http://www.maangchi.com/talk/ Talk about Korean food, recipes, restaurants, and cooking en Wed, 22 May 2013 13:56:15 +0000 http://www.maangchi.com/talk/topic/how-do-i-inspire-myself-in-korean-cooking#post-5721 Fri, 18 Nov 2011 17:25:24 +0000 chef Benedict 5721@http://www.maangchi.com/talk/ <p>Hi, my name is Benedict Baladad. I'm a chef from the Philippines and also comes from a good family. I love Korean food because of my Korean friends in the gym and my previous schoolmates during my high school days. And also i went to Korea during springtime of 2011. I am a chef graduated in a culinary school here in the Philippines, and has a small catering business for small parties only. I started my passion on cooking when I was young and I got to learn a lot of cuisines by watching cooking shows and reading cookbooks. I love to travel and explore places around the world. My past time is cooking, painting and arts, and of course going in a group exercise classes (such as body combat and spinning classes) in the gym everyday where i gain my Korean friends (names: Susan Cha, Rose Lee and Sue Oh) who are already full time mothers and also loves group exercise classes. Also where i got introduced to Korean cuisine by them and kept asking them what Maangchi is cooking all about and asking them what i ate and what i see and being more curious about Korean food. Also by reading cookbooks. Before, I got also my inspiration and curiosity about Korean food also because I ride an airline "Korean Air" where i first tasted "Bibimbap" (rice with beef and vegetables) on my first ride and also when I go to Korea just this year where I also ate more of this and learned more all about Korean food where i just tasted those dishes like Kalbi, Bulgogi, Dakgalbi, Sollongtang, Korean Hotpots, as their specialty. Tteokpokki and Hoddeok as their street food and and more. And I already tasted it on some Korean restaurants here in Manila, and there is also some Korean grocery stores where i got inspired. One day, my best friend named Eden who is a mother of 4, brought me in an International Family Fun Day at an International School here in Manila. In an international food sampling, where i took something in a Korean booth where a mother gave me a lot of "Yangnyeom Tongdak" which becomes one of my favorite Korean dish which i cooked for my mother's birthday. Every Friday sometimes in the gym, my Korean friends "Susan and Rose" brought something to eat for all of us like once Rose brought "Kimbap" for us to eat to have energy for our group exercise routine, and Susan also brought "Chap Chae" and it was really good, and the other Fridays they brought "Hobakjuk" and "Songpyeon"! It was my birthday and my Rose gave me "Injeolmi" which is a very sticky rice cake. That is all for now, where I really appreciated Korean cooking very well. I also noticed that every Korean people eat Kimchi as their side dishes which is called banchan. When I watched Maangchi's video once then i already watch all of her video recipes over and over again. Watching it so many times until I got impressed by her funny attitude. It was a pleasure when i met her on the gapshida project when she visited Manila once. </p>