As students living in Korea, it feels incomplete not to have tried cooking Korean food by ourselves. Here, we share interesting stories about our experiences as K-Food chefs and discuss our culinary skills. The plate is yours!

Malavanh Phounseneouan, 2022 MPP / LaoDPR

My name is Malavanh Phounseneouan, and I am an MPP Fall 2022 student from Laos. I fell in love with Korean food before coming to Korea. My favorite Korean dish is Kimchi because I enjoy spicy food, and it can help improve the balance of gut bacteria. So, I can eat it every day. I also enjoy savoring bulgogi and noodles. Sometimes, I cook it in the dormitory kitchen, and my friends often say, "Korean Noodles Soup again!" Yes, it’s me. I like spicy and soupy dishes, which makes it easy for me to adapt to Korean cuisine. Korean food is easy for me to enjoy and cook because its flavors are similar to the food h my country- sour and spicy, and it’s not too difficult to prepare. I had the opportunity to join a field trip where we visited The Traditional Culture Experience Temple. During the visit, my friends and I cooked Japchae, a traditional temple cuisine. It was a new experience for me to cook Korean dishes, and they appreciated my cooking, which I hope didn't differ too much from the original Japchae. If I have the chance to join a Korean food cooking contest, I would like to try. Last year, I had the opportunity to be part of the cooking team at the International Food Festival. There were numerous delicious dishes from various parts of the world and many entertaining activities. KDIS holds this event every year, you can try many foods from around the world, and of course, they also have Korean food, so please join this mouth-wateringly fantastic event!

Puguh Prastyoutomo, 2023 MPP / Indonesia

For me, as a foreigner who came to Korea for the first time and is now living here, adapting to the culture and especially the food has been a new challenge. While there are many Korean restaurants and branches of Korean food retailers in Indonesia, I only knew about dishes like kimbap and kimchi. After moving into the dormitory, I made an effort to get used to kimchi, which is a staple in every Korean meal. At this point, I have grown to love Korean food. The kitchen has become my place to cook, especially Korean dishes. I not only want to taste a variety of Korean foods but also thoroughly enjoy Learning how to cook Korean cuisine. 

I can now cook dishes like kimchi, jajangmyeon, bulgogi, tteokbokki, ramyeon, and other Korean foods in the dormitory kitchen. That's why I decided to join the KDIS K-Food Club to improve my cooking skills for Korean dishes and to understand the right ingredients. This way, when I return to Indonesia, I can bring this skill back home and cook Korean dishes in my own kitchen. For me, Korean food is not just about what I eat; it’s also about knowing how to cook it with the right ingredients, a form of diplomacy that I can apply in my own country.