Get a taste of Netflix’s Culinary Class Wars with Bulgogi Syo’s exclusive collaboration with chef Choi Hyun-seok

Bulgogi Syo first burst onto our shores back in 2023, with a unique, fiery three-step grilling approach — searing, torching, and flambeing — to its meat dishes. 

The Korean cuisine concept, helmed by the founder of Seorae, continues to keep things hot and exciting with its most recent tie-up with Korean chef Choi Hyun-seok, of Netflix’s Culinary Class Wars fame. He also features regularly on Chef & My Fridge, which is currently running on the same streaming platform.

The strapping chef, who cuts a commanding presence at 1.9m, especially in his chef’s uniform, was recently in town to launch a special collaboration with Bulgogi Syo.

Not only did he introduce the four dishes on this menu, titled “Memories on a Plate”, he also delivered an hour-long entertaining cooking demonstration for the media. 

With his smiley demeanour, overall friendly disposition, and ability to hype up the crowd as he gives his all in whipping up four dishes, it’s easy to see why he’s such a well-loved celebrity figure back in Korea, and even with Singapore and international audiences. 

Of course, chef Choi’s good looks help. Though he turns 53 this year, and even has a 26-year-old daughter (who just got married last week, he tells us proudly), many were gushing over him during the demonstration. 

He has since left our shores, but he has left four dishes at Bulgogi Syo for us to enjoy at the brand’s four outlets in Singapore. They’re already available at its Suntec City and Bugis Junction branches, while the VivoCity and Woodleigh Mall ones will be launching them from tomorrow (September 30). 

The dishes, which are inspired by his appearances on Culinary Class Wars and Chef & My Fridge are:

• Fresh Omugi beef yukhoe sotbap (S$25.90)
• Maeun dwaeji galbijjim with triple-cheese risotto, or spicy pork stew (S$25.90)
• Jang trio with Omugi beef tenderloin (S$39.90)
• Vongole sujebi (only available to Syo Rewards members at S$21.90)

Though we didn’t try the versions personally cooked up by chef Choi, we got a sneak peek of the versions that you can now get at Bulgogi Syo’s outlets in Singapore.

Taste-testing the Bulgogi Syo x chef Choi Hyun-seok series

First up, the fresh Omugi beef yukhoe sotbap is a take on the Korean classic dish bibimbap, albeit served with seasoned raw beef, known as “yukhoe” in Korean. It is also served with fluffy rice in an iron pot, hence the name “sotbap” (with “sot” meaning pot and “bap” meaning “rice”). 

Bulgogi Syo adds its signature fiery presence by offering you a choice of having your beef lightly flame-torched — an option we think might sit better with those who might be squeamish about eating raw beef, straight.

The yukhoe itself is well-seasoned with strong sesame oil notes, so torched or not, your tastebuds will have a field day. Beef aside, the sotbap is comforting, but not quite different from other bibimbaps or sotbaps we’ve had elsewhere. We’d get this only if you’re a huge fan of yukhoe. 

The second, the maeun dwaeji galbijjim with triple-cheese risotto, is a modernised take on the Korean spicy pork stew dish, with the protein served on a bed of risotto, instead of rice. 

Here, they use pork shoulder, which turns out melt-in-the-mouth tender, and thankfully the red-hot-looking marinade isn’t too spicy either. 

Perhaps we had our expectations lifted by the long cheese pull by chef Choi during the demo, but our risotto was a tad underwhelming. For a triple-cheese dish, we expected something more creamy and savoury. But it might have also been because we had tasted the stronger-flavoured pork shoulder before it.  

The third — jang trio with Omugi beef tenderloin — is a standalone protein dish, served on a hotplate, with a medium-rare doneness. 

The name “Jang trio” is a nod to the three jangs (“sauce” in Korean) it comes with — ganjang (soy sauce), doenjang (soybean paste) and gochujang (red pepper paste). It comes with an aged doenjang butter on top, a crisp ganjang-pickled radish, as well as a gochujang sauce on the side. 

Getting it on a hotplate means you can sear the beef longer to your desired doneness, if medium-rare isn’t quite your thing. 

We must also emphasise the importance of having the beef with the butter, a dab of the gochujang, and the radish in one big bite. Savoury, a light heat, and slightly sweet, it’s easy to see why chef Choi enjoys working with this combination so much. 

Lastly, the vongole sujebi, which is only available to members of Bulgogi Syo’s rewards programme. This is a dish Culinary Class Wars fans might find familiar, but the sujebi (a Korean hand-torn noodle quite similar to the local mee hoon kueh) comes tinged with squid ink.

It is served in a creamy and buttery clam broth, which has strong hints of garlic. While some might find the heaviness of the broth cloying, the flavours were spot-on for us. Coupled with the chewy sujebi, this made for our favourite dish of the evening.

Uncovering chef Choi’s favourite dishes

With a background in Italian cuisine (he owns an Italian fine-dining spot in Seoul called Choi Dot), you’d think he’s all about European fare, but during a short chat with HungryGoWhere on the sidelines of the event, it’s clear Korean food is his ultimate comfort. 

That said, chef Choi concedes that as a chef, he doesn’t really cook at home, since that’s already his job. But he says his second daughter enjoys cooking for him, and the dish he’d like to have most, in the midst of his busyness and overseas schedules, is his daughter’s tteokguk or “rice cake soup”.

Speaking candidly, he also says he doesn’t really have favourite ingredients he works with, and it changes from time to time. He recalls a phase where he used quite a bit of uni (sea urchin), or another time when he would experiment with turning sauces into jelly. 

But after his Culinary Class Wars stint, there’s one ingredient he’s come to be associated with, — something that has become his signature ingredient, too — garlic.

For those who may not have caught the episode: He had a cooking showdown with another contestant, when he forgot one of the most crucial ingredients for his vongole — garlic — but still managed to wrangle decent scores. 

The faux pas worked in his favour as it became not only a memorable arc on the show, but a running gag on his various variety appearances, including his recent one here. He quipped a few times that he remembered the garlic this time. 

Chef Choi also lets on that since he doesn’t cook at home, he orders delivery in Korea relatively frequently, with fried chicken being his top choice, followed by jokbal (braised pig’s trotters).

With a thumbs up and a smile, he tells us: “KFC is the best!” (We think it’s because he has an ongoing tie-up with KFC, but we have to agree, KFC is one of our comfort faves, too!) 

Before he leaves us to prepare for the cooking demonstration, we ask if there’s anything he’s really wanted to have in Singapore, or thinks is really good.

The well-travelled chef, who has been to Singapore more than 10 times, says he’s often brought around by local friends and has quite a few local delights, such as coffee pork ribs, and Mellben Seafood’s creamy butter crab. 

However, the recent local dish that has stayed on in his memory is none other than Lei Garden’s chicken shark’s fin soup. Most people expect chicken soup to be clear, but Lei Garden served up a white version similar to that of Korea’s seolleongtang (ox bone soup), complete with shark’s fin on top.

After an afternoon with the chef, watching him cook, and getting participants to cook alongside him, this father-of-two is anything but aloof, despite his stern demeanour on the show.

In fact, with such a promising start to this Bulgogi Syo and Singapore collaboration, as well as his love for the local food, we’re secretly hoping chef Choi’s next visit to Singapore will come with a fusion Singapore-Korean dish, or two. 

With garlic, of course. 

Shannon Yap contributed to the piece. 

This was a hosted tasting. 

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