Banchan Story

I took Shin’s Asian bakery favourites class. I have taken another cooking class at ICE (Institute of Culinary Education) in NYC before. Unlike the very disorganized, giant-​sized class I had taken at ICE, Shin’s class was small, intimate, very well organized, and interactive. I was able to have a lot of hands on experience (only if you wish to do so) and had lots of fun learning to bake new Asian bakery favourites. I highly recommend Shin’s cooking classes, as they are thoughtfully prepared and well organized. Her recipes are easy to follow and products of your labor will not disappoint you. Shin takes a lot of time and effort in creating and testing her recipes to make sure that the resulting dishes are reproducible and delicious:)

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.

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.

This class was so much fun. Shin has such a passion for food education and Korean food. I ended up taking both the vegan and kimchi classes the same day, and couldn’t believe how much food we were able to enjoy during our sit down meal at the end. Shin and her sister Shin He were so organized and really kept the flow so we were able to make so many delicious dishes. I am a home cook and enjoy changing up my recipes. This was such a great introduction to Korean food and I felt like I have a solid understanding of the basics. I left with leftovers from the vegan class and three kimchis to enjoy at home from the kimchi class. I’ve taken many cooking classes across the city and if you are interested in Korean food, these are both excellent classes! I had such a great experience and look forward to other offerings at Banchan Story.

My girlfriend and I received this class as a gift since we both love asian cuisine. We weren’t quite sure what to expect, but it was A LOT of fun. I walked away with a much better sense of Korean cooking and have some great new recipes to try out. Plus we all got to eat the food that we had helped prepare, and it was delicious! We were lucky to have had a great group as well. Thanks Shin! We’ll be back again.

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!

Had a great time in the Banchan Galore class! Shin is a super engaging and knowledgable chef, and the meal we created over the course of the class was delicious. Will definitely go back.

I’ve always loved Korean food, so this class was a no-​brainer for me. I went with my boyfriend and we were impressed by Shin’s coordination and execution of a complex menu. Everyone chopped the vegetables and made dumplings, and yet it was optional to participate. We enjoyed the conviviality of the bright, like-​minded New Yorkers who signed up. Partaking in the dinner was easy and fun as we’d all bonded over the preparation. It was a rewarding evening all round, and I have some really yummy recipes as a keepsake!