do your everything to leave your customer excited and satisfied.”

His new Commercial Bay restaurant, Gochu, is a passion project with restaurateurs Nathan Lord, Oliver Simon and David Lee. “Gochu is a modern Korean restaurant, the style of which New Zealand has not seen before,” says Kim.

Testing and tweaking to the last minute, Kim has created a menu that’s a love letter to his grandmother’s kitchen. “My grandmother was a great cook and a massive inspiration to me,” he says. “The way she could elevate even the most simple things, such as rice, is something I’d love to introduce to customers at Gochu.”

Dishes such as the milk bun with Korean chilli pork bring an air of nostalgia to the menu, while the kombu-marinated kingfish with apple mul hwe sees Kim flex his creative muscle while celebrating his culinary heritage.

For Kim, Gochu is as much about honoring his roots as it is about raising the profile of Korean food in New Zealand. “Korean food hasn’t made its mark on Auckland in the same way that Japanese or regional Chinese has. I want to introduce the flavours and textures of Korean food, but using the best ingredients New Zealand has to offer. I want people to know that Korean food is more than barbecue and kimchi. There’s a whole world to it.” commercialbay.co.nz/dine/gochu

Look out for injeolmi bingsu on the menu. It’s Korean milk ice sorbet. Gochu joins numerous other restaurants, bars and eateries at Auckland’s Commercial Bay, ‘the largest concentration of high-quality retail, food and beverage in the city’.