Chef Sang-Hoon
Chef extraordinaire Of Korean and Belgian heritage, this award-winning chef is famed for his unique brand of molecular gastronomy. Recently a guest of Singapore’s The White Rabbit for the World Gourmet Summit 2014, Chef Sang-Hoon thoroughly enjoyed cooking in the city he calls “the door between East and West” and seeing the influence of Asian flavours in Western cuisine. “I believes Asian cuisine offers very powerful and fragrant flavours,” he says.
Inspiration His huge farm and garden in Belgium. The herbs, vegetables, and flowers he grows himself are delivered fresh to the kitchen. “My region offers me so many treasures and possibilities, and my innovation comes in when I use the simplest, common ingredients,” he reveals.
Secret ingredient Chef Sang-Hoon is not only a great chef but also one of the best sommeliers in Belgium, so it’s no surprise that he thinks about the pairing of food and wine even before the cooking process begins. “Choose the wine first and pair the dish accordingly, as a dish can be modified and wine can’t.”
Signature dish “I have a recipe that combines Korean and Belgian cuisine – ravioli with snails and ssamjang brown butter. Ravioli is typically a European dish, and snails are an emblem of my area. Ssamjang is quintessentially Korean and gives a wonderful spicy taste and flavour to this preparation, while the brown butter adds richness and smoothes everything together. It tastes like a nice surprise in your mouth!”
L’Air du Temps, Rue de la Croix Monet, Éghezée, Namur, Belgium. Tel: +32 81 81 30 48. www.airdutemps.be
