By Priscilla Osaje

An analyst, Ms Deborah Olabelurin, has emerged winner of the second edition of the 2025 ‘Hansik’ (Korean food) contest final round held in Abuja, carting home a N1 million cash prize and a trip to Korea.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Hansik is widely celebrated for its freshness, varieties, well-seasoned ingredients, deliciousness and high health benefits.

In 2004, the World Health Organisation (WHO) selected Hansik as a ‘model’ for nutritional balancing.

The Hansik contest with the theme:’ Share your Love for Jang-based Korean Food, was in celebration of the UNESCO registration of Jang Culture (Jang Korean Sauces).

The competition, which was organised by the Korea Cultural Centre in Nigeria (KCCN) in collaboration with Korean Food Promotion Institute (KFPI), had 12 finalists with two teammates and Olabelurin emerging  as winners.

The Hansik competition was based on Jang Korean Sauces that featured Korean foods tasting such as cup Ramyeon, cup Tteakbokki, cup Bibimbap, Dakgangjeong and Japchae by Nigerians that are lovers of Korean culture.

Ms Igbayilola Olowu came second, winning N700,000 cash while Mrs Patience Berepele who came third, took home a cash prize of N400,000.

Olabelurin, who felt so excited, said words were not sufficient for her to express her joy.

According to her, the extension of the deadline made her to give the contest a second thought, adding that she did not plan to join this year’s contest after her elimination at the final in 2024.

“Since I love cooking, I just said to myself that there is no harm in trying and here I am, a winner.

“In this year’s contest, I decided to use more of the Korean ingredients, compared to 2024 where I used a bit of their ingredients.

“Since I have an Instagram cooking page, I will work more on the page in order to push out more cooking content, as well as collaborating with KCCN to build community that will grow with food,” she said.

For Olowu, a student, who came second, she said the competition has made her to love Korean culture more and being able to use ‘Gochugaru’ to prepare Korean food made her more excited.

“I want to say a big thank you to KCCN for coming up with such initiative in Nigeria that had exposed us to their culture for good. I promised to start preparing Korean food for my family,” she said.

Mrs Patience Berepele has expressed gratitude to God for making it to the third prize winner.

Berepele, who was the winner of the maiden edition in 2024, appreciated KCCN for giving her another opportunity to participate.

The Director of KCCN, Mr Kim Changki, said the initiative of Hansik contest is aimed at promoting Korean culture, reason why they invited K-pop dancers and prepared Korean food.

Changki said that the initiative had brought synergy between Nigerians and Koreans in many aspects, especially in their food culture.

He said that the Hansik contest will continue even after his tenure, stressing that the Korean government was aware that Nigerians love their culture.

Ms Yunjin Lee, Event Manager of KCCN, said the event was the second edition of Hansik contest in Nigeria and was organised in collaboration with institutions like Korean Food Promotion Institute (KFPI).

Lee added that KCCN coming up with K-pop in this Hansik contest was to ensure a remarkable event that Nigerians could enjoy alongside the Korean food like Ramyun, Dakgangjeong, Japchae among others.

“In this year’s contest, the participants are competing with the theme of ‘Jang’, which is the UNESCO related cultural, and the Jang Korean dishes were prepared by the contestants.

“Korean food is not only with a good main dish, but we also eat together with a good side dish. Our winner, as well as other contestants did a good job in the competition.

“The Jang taste of the winner was really authentic, not only satisfying for the Korean people, it also satisfied the judges who comprised of the Korean Ambassador, KCCN director, embassy chef and Nigerian chef that agreed with Olabelurin’s winning,” he said.

Chef Godfrey Odoh, Vice President of Association of Professional Chefs Nigeria (APCN), who was one of the judges, commended KCCN for the expansion and advancement of the competition.

According to him, the competition focused basically on ‘Jang’, which is a very vital foundational recipe in the life of the Korean team.

“Our major focus was on the applications and the usage of the ‘Jang’, which is significant to the Korean because there is no dish you make in Korea without jang for the sake of pleasantness.

“So, the focus was the Jang and the test must complement the Jang as a recipe,” he said.

The highlight of the competition was a performance by ‘Jumparewa’ K-pop dancers that comprised of seven ecstatic dancers who thrilled K-pop lovers with their unique dance styles.

The event also witnessed Korean spicy challenge, Korean food concentrate (names of Korean food), as well as “Chopsticks” game challenge where players competed to pick up objects with chopsticks. (NAN)(www.nannews.ng)

Edited by Joseph Edeh