The seaside holds a special meaning for Chef Louis Han. Growing up in Seoul, he would dream each summer of escaping from the city – to the beach with friends for a sun-kissed vacation.
As the ride to the East Sea coast took hours on the road, conversation always turned to the things people who had their entire lives ahead of them would talk about. NAEːUM’s third episodic menu, ‘Seaside Dreams’, took shape from these memories.
There were further inspirations: Chef Louis noticed that people at the beach were always more relaxed and serene, lulled it seemed by the tranquillity of the waves. And on a recent visit home to Korea, chef and his wife took a road trip to an ocean-view villa and sampled the local delicacies at the market.
Episode 3, ‘Seaside Dreams’, explores the food that Koreans eat at coastal towns, and celebrates these flavours with nostalgia and a reflective calm. This delightful 6-course tasting menu at $188++ and three supplementary signature dishes will be offered at NAE:UM until the end of summer 2022.
At the core of ‘Seaside Dreams’ is Chef Louis’s defining approach that combines his native roots in Seoul with a global sensibility; forging a contemporary menu that is innovative yet familiar, and flavours that are nuanced and layered, new and coherent.
Opening the meal is a snack collection that recalls summer days on the beach, consisting of ‘Honghab’, soju-simmered black mussel wrapped with Korean seaweed perched on fresh yuzu ‘chung’ curd, atop a squid ink sago chip; ‘Songeo’, cured ocean trout with apple caviar and citrus jelly in a filo pastry tart; ‘Saewoo Kkang’, deep-fried baby shrimp coated with kimchi and vinegar powder, inspired by the most popular Korean crispy prawn snack; and ‘Aljjim’, steamed egg with cured ikura.
‘Beoumuri’ is the mixing of ingredients together with a marinade to form a dish. The cold dish, ‘Greens Beoumuri’, features a premium and nutrient-rich Korean green seaweed called ‘gamtae’. A hand-harvested and -pressed sheet of this coastal delicacy is laid in the middle of a steamed scallop, and then smoked with oakwood.
The succulent scallop is wrapped with lettuce, and partnered with a beoumuri of blanched greens lightly dressed in a fermented bean and mirin dressing. The mix includes asparagus, green peas, snow peas, and Korean soft tofu, all finished with creamy and savoury soybean sauce and chive oil. The idea of adding tofu and soybean sauce to the recipe was born of Chef Louis’s visits to the East Sea and its nearby and famous tofu village.
‘Gui’ refers to the technique of grilling or pan-searing, showcased in this eponymous course inspired by the many ‘gui’ restaurants on the coast serving the freshest catch of the day. Seasonal fish is complemented by confit leek, bincho-grilled green vegetables including ‘nanohana’ – a spring ingredient when in season – and parsnip purée. The dish is finished with a sweet ’jorim sauce’, which has a profile combination of pan-seared and braised flavours; it is a blend of soy, vinegar, garlic, spring onion, chilli, shallots, and ginger, often used for braising fish.
‘Samhab’, literally ‘three tastes’, is a typical Korean eating tradition where three ingredients are consumed at the same time: kimchi, seafood, and a land protein. Although now a mainstream food, ‘samhab’ is most commonly practised in coastal towns in Korea, because of the bounty of seafood available. In his interpretation, Chef Louis highlights Ibérico pluma and Spanish octopus. The former is brined then bincho-grilled with ‘galbi’ sauce, while the latter is braised then bincho-grilled with a gochujang sauce. The whole is served alongside a mille feuille of house-made white kimchi and potato, as well as celeriac purée and kale.
Dessert takes the form of ‘Subak’, which means watermelon, bearing a cherished memory of Chef Louis sharing this fruit with his friends at the seaside to cool down in summer. A quenelle of refreshing watermelon sorbet made with watermelon purée and pomegranate vinegar is balanced with the lusciousness of a fromage blanc cream, pickled watermelon, fresh pomegranate, a meringue chip, olive oil snow, and pine nut crumbs.
To further enrich the experience, Chef Louis presents three signatures from previous episodes as supplementary dishes. Making a perfect addition to the snacks.
At meal’s end, instead of Western-style petit fours, diners are treated to Korean ‘dagwa’ or ‘tea and snacks’ comprising the well-loved grilled ‘Jeongpyeon’ fermented rice cake and the new ‘Jooak’, a traditional Korean glutinous rice doughnut coated with citrus syrup. These are enjoyed with sips of ‘Sujungwa’, NAE:UM’s rendition of a healthy, traditional Korean digestif spiced with ginger and cinnamon, with the inclusion of kombucha and fermented rice foam for the modern palate.
Savouring these beautiful sea-blessed flavours, the diner can almost feel the salt on his cheek and the waves at his feet. With this third episode, Chef Louis Han has transformed seaside dreams into palpable culinary reality.
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