Schwein Haxen and Jipbul Gui... Gourmet Dishes from Famous Restaurants on Our Home Table

Diversification of Sales Channels for Food Service Businesses Hit by Prolonged COVID-19
Popular Home Meal Replacements like Meal Kits and 'Naeson-e Chef'

Sorae Village Restaurant Hyurakdam's Meal Kit Brand Naeson-e Chef 'Schweinshaxen'

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Hye-seon] Dining businesses hit hard by the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic are seeking to increase sales by diversifying their sales channels. In particular, they are exploring ways to survive by selling home meal replacements through non-face-to-face channels.

From 'Schweinshaxen' to Onion Soup: French Cuisine at Home

According to the dining industry on the 7th, 'Naeson-e Chef' is a meal kit specialty brand where chefs from Western-style restaurants and pubs prepare and sell the food themselves. ‘Naeson-e Chef’ offers meal kits made from dishes directly prepared by the chefs of Hyurakdam, a Schweinshaxen specialty restaurant in Seorae Village.

At Hyurakdam, Western-style dishes that usually take a long time to prepare can be easily reheated at home. It provides a deep flavor that cannot be expected from mass-produced products made at home or in factories. Additionally, Naeson-e Chef does not use food preservatives and delivers the products in refrigerated condition as much as possible to prevent flavor deterioration. The results have been positive. Despite being listed on a general smart store, 9,000 customers flocked within a month of opening.

The signature menu is ‘Schweinshaxen,’ a party dish famous in Germany and Western Europe. This product is tailored to Korean tastes. While the European style tends to have a salty, hard skin and a relatively greasy flavor, Hyurakdam’s handmade Schweinshaxen uses a dark beer sauce to eliminate any off-flavors and strikes a balance between chewiness and crispiness.

There is also the Hamburg steak. With a thick patty baked directly, a generous amount of secret sauce sent along, and baby potatoes, simply cooking them over low heat in a frying pan allows you to recreate the restaurant’s Hamburg steak at home.

‘Beef Bourguignon’ and ‘French Onion Soup’ are dishes that require long cooking times and generous use of quality ingredients to achieve great taste. Beef Bourguignon, a representative French winter home-cooked meal, is made by simmering red wine and high-quality beef for a long time. Served with baguette or pasta, it makes a hearty meal. The onion soup draws out sweetness through long hours of frying and re-frying.

Enjoy Comfortably at Home Without Waiting in Line for 2 Hours

Famous restaurants with over 60 years of tradition such as ‘Gwanghwamun Mijin,’ Chef Lee Yeon-bok’s ‘Mokran,’ the well-known Myeongdong eatery ‘Geumsan Jemyunso,’ Pyongyang cold noodle specialist ‘Bongpiyang,’ and the Vietnamese restaurant ‘Lehoi’ in Itaewon, as well as franchise brands like ‘Gangnam Myeonok,’ ‘Two-Pul Deungsim,’ ‘Seokgwan-dong Tteokbokki,’ and ‘VIPS,’ have also launched convenient meal products. Popular items include ‘Samihun’ galbitang from a famous restaurant in Busan, marinated pork neck grilled from ‘Soongui Garden,’ a representative meat restaurant in Incheon, and grilled beef panini from the Italian restaurant ‘La Cucina’ in Itaewon. Although prices are about 10-20% cheaper than restaurant prices and relatively expensive for convenience foods, they are popular because customers can easily enjoy famous restaurant menus at home.

Seoul’s Samgakji restaurant ‘Montan’ collaborated with Hyundai Department Store to create a home meal replacement version of its signature dish, ‘Woo Dae Galbi Jipbul Gui’ (charcoal-grilled prime ribs). Since its first release in August last year, the ‘Montan Jipbul Gui Feast Set’ has been offered every Thursday with 500 sets, selling out within 5 minutes each time. Even after increasing to 1,000 sets, it continues to sell out. Traditional restaurants like Yongsan’s ‘Yongmun Haejangguk’ and Jongno’s ‘Imun Seolleongtang’ can also be conveniently enjoyed at home.

Restaurants that previously required waiting in line have entered the home meal replacement market because social distancing measures have limited in-store operations, making it difficult to survive through offline sales alone. The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs forecasts that the domestic home meal replacement market will expand from 32.164 trillion won in 2018 to 50 trillion won by 2022. A dining industry official explained, "While delivery applications like Baedal Minjok are used, more companies are making and selling their own convenience foods," adding, "Convenience foods will become more segmented and evolve further."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.