New Delhi: Kimchi in chicken kathi rolls, Korean seasoning in parathas — the kitchen of a 30-year-old Korean chef is a place for gastronomic adventure where borders fade and flavours mingle. A seemingly ordinary kitchen in South Delhi, it is here that Kim Jiyeol often brainstorms to create his next Indian-Korean fusion dish.
Kim’s passion for blending diverse flavours and knack for creating unique fusion dishes has captured the hearts and palates of both Koreans and Indians. He shares his culinary explorations and fusion creations with nearly one lakh followers on Instagram, on his account @cook_oranji. Occasionally, he offers a peek into his everyday life in India — eating street food, buying vegetables, getting a haircut at local barber’s shop or conversing with autowallas. Kim’s journey is a testament not only to the unifying nature of food but also to the culinary harmony he creates on his plate — just another leaf in the integration of Korean culture in India.
Having previously worked in Germany and Australia, Kim’s arrival in India was a stroke of fate. His desire to work at an embassy landed him in Delhi in 2019. And in 2022, his love affair with Indian cuisine took off. “I was very curious about India, and wanted to experience the real Indian life,” he told ThePrint over email. He has expertly created new dishes such as momo guk, chicken tikka kimbap, and buldak maggi by amalgamating Korean and Indian flavours.
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Why Indians love K-food
Kim has an answer to a question that many in India are asking today: What do Indians like about Korean food?
In his four years in India, Kim has discovered a shared affinity for certain foods among Indians and Koreans. “Whether it’s chicken curry, dal, or mutton curry, both Indian and Korean foods are known for being spicy. Indians enjoy spicy food, and so do Koreans. Also, both cuisines place importance on gravy,” he says.
Kim also observes that Indians relish pickles as an accompaniment to their curries, “which is similar to Koreans eating kimchi with their meals”. An avid traveller, Kim also noted that Indian preferences for Korean food vary based on gender.
“It seems men do not enjoy Korean food because they find it too spicy, while women actively seek out Korean cuisine. The reason might be the desire to eat what K-pop stars are eating,” he says. Interestingly, Kim says he had no idea about the popularity of Korean pop music in India before arriving here.
The most popular Korean dishes in India are dakgalbi, bibimbap, tteokbokki, kimchi, and ramen with a preference for slightly spicy flavours.
“At our embassy, we mainly serve high-end Korean cuisine. It seems that people also appreciate being introduced to the elegance and flavours of Korean traditional dishes, which have a rich history,” he says.
While Kim has embraced the fusion of Korean and Indian flavours, he has also developed a taste for Indian food. “I generally enjoy vegetarian Indian food,” he says, and names some of his favourite dishes: dosa, kulcha, chole bhature, and palak paneer.
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Korean ingredients, Indian perspective
Kim draws parallels between a Korean dish called dakbokkeumtang and the Indian chicken curry. And just the way Koreans enjoy adding rice cakes to their dishes, he wanted to introduce it for Indians too. Initially, he thought of incorporating dakbokkeumtang into chicken curry but later changed the base to palak paneer. That’s how he created his first fusion dish called palak tteokbokki in 2022. And the dish earned him rave reviews. “Both Koreans and Indians really enjoyed its taste,” he says.
Kim then started experimenting with fusion dishes while balancing his full-time job as a chef at the Embassy of South Korea. And his list of fusion dishes is only growing. After palak tteokbokki came chicken tikka kimbap, kimchi chilli, and kimchi paratha. The chef has developed a total of seven Indian-Korean fusion dishes so far.
Although he tries making new dishes more frequently, his full-time job limits the possibility. He can make and record them only once or twice a week.
Kim consults his Indian colleagues from the embassy before incorporating Korean elements into Indian cuisine.
“When I ask my Indian colleagues for opinions on what kind of food would be good, I usually lean toward adding Korean ingredients to the menu from an Indian perspective,” Kim explains.
Each of Kim’s fusion dishes is a carefully thought-out creation that seeks not just to indulge in culinary crossovers but also to stay true to the harmony of flavours. Yet, the attempt has its own hurdles.
“It’s difficult to obtain Korean ingredients since I have to go all the way to Gurugram to find a Korean market,” he remarks.
Culinary innovator, Instagram star
Kim’s popularity skyrocketed when he started sharing his fusion dishes on Instagram. He combined his cooking prowess with a Hindi voiceover to reach a wider audience — his follower count hit 1,00,000 in just two months from 20,000. While it has now slightly dipped, his Reels displaying his culinary skills have made him a popular face among Korean creators focused on India-related content.
Some of his fusion dishes have become his personal favourites. One is kimchi paratha.
“In Korea, there is a dish called kimchijeon, which is similar to a paratha. I thought it would be really delicious to put kimchi inside. When I asked Indians about the most famous Korean dish, they always knew about kimchi. So, I tried making it by putting kimchi in paratha, and the video received around 4 lakh views,” Kim says.
The secret to his success, he says, is consistency.
“When I first started [my account on] Instagram, I would finish work at 6 pm, exercise, and then create and edit videos every day before going to bed,” he recounts.
He devoted countless hours to video editing, studying, and experimenting to improve his content. The hard work paid off.
Life in India
Kim says he was “a little worried” before coming to India. And starting life as an expat comes with its fair share of challenges, mainly due to language barriers.
“The internet said English is often used in India, so I felt relieved. However, when I arrived, I encountered many interesting episodes, such as auto-rickshaw rides and buying things from street vendors where most people speak Hindi,” he says.
There have been times when autowallas charged him Rs 300 for a ride but revised the fare to Rs 100 the moment he spoke in Hindi.
The scarcity of Korean ingredients also posed difficulties. India was a stark contrast to Korea in terms of food. In the latter, diverse meats and seafood is the norm, whereas in the former, those options are limited. And Kim says he “occasionally missed them”. The most difficult experience was living through the pandemic when he “couldn’t go outside, couldn’t buy food, and couldn’t even buy alcohol.”
Kim says he found solace in the kindness and warmth of Indians, whom he described as someone “always willing to assist foreigners”.
Nonetheless, some challenges can’t be won even with a lot of help – like the scorching hot Delhi weather. During summers, “I remember showering in sweat whenever I went outside,” he says.
(Edited by Humra Laeeq)