WELCOME TO NICKY’S KITCHEN

Private Korean Chef

Nicky is experienced catering Chef, she’s great at Korean cooking and can make you an amazing meal at the comfort of your own home. 

Cooking Classes

 Why not arrange a fun group class or invite Nicky over to your home for your very own private one-on-one cooking lesson?

Consulting

With range of experience, Nicky can advise on Asian kitchens or work for your restaurant/hotel as a guest chef.

Korean Cooking Blog

Follow Nicky’s adventures – Korean receipes, restaurant reviews and her high rise balcony vegetable garden.

ABOUT NICKY

I was born in Seoul but my family moved to Sydney when I was 14.  As my parents were both working, I became the family chef. Back then, cooking was more a chore than pleasure. I was young and naive, and had no idea of the pleasures that cooking could provide.  One day it was like waking from a dream and I had the urge (just like Remy from Ratatouille) to try new dishes with my own flair.

I relocated to Singapore 9 years ago for my work. Since nothing much is grown here, I started my own little balcony farm, harvesting tomatoes, capsicum, beans, basil, rosemary, sage and lots more. There’s nothing like freshly picked ingredients to bring a dish alive!

Whilst I’ve entertained my friends with exotic dishes from all over the world, these days, I’ve gone back to my roots cooking Korean food. I didn’t realise until I started working on my blog that my far flung family are all in the food business – my grandmother had a restaurant specialising in hang-over soup (he-jang-guk), my great aunt has a famous restaurant in Seoul specialising in bi-bim-bap and the list goes on all the way  to my aunt baking Korean deserts in Los Angeles.

My blog is  all about having fun cooking and gardening.  Life is too short to be too serious!

After 9 fun filled years of teaching students Korean cooking and growing a delicious array of vegies in my garden in Singapore, I have moved to Bangkok. I arrived towards the end of 2012 in search for new adventures. I am still traveling to Singapore to teach on a regular basis and you can still arrange classes at anytime. In the meantime, I am sharing my passion in cooking Korean food and growing my vegetables and herbs in my balcony with the local Thai and expat community.

 

EXPERIENCE

Cooking Classes with the Korean Tourism Organisation Singapore

Since 2012, Nicky has facilitated monthly Korean cooking classes for Singapore’s prestigious Korean Embassy. These popular classes are offered within the scope of the Korean Tourism Organization’s cultural program. Nicky overseas every aspect of these hands-on workshops from menu planning to teaching students how-to-create various Korean dishes.

Private & Corporate Cooking Classes

Nicky offers cooking classes in private homes, for corporate team-building events, and more. (NTUC team building, Rockwell Automation)

Hospitality Consultation

Nicky has worked as a food consultant for luxury hotels such as The Peninsula Bangkok Hotel and The Fullerton Bay Hotel Singapore.

Food Writer & Cultural Insider

Dubbed a ‘Korean Foodie Insider’, Nicky has been featured in the following publications:

Ø  A regular fixture in Singapore’s Epoch Times newspaper ‘Food & Dining’ section as a food writer and cultural insider. They have also featured her within profile pieces.

Ø  BBC Good Food Asia profiled Nicky and her recipes for a Lunar New Year story.

Ø  Expat Life Thailand magazine ran an extensive story on Nicky’s popular, interactive Bangkok dinner parties which utilize various communal foods (i.e dumpling workshop, homemade pizza night, pasta making, tortilla and churro preparation, etc.) as an opportunity for Expats to create community through food.

Event Demonstrations

Nicky has been hired by event planners to conduct stage demonstrations at food festivals. Her role as a ‘Festival Foodie Ambassador’ was to engage audiences, prepare dishes, answer questions, and ignite interest in food.

Event Organization

Since 2012, Nicky has staged various Korean cultural festivals and travel events including the annual MICE Travel for Korean Tourism Singapore. She has also been a judge for a Korean cooking competition via the Korean Tourism Organization in Singapore.

Guest Speaker

Nicky has valued speaking in high school classrooms as a platform for sharing Korean culinary and cultural insight with future generations.

Food Stall Owner

Nicky expanded her entrepreneurial reach to create a Korean food stall selling delicacies such as bibimbap, seafood pancake, cinnamon pancake, kimchi, and more. 

International Restaurant Experience

To expand her restaurant experience, Nicky traveled to California for a Spring 2019 stage at her family’s bustling Korean restaurant (Hwang To Gil) which serves authentic Korean food in a traditional setting.  Her goal was to learn, perfect, and be exposed to advanced Korean cooking techniques

WHY NICKY?

Nicky Kim brings her unique perspectives & skills to any table to create an unforgettable experience, whether its hosting a large-scale event for 200 or an intimate dinner for 2.
From an urban garden floating high above Bangkok to a scenic rural Australian farm, Nicky’s connection to food is a hands on global affairs based on her 6 foundational pillars.  

BLOG

Mandu (aka dumpling) class

To celebrate Lunar new year celebration, I put together a Mandu/dumpling class on 23 January in Bangkok and we made 3 types of mandu. Vegetarian, Pork and Kimchi ones.... We started with a rose bud shaped ones Winnie's rosebud dumpling filled with vegetarian stuffing...

“A recipe has no soul – you, as the cook, must bring soul to the recipe” – Thomas Keller

CLASSES WITH NICKY 

Nicky’s cooking is about taking whatever you have in the fridge and turning it into a feast that’s fit for a king. I can show you that Korean cooking can be as easy as ABC(ㄱㄴㄷ). Once you get the hang of few sauces, anyone can create a banquet.

My classes are designed for Korean food lovers. They are fun and informative. I may even toss a few Korean lessons into the mix. 🙂  I keep the numbers in the class small (max. 6 people) so that we can have more personal interaction. All ingredients and recipes are provided and  most dishes can be modified for vegetarians. We eat everything we cook so please bring your appetite or at least some containers to take it home to show off to your family. Seats are limited so don’t forget to register early!!

Classes Details and Pricing
  • Singapore Group class: Hodduck-26 Sept (Pls contact Korean Tourism to enrol)
  • Thailand Group class: To be announced soon!
  • Price various based on the themes of the menu.
  • Payment must be received for your booking to be considered confirmed.
  • Classes are non-refundable, but transfers may be made with at least one-week notice. You can substitute another person to come in your place.
Private Cooking Lessons
  • Why not invite Nicky over to your home for your very own private one-on-one cooking lesson? Just let me know what dishes you want to learn. Whether it’s learning how to cook for yourself, your family, or friends, I will teach you basics of how to make simple and delicious Korean meals in the comfort of your own kitchen. Price may vary slightly according to the menu.

     

    • For Singapore: Price starts from S$300 per lesson  (up 2 participants) –2 hour private lesson including recipes and ingredients (exclude Kimchi lesson)
    • For Bangkok: Price starts from 5000 baht per lesson  (up 2 participants) –2 hour private lesson including recipes and ingredients
Gift Vouchers Available
  • Gift Vouchers can be redeemed for all regular schedule classes and are valid for 12 months from date of purchase. Is someone special in your life passionate about food and cooking? The perfect gift that makes everyday cooks feel like gourmet chefs. Gift Vouchers can be purchased for any value by contacting us via contact form.

RECIPES

Recipe: Korean banchan

I have been on medical leave for the past few months, nothing serious but I haven't been motivated to write. Still, I have been cooking and gardening a lot to keep myself busy. My parents finally came to visit me in Bangkok and brought lots of goodies from Korea. This...

Recipe: Pollock Soup

I promised to post dried pollock soup (북어국 - book e guk ) in this blog recently and one of my readers reminded me a few days ago.... Thanks for the reminder!!! I am still in Sydney and winter is approaching... I think it's a perfect weather for soup!!  Let’s begin…....

Ginseng chicken soup

A quick one tonight... I prepared Ginseng Chicken soup (aka sam ge tang 삼계탕) for dinner to test out my recipe for this Saturday's class. It's been a while since I made this but it still tasted really good. My husband loved it especially because it was a perfect meal...

TESTIMONIALS

Thank you very much for the last 2 days, the training was a huge success and the team was very happy about it!

Especially being very authentic about all the dishes and link them with some lectures and stories – exactly what I was looking for !

Very well done

Stefan Leitner

Executive Chef, Peninsula Bangkok

My deepest appreciation to everyone in making The Best of Korean Cuisine hosting the Ambassadors Lunch with Guest Chef Nicky Kim, success and in full support by Korean Embassy.

Specially Thank you to Guest Chef – Nicky Kim who is willing to collaborate with us despite being away to coordinate the logistics with our Operation Team and Culinary to ensure the smooth operation together with our Executive Sous Chef, Zacharie Ong.

Naveen Balakrishnan

Assistant Director of F&B, The Fullerton Bay Hotel Singapore

Nicky, thank you so much for putting the content of the soju cocktail mixology classes for our networking events with KTO Singapore last quarter.

The sessions were fun and interactive, our guests loved the classes very much.

Caitrin Moh

Senior MICE Manager, Korea Tourism Organisation

SOME OF THE CLIENTS

CONTACT NICKY

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