"Kochi is my second home,” beams Hyeonju Park, who is lovingly known as ‘Mrs Park’. Her warmth and enthusiasm are infectious. One cannot help but be swayed by her pleasing charm as she hosts us at her restaurant, Mukbang, in Eroor.
“I went to Korea during the pandemic. It was so scary; I wanted to visit my family,” she says. “However, the moment I touched down in Kochi after months, I breathed in the air and released a sigh of relief. It was a feeling of homecoming,” says Mrs Park, as she gushes about her bond with the city.
The 58-year-old has been living in Kochi for 19 years. She had nothing to do with food for 18 of those years. “I was solely into the education sector,” she explains in heavily accented English. “I run a centre named Su and Park Institution Pvt Ltd. I arrange admission and accommodation for Korean students who seek to study in Kochi. My son, my nephews and nieces, all studied here. The ‘Su’ in the centre’s name is from my son’s name.”
Deepa Aruja, 44, who started off as Mrs Park’s secretary at Su and Park, is now a partner of Mukbang. Joining the conversation, she says, “We were skeptical whether an authentic Korean restaurant would work in Kochi. So we decided to set up this space on a trial basis, near our home.” Deepa and Mrs Park, along with their families, live together in Eroor. “After 18 years, of course, now we are a family,” says Mrs Park. “I am like a grandmother to Deepa’s children.” Mrs Park’s husband Jongman Park, the “unofficial chief chef ” of Mukbang, arrived in Kochi about six months ago, when the restaurant idea took shape.
“He runs a sashimi and sushi restaurant back home,” says Deepa, who manages everything, except cooking, at Mukbang. “He is the only one among us with experience in running a restaurant.” Deepa’s daughter, an 11th-grade student, chips in by handling Mukbang’s social media page. Mrs Park’s relative Simdock Nho, a retired professor, has also joined the team now. “After retirement, she was bored. So we invited her to join us,” says Mrs Park. Mrs Park’s first sojourn in India was in Bengaluru, but destiny brought her to Kochi. “I wanted my son to study in various countries. I wanted to explore India and reached Bengaluru. It was too busy a city for me. So after two months, I moved to Kochi. And that was it, I fell in love with the place,” she says. Here, Mrs Park befriended the former director of Toc H Educational Institutions, Prof P J Joseph, who passed away in 2021. “He was like a father to me. That made me feel at home,” she says.
“The city was welcoming. The air, the trees, the sea .. everything here is amazing. And, above all, I found so many loving people. So my globe-trotting ended, and I decided to s t a y h e r e with my son.” Subsequently, Mrs Park’s brother sent his children, too, to Kochi. “We felt the educational system in Korea was not great as it lacked that human touch,” she says. “Teachers are more caring here, you know, and stricter.” Mrs Park adds her centre used to handle up to 40 Korean students in Kochi in a batch. “However, after the pandemic, many families wanted their children to be at home in Korea,” she notes. “The number of students dropped to just a handful.” With business plummeting, Mrs Park contemplated returning to Busan. “But I love Kochi, and I wanted to live here,” she says.
“That’s how the idea of Mukbang came about — a Korean restaurant, with food from my home, for the people of this beautiful city.” The restaurant The small but snazzy interiors are done in white and yellow. The walls adorn photos of Koren film stars and, of course, the K-pop sensation BTS. “There is a personal autograph from BTS members here,” Mrs Park excitedly points out. “My brother is a film producer and my sister-in-law is a film editor in Korea. I got it through them.” Mrs Park’s family and some Korean artworks occupy the remaining wall space. The overall setting is a mix of everything Korea. As a few customers enter, Mrs Park greets them with “anneyong”, and proceeds to strike up a conversation. ‘Annyeonghaseyo’ is a formal greeting in Korean, akin to namaste or hello; ‘anneyong’ is the informal version, like ‘hi’. “They are our regular customers,” says Deepa.
“They come here every week.” From gimbap to bulgogi One thing that Mukbang prioritises is health, says Mrs Park as she elaborates on the menu, which provides detailed descriptions and ingredients of each dish. Prof. Nho brings out a plate of fried chicken along with a fermented rice-barley drink, shikhye. “Call me Maria. Have you seen Train To Busan? That’s where we are from,” she says, sketching a rough map to explain the location of Seoul and her coastal hometown. The shikhye has a light cream colour and is incredibly refreshing. With a mild sweetness from the barley and a tang from the fermentation, it’s zingy.
“There is no added sugar in it,” says Deepa. The chicken drumsticks are glazed with honey and have a perfect crisp-tender balance. Served on the side are kimchi, boiled baby potatoes in soy sauce, and rice crackers. Next, Mrs Park brings out the gimbap. It is made by spreading the rice on seaweed and filling it with pickles, chicken sausage, egg, spinach and prawns. It is then rolled into a cylindrical shape and sliced into circles. With a greenish outer layer, followed by white rice and a colourful centre, it is not only visually appealing but also refreshing to the palate. Next comes the pork bulgogi, which is highly recommended by everyone around. “This one is a bit spicy,” says Mrs Park. The bulgogi is a grand affair. The meat sizzles on a hot plate, accompanied by lettuce leaves, kimchi, gochujang (a fermented paste made of sticky rice, soybean, salt, and chilli), slices of Korean green chilli, raw garlic, and sticky rice.
Mrs Park teaches me how to properly assemble a bite. “Take a lettuce leaf, add a generous amount of meat, and don’t be stingy. Add a piece of chilli, garlic, rice, and a smear of gochujang. You can also add kimchi if you like. Wrap it up and finish it in one bite,” she says, feeding me a large wrap. Every ingredient shines from the word go. The kick from gochujang and chilli, the burst of raw garlic, the savoury pork, the rice, and everything perfectly balanced by the fresh lettuce. It is an explosion of flavours in a single bite. Other popular picks at Mukbang include the spicy tteokbokki (rice cakes in spicy broth), the Yangnyeom chicken (spicy-sweet boneless fried chicken), bibimbap (boiled Korean rice topped with a variety of vegetables, meat, egg, and gochujang), and various noodle combos. There is something for everyone. Vegetarian variants of most dishes, too, are available. Deepa dispels a common misconception that Korean food is excessively spicy. She explains that most dishes are actually quite mild.
“Some dishes can be made spicy if customers request it,” she says. Mrs Park interjects, “The staple ingredients of Korean cuisine are the four essentials — gochujang, kimchi (a side dish similar to achar), doenjang (a fermented bean paste made from soybeans and brine), and ganjang (soy sauce).” She adds it takes a week to prepare the famous kimchi in Kochi, thanks to the hot and humid weather here. “Doenjang needs at least three months to fully ferment,” she continues. “I prefer not to buy packaged ones as they often contain unwanted chemicals.” In Eroor, the big ‘family’ prepares all the ingredients together. “Soon, we will be selling them,” Mrs Park informs.
“A brand of healthy Korean staples.” The friends now have plans to open another branch of the restaurant in the heart of the city. “Eroor is a tranquil place, perfect for relishing Korean food. But we also want to have a presence in the city for the convenience of our customers,” Mrs Park. As we prepare to leave, Mrs Park says she might someday open a Kerala cuisine restaurant in Korea, too. “Yes, I love Kerala food,” she says. “Nothing can beat the sadya and the sambar!”