The K-Food MasterChef cooking competition is coming back to the Korean Cultural Center (KCC) on May 24 this year, calling all Hong Kong residents who are lovers of Korean cuisine to participate. The 2025 edition is themed around ‘Jang’, meaning Korean sauces, and hanwoo Korean beef.
With such a wide-ranging theme, it should be fairly easy for participants to whip up something interesting for the competition. All that contestants have to do is use at least one of the three main sauces in Korean cuisine – gochujang red pepper paste, doenjang soy bean paste, and ganjang soy sauce – and hanwoo beef to create something that’ll delight tastebuds. 60 minutes will be given to complete this task, and the serving size should be for three people. The judging panel will comprise professional Korean chefs and representatives of the Hanwoo Association, who will evaluate the dish based on theme relevance, composition, taste, presentation, difficulty, and creativity.
Registration is free and open to the public, so if your friends and family have always praised your food, or if you’re a budding chef wishing to showcase your cooking skills to a wider audience, then this is a perfect platform to do so. All you need to be is above the age of 18 and not of Korean heritage. Read through the KCC’s guidelines, then submit the application form by May 7. Chosen finalists will be notified by May 15.
The Hanwoo Association is this year’s collaborative partner and will provide the premium beef as the main cooking ingredient, as well as present every finalist with hanwoo beef to bring home regardless of ranking. The champion will win $5,000 in cash and a fully funded trip to Korea, where they can represent Hong Kong at the K-Food International Amateur Chef Contest and compete with winners of the K-Food cooking contest from all over the world. The first runner-up will receive a $4,000 cash prize, and the second runner-up will get $3,000.
And if you’re not much of a cook? Check out the event anyway, as the KCC will be recruiting audiences for a hanwoo beef tasting – we don’t know about you, but we’re never going to turn down free premium beef. There will also be lucky draws to win hanwoo beef sets and other prizes.
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