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One of the more popular destinations nowadays are northeastern Asian countries like Japan and Korea. With the Corona Virus hopefully contained, air travel should be getting back to its normal, frantic pace. With the popularity of South Korean culture in recent years being bolstered by the Oscar wins of the movie Parasite, Seoul may just be where a lot of Filipinos will be this summer.

Speaking of Parasite, I think the Oscars they got were well deserved with the mix of comedy, drama, tragedy and thrills, all exquisitely shot and told by Director Bong Joon-Ho. Parasite definitely made South Korea beam with pride. Speaking of awards, if there was a best food scene award in the Oscars, Parasite might have gotten that too. In the movie, there was a scene where the star was a seemingly simple dish—instant noodles, which actually made a statement with the addition of premium Korean beef. The Ram-Don Steak had Hanu Beef, Korea’s premium beef, comparable to Wagyu. In a movie that cast light on the opposite ends of economic classes in Korea, this scene drove the point home. By adding expensive beef to cheap, everyday food (instant noodles), the class divide was perfectly demonstrated. For us foodies, that scene meant a search for where to buy the noodles and premium beef featured in the movie. I’ll let you know in the next issue how my Ram-Don experiment goes.

After Parasite, it was all-Korean for me and my wife Gel. Crash Landing on You and Something in the Rain are two Korean dramas we’re currently binge-watching. So I guess it may take a while before I get over my K-fever. We might even see each other in Seoul. Annyeong!

COOK MAGAZINE Magazine Description:

Being the oldest monthly culinary magazine in the Philippines, Cook Magazine continues to evolve and adapt to the interests and demands of our readers and supporters. We at Cook Magazine pride ourselves with providing our readers and advertisers practical, kitchen-tested recipes from our country’s top chefs and food experts, local and international dining destinations and food-related features and event partnerships. We look forward to leading the way in sharing our love of food for years to come.