Traditional Korean chef Seung Eun Lee gave a cooking session at the Korean Cultural Centre in Dokki on Thursday.

Lee gives a food session at the KCC (Photo by Reham El-Adawi)

Lee spent two weeks in Egypt, upon the invitation of the private cook of the Korean Embassy, to give a series of sessions on traditional Korean cuisine aiming at spreading the Korean food culture in Egypt.

“I have never travelled too far from Korea, so this is my first time in Egypt and I was thrilled to visit the Great Pyramids and tour the historical district of Khan Al-Khalili in Old Cairo where I was warmly welcomed and nicely treated by all people there,” Lee explained.

During the session, she cooked two Korean traditional dishes based on vegetables and steamed rice, and explained its health benefits to the participants at the session.

When asked if she liked Egyptian food, Lee answered that she had found koshari and liver sandwiches very tasty and that she would love to learn in the future how to make the traditional food that Egyptians make in their homes.

She said that what distinguishes traditional Korean food is that most of it has to be first fermented for a long time before use, and there is a lot of pickled cabbage, soy sauce and red pepper paste.

“The traditional Korean food is much healthier than the food these days which is based on too much meat and chicken, and generally speaking we don’t use sugar at all in Korean cuisine,” she added.

Lee is also specialised in cooking food served in Korean palaces which is totally different from the food eaten by the majority of Koreans at their homes.

She concluded her talk by saying that she is planning to promote Korean food culture through a YouTube channel, and that she is in the process of compiling a book about traditional Korean cuisine.