HERE'S THE BEEF

South Korea's Hanwoo beef and Jeju pork have arrived in Singapore, and local restaurants are putting the red meat on their menus

- Tan Hsueh Yun Senior Correspondent

Prized for being both marbled and flavourful, South Korea’s Hanwoo beef is now allowed for import into Singapore. So is its Jeju pork, known for its tenderness and springy fat.

Food importers in Singapore have been busy stocking supplies and restaurants have already snapped up the first batches. Home cooks will soon be able to buy the meat at independent butcheries, in some supermarkets and on RedMart.

The supply of beef and pork from South Korea comes after both countries upgraded bilateral ties to a strategic partnership in November, on the back of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Gyeongju.

Aside from agreeing to work more closely on trade, sustainability and defence technology, there was also an accord to allow beef and pork from Jeju.

In May, the island in the Korea Strait was recognised by the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) as a zone free of foot-and-mouth disease without vaccination. According to the organisation, the highly contagious disease affects livestock, including cattle, pigs and goats.

These developments gave hope to the Singapore entrepreneurs who had been trying to bring in the beef and pork they had enjoyed on trips to South Korea.

Work to bring in Hanwoo beef and Jeju pork began years ago for Culina, a purveyor of gourmet food. It supplies restaurants and hotels, has a retail store in Dempsey Road and runs butcher counters in FairPrice supermarkets.

Ms Leelyne Yeo, 57, Culina’s general manager, says the idea came in 2018, when the company started partnering SoGoodK, which brings in South Korean food products, to import strawberries, as well as Hallabong and Red Hyang mandarins.

On multiple trips to South Korea, she got excited by the agricultural produce there.