Couple sells great value S$7 ginseng chicken soup and ‘North Korean’ kimchi at food court in Nanyang Polytechnic

Stella Thng

We first heard about Myeongdong Kitchen when stall owner Esther Goh posted about her “humble Korean stall” in a ‘Korean Food and Recipes’ FaceBook group. It received 2,100 likes from followers from all over the world. “Cheaper than in Korea!” “You can’t even buy one roll of kimbap for that price in the US!” raved excited K-food lovers. Located at Nanyang Poly’s Foodgle Hub food court, the stall is open to the public.

No part of this story or photos can be reproduced without permission from 8days.sg.

How cheap is the food, exactly? Prices at the eight-month-old stall range from $3.50 for a mushroom or chicken Korean porridge, to a maximum of $7 for Korean ginseng chicken soup.

Named after the famous shopping street in Seoul, Myeongdong Kitchen is the brainchild of Singaporean Esther, 45, an enthusiastic home cook, and her Singapore PR husband Tristan Liu, 35, a former chef from Anhui, China. He has a diploma in culinary arts specialising in Chinese and Western cuisines and was 23 when he was recruited by a five-star hotel chain to work in Singapore.

Fell in love on WeChat after Esther impressed him with her cooking

The couple met on WeChat, where Esther regularly posted about her cooking adventures and had attracted a small fanbase. They married a decade ago. Tristan quit his chef’s job at a hotel a few years ago, and they started a maid agency together. Esther, who has a degree in Human Resources, used to be a tutor for primary and secondary students, and also taught English to adult students from China. As they love travelling to Korea and recreating their favourite Korean dishes for family and friends, they have long dreamed of running a Korean food stall too.

Chose “the least crowded food court” to open first Korean stall

Esther’s friend, whose company manages Foodgle Hub, offered her the chance to take up a stall at Nanyang poly. With their employment agency running smoothly, the couple decided it was time to scratch that cooking itch.

“Although Foodgle has busier food courts located across Singapore, we wanted to start small so we asked for the least crowded food court,” recalls Esther with a laugh. “Also, we chose a stall in a school so that we don’t have to work on weekends, and can still enjoy our family time,” adds Tristan.

They invested less than $10,000 on second hand kitchen equipment and splurged on authentic Korean plates, bowls and cutlery. To their surprise, their passion project was a hit. Myeongdong Kitchen is currently the most popular stall in the poly’s food court, says Esther proudly. “We’ve helped to attract a good crowd to Foodgle Hub!”

Kept prices low for poly kids

“We’re in a school after all, so we’re mindful to keep our prices low. Besides, this was never meant to be our main source of income since our core [maid agency] business is still profitable,” says Esther, who laments that running a maid agency is stressful as they are stuck between angry employers and anxious domestic helpers. In comparison, running a food stall brings her much joy.

“We feel really appreciated when customers enjoy their food or take photos of it. Honestly, we don’t make that much – just enough to cover our costs and keep us happy that we get to cook what we love,” says the couple.

They opened a second outlet in James Cook University in July selling Korean and Japanese fare, though this is not open to the public. During school term, he and Esther man a stall each, supported by their staff. They have no intention to expand further as they lack manpower. “Being foodies, we’d rather keep it small so we can maintain the quality,” says Tristan.

Kimchi recipe from Tristan’s North Korean great-great-great granny

Esther and Tristan co-planned the recipes for all 16 items on the menu. They use chewy pearl rice and make their own kimchi, which comes free with set meals. Interestingly, this recipe is inherited from Tristan’s maternal great-great-great grandma from North Korea, though none of her other recipes survived over the generations. Tristan uses the same mapgoeul chilli pepper powder that his relatives recommended and tweaked the recipe for our local tastes so that it’s less sour. He also omitted the chives and stuck to plain Chinese cabbage, as the chives were not popular with the poly crowd. The result is a clean, crunchy kimchi that is fermented just enough to add zest.

Ginseng Chicken Soup, $7 (8 Days Pick!)

Shockingly good value for money, you get half a meaty 1kg chicken, an entire piece of (understandably, not very thick) ginseng, and red dates swimming in a comforting broth that’s milky from the glutinous rice stuffed in the chicken. It comes lightly salted, with pink Himalayan salt on the side to dip your chicken in, so you can better taste the bitter-tinged soup sweetened by red dates.

The chook is fall-off-the-bone tender. Served with pearl rice and the delish kimchi, it’s a satisfying meal. Order this on days when you need to replenish your qi – we gobbled up the entire piece of ginseng.

How do they keep the price of this famous Korean dish so low? “We buy the ginseng in bulk from a supplier who gets them from China, so that we can get a competitive price,” says Esther. “We don’t make much from this dish but it’s okay; make a little bit, can already.”

Bibimbap, $5 for pork/chicken; extra 50 cents for beef (8 Days Pick!)

We can see why this colourful bowl is a best-seller. Each of the pre-fried veggies like spinach, stewed mushroom, carrot and bean sprouts is flavourful with soy and sesame oil. We had ours with the well-marinated spicy chicken slices.

Break the yolk of the sunny-side up, mix well with the Korea-imported gochujang sauce, and it’s a hearty bowl that will fuel you through an afternoon of classes or meetings.

Hotplate Pork/Chicken Set, $5.50

First stir-fried with onions, then served in a sizzling hotplate, this comes with spicy pork slices and pork belly for a nice mix of lean and fatty meat, atop raw chopped cabbage. The chicken version uses tender boneless chicken thigh. Both go well with steaming hot rice and kimchi, washed down with accompanying seaweed soup. We wouldn’t say this is restaurant standard, but it’s competently executed for the price.

Jajangmyeon, $4.50

This popular noodle dish is a Koreanised version of the Chinese zha jiang mian. Though both use black bean sauce, the Korean one has a thicker, caramelly dark brown sauce, compared to the more savoury OG Chinese version. Tristan makes his sauce from scratch, frying minced pork, onions, cabbage and shiitake mushroom with black bean paste from Korea. It is topped with julienned cucumber to add crunch.

The bowl we shot showed a glistening thick sauce, which we rather enjoyed due to its sweet-salty flavours. However, the second bowl of chewy noodles cooked separately for us was not well drained. The dish tasted diluted after we mixed the sauce in.

Bottom line

At these prices, Myeongdong Kitchen’s offerings are even cheaper than those from many Korean hawker stalls. Most folks are unaware that food courts in polytechnics are open to the public, so if you fancy a campus-priced meal in air-conditioned comfort, this place is definitely worth a visit. Make sure you order the hearty, fab-value Ginseng Chicken Soup and Bibimbap. Come after 2pm to avoid the lunch crowd, when you can also try off-peak specials like the rather tasty Japchae or Kimchi Pancake.

The details

Myeongdong Kitchen is at Nanyang Polytechnic, 180 Ang Mo Kio Ave 8, Blk P1 (Convention Centre) Basement, Foodgle Hub Food Court, Stall 5, S569830. Open Mon – Fri 11am – 7pm; closed on weekends. Tel: 8222 6009. More info via FaceBook.

Photos: Dillon Tan.

8days is now on #tiktok! Follow us on www.tiktok.com/@8dayseat