Authentic jjajangmyeon and tangsuyuk cooked by a local Korean at Bukit Merah kopitiam

Growing up, I solely had the chance to savour Korean meals on particular events at eating places. Over the years, I’ve seen a rising pattern of coffeeshops providing distinctive delicacies other than our native delights. An ideal instance is Jeong’s Jjajang, who planted their roots at a kopitiam positioned at Bukit Merah Central on 2 Jun 2022.

The kitchen is helmed by Mr Jeong Jun Seong, who’s a local Korean man from Daegu. Before opening up his meals stall, Mr Jeong was cooking in a cloud kitchen idea in May 2021, primarily specializing in deliveries and takeaways.

As I arrived at Jeong’s Jjajang near midday with my eating companions, they had been busy getting ready for the upcoming lunch crowd. The noodles for the jjajangmyeon and jjampong are made by hand each two days by Mr Jeong himself. The handmade dough reworked into a number of golden strands of noodles proper in entrance of my eyes. The noodles are solely cooked on the spot when orders are available in.

What I attempted at Jeong’s Jjajang

I used to be excited to strive one in all their signature dishes, Jjajangmyeon (S$8). It got here in a easy bowl which consisted of a mattress of handmade noodles, a pile of chunjang (black bean) paste sprinkled with sesame seeds, and shreds of cucumber.

The chunjang paste had a mixture of meat and onion chunks as I started to toss the noodles with the Korean steel chopsticks, which I used to be fumbling with (I’m so dangerous at utilizing Korean chopsticks). The golden yellow noodles steadily became a caramelised shade of brown because the sauce started coating them. 

First impressions, I used to be blown away by the feel of the noodles, which had been chewy and had a pleasant chew. The sweetness from the onions complemented the richness of the meat chunks.

The nutty notes from the sesame seeds and the crunchiness of the cucumber shreds added additional depth to the bowl of Jjajangmyeon. I’ve tried a well-known jjajangmyeon in Tanjong Pagar just lately with one in all my eating companions current right now, and each of us agreed that Jeong’s Jjajang’s model beats them arms down!

The subsequent dish we tried was Tangsuyuk (S$12), which is the Korean model of our native candy and bitter pork. Pieces of battered fried pork had been piled up on a plate whereas the sauce was served individually.

My different eating associate, Rekha, shared with me that Koreans eat this explicit dish in two methods. The first technique is to dip the meat within the sauce whereas the opposite method is to drizzle the sauce everywhere in the meat. I made a decision to check out each strategies.

I used my chopsticks to extract out a bit juice from the lemon slice and proceeded to dunk the fried pork chunks into the sauce. I may style candy hints of honey, which was balanced with the slight sourness coming from the lemon. The meat was tender and had no sturdy gamey style. I used to be pleasantly shocked that the batter nonetheless remained crispy despite the fact that it wasn’t as scorching as when it first arrived.

I drizzled the sauce everywhere in the pork chunks, and immediately the entire dish seemed much more interesting. The battered pork felt extra moist, and the candy and bitter flavours of the sauce grew to become extra strong utilizing this technique.

We moved on to their Seafood Pancake (S$10), and the very first thing I observed was that the perimeters had been extra charred compared to different ones I attempted at different Korean institutions— it appeared extra pleasant this manner! It had items of clams and sotong along with slices of spring onion.

The charred bits of the pancake offered a satisfying crunch and smoky style to the pancake. The seafood wasn’t overcooked, and I beloved the marginally browned bits of the spring onions which enhanced the general style of the pancake.

The final dish I had was Jjampong Rice (S$11). Typically jjampong is a Korean dish served with noodles however I’m glad that Jeong’s Jjajang had a rice possibility as nicely. For those that have a poor tolerance for spicy meals, they even provide Baekjjampong Rice (S$11) which is a non-spicy model.

The Jjampong Rice got here in a standard Korean steel bowl with a lid for the rice, and a bowl containing a fiery-looking broth which had black mussels, sotong, prawns, onion slices, mushrooms, cabbage, carrots and leek in it.

I recalled a scene in a Korean present that I watched years in the past, the place the actor poured his rice into the soup— I did the identical factor. For locals like us, we’re so accustomed to pouring our soups over the rice. It’s fascinating to know the variations in consuming habits throughout totally different nations.

The rice was barely chewy in texture and the spiciness got here to me virtually instantly with an influence. I discovered that Jeong’s Jjajang makes use of Japanese short-grain rice, which in some way managed to take in the spicy broth higher than common rice does.

The flavourful broth was satisfying with sturdy hints of Korean Chilli powder, which paired very well with the contemporary seafood, candy onions and smokey mushroom slices— nice for a chilly, wet day.

Final ideas

With such genuine Korean fare out there at a coffeeshop, we now not have to patronise a restaurant simply to fulfill our Korean meals cravings. For residents of Bukit Merah and people working close by, Jeong’s Jjajang is at the moment operating a Weekday Lunch Promotion (Mondays to Fridays solely, 11.30am – 2.30pm), the place you may order a mix of two dishes, like Jjamjjamyeon and Tangsuyuk for S$19.90 as an alternative of S$22.

Pay a go to to Jeong’s Jjajang and get a style of Korea with out having to buy an air ticket.

Expected injury: S$8 – S$20 per pax

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