Chocolate Croissant For a society whose staple food is rice, the consumption of bread has grown exponentially in the last 25 years. The leading bakery corporation, the SPC group has seen their Paris Baguette franchises grow from 3 in 1988 to 1400 in 2005 to 3316 in 2015 (Hankyung News 2015). The per person consumption of flour foods has dramatically increased from 11.5 kg per person per year in 1965 to 33.7 kg per person per year in 2015 (avg. 32.8 kg). While in the past flour was mainly used for noodles, batters and dumplings; these days bread and pastries have become increasingly popular. In 2015-2016, it has been all about the full-fat, cream filled breads. This started from the “kopan” bread which is a red bean and cream filled sweet roll. This style of rich cream has since moved to choux, donuts and rolled cakes. Koreans tend to like more of a less-sweet, milk-taste cream but currently green tea flavor has come back into fad. Also, the cream craze has since grown to includ...

Avocado Toast in Korea So trying to predict the next new food trend is like trying to figure out what the next world-hit, k-pop song is going to be. It seems impossible...sorta because there are certain variables that should be considered. Avocados are like mangosteens are like limes are like dragonfruit, blueberries, aged beef, dry red wine, IPAs, coffee beans and bananas. They start out as new things that many Koreans don't know much about but will buy based on value and appearances. They are thought to be exotic, premium and healthy. So many foods become food hits each year such as quinoa, teff, fava beans, black garlic, etc. Each item becomes a craze and then is incorporated into different foods to add value such as adding green tea to pork belly, moon pies, seaweed, ice cream, shaved ice and much more. Then the food fad is gone because the food was not really understood for what it was. For example, let's look at avocados and mangosteens. The outside shell makes i...

Strawberry. Again. Koreans love strawberries and so it would make sense that it would revert back to a "safe" flavor. Last season it was green tea (which is a perpetual hit). Before that it was banana. Then it was honey and honey butter everything. Recently tiramisu was a popular hit and they made the popular "tiramisu kiss" dessert which was a bridge dessert with soft serve ice cream and espresso. These days coconut mills, shakes and coffees are becoming popular. What will come next? Well because of the large influx of cheap mangos, I think something mango flavored will get big. It has the essential elements that Koreans look for: exotic, healthy and valuable. Sadly, avocados and mangosteens could not make it in Korea but I think it was because of a lack of education rather than the flavor. It's always a changing market here and it is always exciting to see what takes off. Dan

There was a long line of people (I would say about 15 deep) of people waiting for this treat in a cup. It looks good and if it trends, you'll soon find copycat versions of it all over Korea. Let's see if this will be the hit dessert this summer. Dan

Bruworks Coffee: Photo Credit Bruworks Here is my most recent article for Host Milano event about the recent trends in Korean food. Read it here http://host.fieramilano.it/en/after-mers-korean-food-scene-heats The MERS incident has not been kind to Korea. It has affected the tourism industry which has experienced more than 100,000 cancelations and it has hurt local businesses as most people have canceled social excursions. For example the Seoul Grand Park which normal has crowds of 79,000 over a weekend has been only averaging 35,000 (Korea Times: http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2015/06/116_179972.html ). With no new cases in the last 2 weeks, life is beginning to return to normalcy. Restaurants, bars and cafes are hoping that they will be able to recover their business. Nitrogen Coffee Bars and cafes are looking for the next hit coffee drink and many think it is a tall, frosty, milky pint of nitrogen coffee. Startup Bru-works was one of the first to the market, b...

This article was commissioned by  http://host.fieramilano.it/en/korean-food-trend  Which I will be attending in October in Milano, Italy as a presenter.  Thanks, Host Fiera milano! #스타셰프 =Star Chef Korean food = #trend William Drew, at the Asia's 50 Best Restaurant event in Singapore hiply answered his thoughts on Korean food, “hashtag trend.” He further expounded, “Korean food is getting popular around the world even in places where there isn’t a large Korean population." As the world is discovering Korean flavors, social and economic trends are changing the food landscape in Korea. Here are some of the other keywords and concepts popular right now in Korea. #배달에프 = delivery app #배달에프 = delivery app A recent survey reported that only 7% of Koreans cook at home. Busy schedules dictate that families don't have time to eat together these days. With 70% of the population with smartphones, many are turning to delivery services for their food (WSJ July 2014). #먹...

Yuza Soju Mixed Gymnastics Video is Amazeballs! Sunhari Yuza Soju Mixed Gymnastics Video is Amazeballs! Sunhari Yuza Soju Mixed Gymnastics Video is Amazeballs! Sunhari The Yuja Flavored Alcohol, Sunhari, is one of surprise food trends of the season and it looks like the companies behind it are starting to come up with some creative advertisements for this slightly sweet, and citrus drink. This is a video combining mixed gymnastics and alcohol. It's funny but in a "wow...that's amazingly funny and witty" sorta way. Hilarious. Share it with your friends.d I think it is ok...not my favorite but I will have it once in a while. Many of my friends prefer the regular soju instead but it is nice to have a change once in a while. Published on Jun 4, 2015 순하리 선수의 화제의 병맛 체조 연기!

Honey Chocolate Milk  Honey Butter Almonds and Honey Butter Roast Snack Ok, Korea, love you. Really. I love your red, white, blue and black flags. I love smell of kimchi in the morning, I love the convenience of the transport, the cleanliness of the streets, the excitement when there is a national sports event. I love it all. But there is no thing, I don't really get. The honey butter chip. I know there was one famous brand that got popular and got everyone going crazy for it. Essentially it became a luxury brand so possessing the chips meant you had connections or something. But seriously? Do we need it all the time? I mean the flavor is not so honey nor is it really that buttery and I think putting it on every chip just makes people look foolish. Seriously milk? Almonds, chips, cookies, sandwiches? I mean soon its going to be in makeup and everything else. Too much! Let's look to another flavor. Let's be creative. Just a little message from your friendly neigh...

Here is a fun video that my friend  Noe Alonzo  and I made for fun about all the crazy food trends in Korea. I went and grabbed all the trendy stuff like churros, lobster, corn, lentils, honey butter chips and a crapload of other stuff and our chef, Tom, put it all together. Come see what it looks like. https://youtu.be/YDXI99uN6us Be sure to watch the other great videos that Noe has as well. Dan

Yes, there is a huge sign outside of I'Park Department store that reads White Love in Lapland. Oh, Korea, I heart thee. I was looking into my food crystal ball today and here is what I foresee in the coming months. I see TGIF's closing and many family restaurants such as Outback, Bennigans, etc suffering because Koreans no longer see these as good values and the flavors being deemed to bland or heavy compared to regular cuisine cuisine. I believe that brunch is on it's way out and it will be regulated to the expat market and that the prices of brunch will go down (I mean it should. Egg's Benedict shouldn't cost 20,000 won!) I think that burgers will continue to thrive as beef prices fall. Rotiboy and the Malaysian hot bun trade will slowly fade away and make way for cupcakes- unless they can figure out a way to make them edible when they are not hot. Seriously, have you eaten a cold Rotiboy bun? It's like eating cardboard with bits of lard- not pleasa...

Here is Wendy Chan talking about Korean food on the Food Channel.com. She talks about lots of fusion dishes. Dan

Don't worry, the 3 chefs have their clothes on. Here they are. They speak English well and I think they might have studied overseas. W4,000 won gets you a beef taco, chicken taco, or chili dog. It's not bad for Itaewon. Oh and look! They have all the spelling right. Here is their piquant salsa. It is definitely homemade. The finished taco is overflowing with goodness. You can catch the Naked Chef Taco truck in Itaewon on Friday and Saturday Nights. They usually park in front of the Hard Rock Cafe. If you see a puke yellow truck passing through Itaewon with "Naked Chef" written on the side, don't puke. They serve up some pretty mean tacos with homemade sauces and salsas. Dan

This is via Travis Shakespeare, producer and actor extraordinaire with whom I'm currently working with. We are taking Korea to the world! Here's his site.

Papa Roti was one of the first to bring these Malaysian(?) Style coffee buns to Korea and I feel they are the best. They are best right out of the oven. They are soft, hot, and not too sweet. I feel these are much better than Krispy Kreme Donuts or as I would like to call them heart tourniquets. The buns go for 1,800 a piece. There are some that prefer Roti-Boy, but I find that the quality lacks at time with them and they are a little bit greasier than Papa Roti. Roti-boy needs some time to mature. So...which coffee bun do you prefer? Dan

Lately I've been seeing new kinds of corn dogs popping up in the freezer section of the grocery stores I frequent. The first new type of corn dog I saw was a "Well-Dog", seen on the left. The all black coating caught my eye. Corn-dogs aren't usually black. I'm assuming this is supposed to be a "Well-being" corn dog. (Well-being is the buzzword for the health food trend in Korea.) I find it strange that corn dogs would belong in any healthy food category. A few days later I saw two more strange corn dog flavors in my grocery store. I don't think these are well-being corn dogs, but they're obviously targeting children with kid friendly flavors. Follow the link to see the new kid-friendly corn dog flavors. - Lunalil