For Mat Nam by Your Local‘s opening salvo, chef Patrick Go brings together Korean chefs Young Sook-lee and Jihyung Choi for a collab to remember—and relish with gusto.
Collaborations of any form, be it in art, fashion, or in this case, food, is always an enriching experience for everyone involved. This is especially true in intercultural exchanges, where one culture is enriched by the other, and vice versa.
Over the next three months, well-loved Asian fusion restaurant Your Local is serving up a culinary and cultural collab to remember—and relish with much gusto. One that fans of Korean cuisine and the hit Netflix show Culinary Class Wars dare not miss.
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Your Local, led by executive chef Patrick Go, has lined up four “White Spoon” chefs from the phenomenal reality cooking contest for the Mat Nam by Your Local pop-up at The Balmori Suites Chef’s Table in Rockwell, Makati. Fans of the show, yours truly being one of them, would know that, for the most part, Culinary Class Wars is a battle between White (established chefs) and Black Spoons (up and coming ones). Each of the three “episodes” of the pop-up lasts approximately two weeks long.
I was fortunate enough to be invited to sample the menu of the first “episode” of Mat Nam by Your Local, to which I immediately said ‘yes!’ not wanting to miss out on that rare experience of tasting dishes made by White Spoon chefs themselves. For its opening salvo, the pop-up features chefs Young Sook-lee and Jihyung Choi, whose four dishes, two for each of them, you can try until April 23.
The POST lets you in on what to expect from this exciting Filipino-meets-Korean cuisine collaboration.
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A shared love for meat dishes
Both chefs were present at the media event last Sunday, April 6, and I was every bit the giddy fangirl, especially since chef Young Sook-lee, with her perpetual wide and sunny smile (that reduces her eyes to slits!), was one of my favorites from the show. I think she’s also quite popular among the other guests who, like me, can’t help but take selfies of the very cute halmoni (grandmother).
In an interview with The POST, chef Patrick shared how both chefs, though both masters of Korean cuisine, bring with them different techniques. “Chef Young is very traditional, like a mom. Chef Choi is very modern, North Korean inspired also,” he said. “They have different techniques which is fun to see, because the Korean cuisine we have here in Manila, I think there’s room for improvement, the taste is very different from what they have there (in South Korea).”
“We can see the techniques are pretty different talaga, which for us, it’s very fun to learn from them,” he added. “The techniques are different but the flavors, I think, match their menu.”
Chef Patrick, who admitted he’s a “pretty big fan” of Culinary Class Wars, happily shared that both chefs have already tried Filipino food. “I think in Korea they serve a lot of pork. So they super loved crispy pata, sisig. We also let them try sinigang. It’s very interesting daw. It’s contrasting with what they have there (South Korea). They love our meat dishes here.”
With this collaboration, chef Patrick said he hopes to bring Filipino food there in South Korea. “Hopefully this year or next,” he added with a smile.
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Traditional Korean comfort food
The first two dishes from the Korean chefs that we tried were the ones by chef Young Sook-lee. The 69-year-old chef is renowned for being a master of traditional and regional Korean cuisine and the owner of the beloved restaurant Nakyung. She’s no stranger to cooking shows as she was the winner of Korean Food Battle Season 2.
Chef Sook-lee’s cooking is rooted in heritage, offering deeply authentic flavors passed down through generations. In a separate interview with The POST, she said that she chose japchae because it’s “not an everyday food in Korea” and is usually served during festive occasions.
True enough her Classic Japchae (P690) was an artwork on a plate. Made even more festive by the vibrant colors of five different kinds of vegetables, it was almost too pretty to eat. It was also much healthier—though no less delicious—than the japchaes I’ve had previously. Less oily yet still flavorful, thanks to its sesame soy-sugar dressing that strikes the right balance between sweet and savory. I wish wasn’t too shy and helped myself with a few more spoonfuls.
It was chef Sook-lee’s Mushroom Chicken Gangjeong (P780), however, which catapulted me to cloud nine. She told The POST that she opted for this dish because she wanted Filipinos to have a taste of Korean fried chicken done the old-fashioned way.
We all know K-chicken to be unbelievably crispy—but chef Sook-lee’s creation has none of the signature crispiness that many of us have grown to love about the popular dish. What it lacks in crisp factor, though, it more than makes up for with its addicting sweet-and-spicy flavor, thanks to chef Sook-lee’s own gochujang-ketchup glaze. She added mushrooms because she loves them so much, so much so that one of her popular creations is a kind of mushroom jelly, the recipe of which she herself has created.
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A taste of North Korea
If chef Sook-lee was all about preserving tradition, chef Jihyung Choi, meanwhile, emphasized the use of jang—sauces and pastes made from fermented soybeans, an ingredient he wishes to promote to the world. He proudly shared to The POST that late last year, UNESCO inscribed Korea’s traditional culture of making jang, on its Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage.
His first dish, Gochujang Sauce Chicken (P920), is a modern take on dakgalbi (spicy stir-fried chicken), a well-loved Korean soul food. In this modern take, chef Jihyung deconstructed the dakgalbi into layers of chicken and rice, complemented with a delectable curry base, herb puree, calamansi vinaigrette, zucchini, charred pickled leeks, and crispy chicken skin on top. Every bite is pure comfort.
While he has made a name for his modern iterations of beloved Korean recipes, chef Jihyung is also known for promoting North Korean food. He clarified, though, that “(Korean culture) is not separate as we were united before.” Still, he said that they have their own identity, especially if you talk about the different regions in Korea. “Like food from Cebu is quite different from food in Manila,” he quipped.
His goal to bridge the divide between South and North Korea led him to open Leebukbang, a Michelin Guide-recognized restaurant known for offering the world’s first North Korean course menu.
With this, he wants the public to try food from that part of the world, something that he thinks of as his duty as a chef of North Korean heritage through his mom’s side. “I have an understanding and experience of North Korean cuisine, and people right now don’t know how great it is,” he told The POST.
For the Mat Nam by Your Local pop-up, chef Jihyung delighted us with a 1,000-year-old North Korean recipe: Maekjeokgui (P1,050). This ancient dish features grilled pork that is marinated in traditional doenjang soybean paste, which he makes himself, with a serving of veggies on the side. Smoky, savory, slightly sweet, and steeped in heritage. A forkful made me imagine I was in a sageuk or historical K-drama.
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Your Local’s hits
Of course, the event won’t be complete without a taste of Your Local’s signature dishes. For starters we had MSG (P450), a delightful mantou toast topped with shiitake mushrooms, gorgonzola, seaweed, and parmesan. We also had the Mackerel (P650), which was surprisingly a good side dish to Chef Sook-lee’s japchae.
One of my favorites was the Halibut (P950). The fish was unbelievably fresh and steamed to perfection, and was elevated by an exceptional ginamos rendang curry sauce and then brightened up with kaffir lime, sesame leaf, and charred lettuce.
Another favorite was Your Table’s sensational River Prawns (P890). Each bite of the prawn was delectable and decadent, thanks to the torched mentaiko, soy brown butter sauce, ebiko, and mentaiko mayo.
And another favorite (I think I had too many favorites that day—which is a good thing, right?) is the Palabok Rice (P380). The first bite can be jarring at first—is it palabok rice or rice with palabok flavor? It doesn’t matter really because it’s so good I almost finished the entire bowl.
For dessert, we had Your Local’s YuzuMansi Cake (P450), which is citron-calamansi cake, salted cream, and banana chips. I’m not a big fan of this, mainly because I prefer my dessert sweet. The Choco na Gatas v2 (P450) blew my mind, though. This concoction of burnt milk ice cream with chocolate mousse and toasted rice was so indulgent I wish I could have taken home an order or two.
The other two “episodes” of Mat Nam by Your Local at The Balmori Suites Chef’s Table will be from April 26 to May 14, featuring chef Kisu Bang; and from May 17 to June 1, featuring chef Byung Mook Kim.
Catch Mat Nam by Your Local at The Balmori Suites Chef’s Table from April 6 to June 1, 2025. For reservations, contact 0945 427 0054.
