This time our Korean Food Fan is Ikhlaas Pokun, from Mauritius! It’s really hard for him to find Korean ingredients there, so he has to be super-resourceful to make Korean food. Read on, and let’s see how he does it!

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What is your name and where do you live?
Hey everyone, I’m Pokun Ikhlaas. I’m 19 and currently living on the island of Mauritius in the Indian Ocean.

Tell me about the first time you ever tasted Korean food. Where were you, and what did you eat?
I didn’t know anything about Korean culture until I found I could watch KBS World on TV by I don’t know what miracle, since I wasn’t supposed to be having this Korean channel and nobody else in Mauritius knows about it. I started watching korean variety shows and as you know, food and culture are closely related. I learned about how Koreans love kimchi, jjajangmyeon, ddeokbokki, etc…

Black beans are available here but Mauritians do not cook them well. I googled “Black Bean Noodles” and there you appeared! Unfortunately, chunjang and gochujang are not available anywhere here. So, I tried making chunjang using fermented black beans. I then made jjajangmyeon; that was the first korean dish I made. The chunjang I made wasn’t that tasty but I tried again and it turned out much better and so delicious. The jjajangmyeon I then made from it was awesome.

How often do you cook Korean food following my recipes?
I cook Korean food following only your recipes. Now that I make tongbaechu kimchi and know more about the ingredients, I eat Korean at least twice a week.

What are your favorite Korean dishes? Choose 3, please!
First is Bokkeumbap with mixed vegetables and Kimchi.
Second is bibimbap, I really like squid bibimbap.
Third is jjajangmyeon.

What’s your best Korean dish, the one that everybody compliments you on when you make it?
My family does not really fancy Korean food much but when I make hotteok, it’s always a huge success. They love it. The fluffy texture is addictive. That’s what I make most often since my parents love eating hotteok after coming home from work and enjoy drinking a cup of green tea with the hoddeok.
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That’s rice cake soup I made and ate with kimchi. Awesome!

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Tongbaechu kimchi; there’s nothing more ‘korean’ than 김치!

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Hoddeok that my family loves.

3 Comments:

  1. hello,am from mauritius too… wow..daebuk… i never knew i`d meet someone who likes korean food here…. nice to meet you… want to try cooking too… that`s true ingredients sre not available…. can you give me tips… by the way am muslim.and do not eat apicy food….so it is hard….

  2. Yumiely Minnesota joined 1/15 & has 1 comment

    It is super awesome to see you interested in Korean cooking. What was it about Korean culture you saw on KBS that drew you to try Korean food?

  3. annabanana Vancouver, Canada joined 2/09 & has 68 comments

    Holy moly, the TV gods picking you for KBS World=) Recipe for chunjang, please!

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