Yes... I realise I'm taking forever to complete this series, but let's be honest, 10 weeks is a long time and trying to remember everything is a struggle aha!

This week is definitely one I cannot forget... I mean considering a foodie like me gets to take a cooking class which also allows me to eat- I was living aha!

During this class, we were learning how to make Korean food, otherwise known as Hansik (한식). I was extremely excited to learn about this class but on the other hand... Extremely terrified... I'm not an amazing cook at all, and it honestly didn't help that I actually knew our teacher as well.

Funny story (not really funny let's be honest): So I entered the lecture room at Westminster Kingsway College late... Well... I don't think I was ever on time to be perfectly honest... But I went to sit down. Our teacher, Chef Hyungsoo Yim, was already in position as we were all sitting down, and as Hyungi began introducing the class to our teacher, the chef noticed me from afar and was like oh, Sophia! And Hyungi was rather shocked as to how I knew him. Just to feel you guys in, I worked to serve food at the Korean Embassy dinner a couple weeks before at the Corinthia Hotel with Chef Hyungsoo being the one in charge at the time... So obviously I was thinking "Hahahaha... No pressure..."

Chef Hyungsoo first started introducing us to all the different aspects of Korean cuisine. We learnt about different mannerisms relating for food e.g. You shouldn't stab your chopsticks into your rice because it is a reminder of incense of a passing, or using chopsticks whilst using a spoon at the same time etc. We also learnt about basic components used in food, along with the side dishes which would accompany the mains. Korean is well-known for adding sides to their dishes and at most places these are offered free of charge.

Chef Hyungsoo teaching us the basics in regards to Korean food. Cr. Korean Cultural Centre UK

We then proceeded to watching Chef Hyungsoo make the sauces we would be using for our dishes later on. He also provided us with kimchi (fermented cabbage) which he made there and then. If you didn't know already, the actual cabbage takes a while to be fermented and can be fermented for years if you wanted to, but the process takes a while. Fortunately, you can do this at home.

You can see how happy we are to be watching Chef Hyungsoo demonstrate the making of Korean food. Cr. Korean Cultural Centre UK.

Fireeeeeeeee~ *Plays BTS* Cr. Korean Cultural Centre UK.

Chef Hyungsoo adding the finishing touches to his dishes. Cr. Korean Cultural Centre UK.

The two dishes that we would be making today would be the haemul pajeon (seafood pancake) as well as the dubu salad (tofu salad). Before we started making the dishes, Chef Hyungsoo gave us a demonstration on how we go should go about making the dishes. I was so happy to be able to have a chance to also try out the food for myself - Like I said, free cooked food? Who wouldn't take it to be honest-

We all lined up to have a taster of Chef Hyungsoo's creations! Cr. Korean Cultural Centre UK.

Week 5 of K-Pop Academy: K-Cuisine! We learnt how to make pajeon (seafood pancake) and dubu (tofu) salad! - For someone who isn't the best at cooking it was good having a chance to try cooking these dishes. I'm probably going to aim to try again and cook better next time 😂 #sophilicityeats

A post shared by Sophia Tang 🐼 (@sophilicity) on Oct 22, 2016 at 9:50am PDT

After having a chance to try out all the food, we moved onto the main activity of the day, cooking time! We all picked out partners (I ended up with Charley!) through picking names out of a jar, however there was an odd number of people so I ended up inviting Erica to our group. The first question was... Can you cook? And this is where everyone looks at each other in hopes that they've found a partner who can cook... Unfortunately this didn't work out so much for us ahaha...

There was a lot of pressure since we only had a set amount of time to make the seafood pancake and tofu salad, so we distributed the jobs between the 3 of us. It was indeed... An experience ahaha... Not going to lie... We ended up burning our pancake but tried to play it off by showing the nice side of the pancake and hoping no one would notice RIP.

And this is where it all began...Masterchef times aha! Cr. Korean Cultural Centre UK.

Michael showing us how the haemul pajeon should be done!~ Cr. Korean Cultural Centre UK.

Yi-Ling posing for the camera as she finishes up her pancake mix. Cr. Korean Cultural Centre UK.

We finally got to presentation times, where Chef Hyungsoo began judging our cooking skills... We thought we could get away with it, since he liked the look of our pancake... Till he checked underneath and his face of shock... I can't even describe how embarrassed I felt aha...

Final presentation of our haemul pajeon and dubu salad! Cr. Korean Cultural Centre UK.

Chef Hyungsoo judging our dishes... Cr. Korean Cultural Centre UK.

Week 5 of K-Pop Academy: K-Cuisine! We learnt how to make pajeon (seafood pancake) and dubu (tofu) salad! - For someone who isn't the best at cooking it was good having a chance to try cooking these dishes. I'm probably going to aim to try again and cook better next time 😂 #sophilicityeats

A post shared by Sophia Tang 🐼 (@sophilicity) on Oct 22, 2016 at 9:50am PDT

But after the winners were announced, we all got to eat each other's dishes, I was so happy to be eating ahaha - as per usual! The winners got free products, ranging from the chef's very own tofu, to key Korean condiments. Congratulations to the winners. especially to our first place pair, Giulia and Ethel, who were interviewed later by the staff aha!

Chef Hyungsoo's picture with the winning pair! Cr. Korean Cultural Centre UK.

The interview with Giulia and Ethel, the masterchefs of the 10th K-Pop Academy! Cr. Korean Cultural Centre UK.

The overall experience was really fun! I'm glad I had the opportunity to be able to learn to cook some Korean dishes, which I hope to attempt again in the future - Hopefully they'll be more successful this time aha... But of course, we had to take a final group picture with the one and only, Chef Hyungsoo Yim! Thank you again for opening our eyes to Korean food (Hansik) and teaching us these dishes!

The group picture of the week with Chef Hyungsoo Yim! Cr. Korean Cultural Centre UK.

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Homework of the Week!

For this week, I decided to choose the homework which allowed me to create a menu based off of Korean dishes of my choice to present. I had quite a few dishes in mind because I've eaten quite a few Korean dishes myself... But I got a bit carried away though because there was so much to choose from... Oops. Check out my final menu below:




Anyways, I hope you guys enjoyed my K-Pop Academy post for this week! I'm finally half way through this blog series (this shouldn't have taken me this long...) and I hope you guys tune into my next post! Thanks for reading~