Banchan Story

My wife, daughter, and I had a video class with Shin earlier this evening and absolutely loved it! Communication was superb from menu planning and shopping, right down to a few last minute menu alterations. Shin is a delight; charismatic and supremely patient, her instruction was helpful in making a dish, but also gave some cultural and historical background to what we were making, as well. If you have any inkling of interest in learning to make some truly delicious Korean cuisine, this would be a class well worth your time.

My sisters and I went to a cooking class here and it was fantastic! Shin was very warm and friendly and explained everything well. Very informative, easy to follow recipes and the prep work she did beforehand made everything go smoothly. The food was delicious! She is extremely knowledgable about korean cooking and I would highly recommend her for a fun event to do with family and friends. We loved it.

Really enjoyed this cooking class - geared towards classic staples for the home cook. We made tofu stew with seafood, noodle dish with veggies, and a variety of side dishes. Initially I was afraid that Korean cooking would require a lot of unique ingredients but came out of this realizing that is not the case. I plan on coming back!

Shin's class was exactly what I wanted to learn - Kimchi making Small Jar of Kimchi is about $10 nowadays in supermarkets in NYC. Now I can make Kimchi at home. She showed us how to make 3 different kinds of Kimchi. They were very organized, clean, thorough in terms of explaining things to us. I liked the fact that it was a small class of 5 people as well. $95 worth spending folks.

Shin's cooking classes are great! I've been to two classes with her now, and both were excellent and informative. In the first class, we learned how to make oi muchim, a quick cucumber kimchi; pajeon, a Korean scallion pancake with seafood; and japchae, Korean glass noodles with vegetables and beef. I'm a lifelong eater of Korean food, but I learned a lot that day. Shin's recipes are delicious and easy to follow, and it's clear that she's done a lot of testing to make them work. She provides a booklet of those recipes for us to keep, and they've become staple recipes in our household. Shin also has a new cookbook out on Amazon, "Vegetarian Dishes from My Korean Home," and I got to go to another class that included a demo of two dishes: a Korean quick-pickled radish kimchi and popcorn cauliflower in a spicy-sweet sauce. Both were DELICIOUS, especially the popcorn cauliflower, which had a sturdy crunch that really held up to her addictive gochujang-based sauce. We also tasted her tofu and mushrooms in a bulgogi-like sauce on homemade kabocha squash buns, kimchi fried rice, silky kabocha squash soup, and vegetable crudités with the most delicious ssamjang, a thick, nutty dip based on Korean fermented bean paste. Man, I feel like Shin's ssamjang recipe is a real standout -- it's the best I've ever had by far. I highly recommend Shin's classes. They're fun, informative, very well thought out, and she is a real gem all around.

My boyfriend planned this class as a birthday gift. Was a great experience. The food we cooked was incredibly flavorful and used ingredients I'd have never thought to cook with. She let us taste as we prepared and we couldn't wait to get our hands on it once the cooking was done. This class was on making banchan (read: korean tapas). We made six different korean sauces which form the basis of most korean dishes. We used these to prepare a mix of dishes including a delicious seaweed salad, a lotus root and shittake dish (my favorite), shishito peppers. All tasty, perhaps comparable to (maybe been better than) the food at say, Kori, which is one of my favorite restaurants in NYC. The instructor (Shin) and her sister led the class and they were very well-organized. They prepared the ingredients ahead of time so you're not using too much of the class time cutting and soaking. Shin was great fun to learn from --- she took the time to explain the rationale behind the individual steps. And she allowed us to experiment. Shin's sister would promptly come and take away any dishes you'd already used, bring any ingredients you were missing, stir dishes that needed attention while we were busy preparing other dishes. After we were done eating, Shin gave us containers to take food home! We hadn't used any butter or frying which meant the food was healthy and I didn't feel bad eating a lot of it. And many of the dishes used ingredients that refrigerate well. In short, learning to make flavorful food that's healthy and keeps --- how can I complain!

A very interesting and delicious class. I enjoyed it and I feel that I learned a lot about Korean food. The setting was very nice and the hands-on preparation and cooking made everything more real. Shin and her sister were very helpful and it was wonderful to be able to cook and not have to clean up. I would recommend this course to anyone who wants to learn more about Korean food.

This was definitely the best cooking class I have taken. Shin came up with a great menu that everyone in my family would like (no small feat), and then surprised us with even more elaborate fare. We made bulgogi and a mandu stew, plus some sides and vegetarian versions for each dish. Everything was delicious (much better than what we normally find at a restaurant), thoughtfully composed, and gorgeously arranged. Shin and her sister Shinhee are extremely hard working and knowledgeable, but the whole experience felt effortless and personal. It was like being in their home and a fancy Korean restaurant at the same time. Truly a wonderful experience. You won't be sorry.

I had a rough morning before coming into the class. I stormed into the class with a bad mood. However, by the time the class ended, I was already in a good mood again. The class was run by two sisters and they are some serious business women. One of the sisters, Shin, gave the lecture and led us hands on how how to make kimchi. The other sister is more like an unsung hero type. She went in and out of our working area collecting garbage, doing dishes as we went, and taking pictures for the class. They both worked very hard. On the day I took the class, the sister had to run three classes that day and our class was the first one. Shin took time to explain the ingredients and patiently addressed all questions we asked. She obviously had great knowledge about making these delicious dishes. We made spicy napa cabbage kimchi, spicy radish kimchi, plain radish kimchi, kimchi pancakes and soy bean paste based dipping sauce for pork. By the time we finished, we were in a feast. In addition to the dishes we made, the sisters also made some pork and rice for us to enjoy the fruit of our labor. In the cooking classes I have been to before, some instructors sat down with us and enjoyed the meal with us. The two sisters could not do it that day for they also need to prepare for upcoming classes. They are obviously both very well prepared. They even insisted in making a presentation about the history and origin of kimchi. They are really proud of their heritage and their food. They are just full of surprises. Containers were prepared for us to take our food home and also little, thoughtful gifts here and there. You can just tell they want to pamper you and want to make it a memorable experience for you. I will be back for more classes. I know I am in good hands. Also I cannot wait to make kimchi at home. After their classes, I was able to find in H-mart the ingredients I need without much effort. This really is a well-instructed course.