Selina Choi is the owner of Seoul Sistaz Korean Cafe. Photo: Lucy Ridge.
Korean restaurants have become steadily more popular in Canberra with Korean Fried Chicken becoming almost as well known as the other KFC! However, Korean-born chef Selina Choi wants to show Canberra the diversity and versatility of Korean cuisine through her cafe Seoul Sistaz.
Growing up in Korea, Selina lived with her mum and took advantage of Korea’s vibrant and affordable restaurant culture, so the only thing she needed to cook for herself was packets of instant ramen!
But when she moved to Australia, she quickly fell in love with cooking.
“Cooking for other people makes me very happy. When I cook for them and they like it, it is very satisfying,” she told Region.
“When I came to Australia I worked as a chef, and I always had a desire to introduce Korean food to many people so it led me to open my own business.”
The result is Seoul Sistaz: a cheerful, casual cafe on the edge of the city where Selina serves up affordable dishes packed with flavour.
Triangle Kimbap are a quick and easy snack or meal-on-the-go. Photo: Lucy Ridge.
One of the specialties of Seoul Sistaz is their triangle kimbap: a typical Korean snack food, similar to Japanese sushi.
“Triangle kimbap was my go-to snack food during school. In Korea, many convenience stores sell ready-to-eat foods that are cheap, convenient and delicious. You can enjoy it as a snack or if you don’t have time for a full meal,” Selina said.
The dense triangles of rice with different flavoured fillings are wrapped in seaweed paper and packaged for convenience.
For sit down meals, Selina offers a range of Korean street food snacks like sotteok sotteok: chewy rice cakes and mini sausages served on skewers with a sweet chilli sauce. Or more substantial traditional meals include bibimbap rice bowls with a range of toppings. Selina has also made a killer sweet and spicy KFC which you can have with chips, or in a burger with crisp cabbage, cheese, pickles and ssamjang (Korean chilli sauce) mayo.
“Korean traditional food is already good! But I wanted to show people that Korean ingredients and food can pair with many other things,” Selina said.
“Like our kimchi corn fritters: I use Korean ingredients with Western-style cooking.”
This dish combines the best of Korean savoury kimchi (spicy fermented cabbage) pancakes with the Australian brunch classic corn fritters. The whole thing is a total umami bomb, with a layer of stretchy mozzarella, a scattering of crunchy seaweed and stacks of moreish Korean soy pickles. A fried egg on top makes it a thoroughly satisfying dish.
The beef bulgogi toastie – nicknamed The Beastie – features beef cooked in a tasty soy marinade on a bun with mozzarella, tomato and ssamjang mayo. It reminds me of making bolognaise toasted sandwiches when I was a kid. It’s comfort food: delicious, filling and unassuming.
The coffee is excellent, but if you’re after something different, then try out one of Selina’s iced latte creations. The butterscotch latte will satisfy any sweet tooth, and the black sesame latte turned out to be surprisingly nutty and creamy!
The bright and airy space is decorated with cute Korean cuisine and pop culture posters (I spy a sneaky K-Pop poster on a high ceiling beam) and there’s also a retail shelf filled with stickers and packets of Korean instant ramen, a shout out to Selina’s culinary beginnings.
Seoul Sistaz is located at 4/16 Moore St, Canberra. It’s open from 7 am to 3 pm Monday to Friday, and from 8 am to 2 pm on Saturday. Follow Seoul Sistaz on Instagram.
Original Article published by Lucy Ridge on Riotact.
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