▲ Yukhoe Story / CEO Heonjeong Shin

Yukhoe is a Korean seasoned raw beef dish served minced and an egg yolk on top center. You might compare it with French steak tartare or Italian carpaccio. Yukhoe is guessed to be introduced in South Korea from Mongolia and a book JibongYuseol (1614) record Korean’s eating raw food. When mad cow disease hit the nation in 2008, the consumption of beef dropped significantly with yukhoe in particular. With gradual recovery, however, yukhoe seems to have found its former glory with timely introduce of a new yukhoe brand Yukhoe Story that won the 2021 Korea Social & Industrial Contribution Awards held by Herald Group. 

[Yukhoe Story]

The Korean beef used at Yukhoe Story is 1++ rich in protein, vitamin, iron and minerals. The meat is day-killed only and used within 24 hours for maximum freshness and is ripened for 3 to 4 hours to remove unique smell and blood. If you do not know what to order when you visit a restaurant, the assorted meal can be a good start with an accompaniment of a good alcoholic beverage. Or you can try yukhoe rice ball or yukhoe mixed rice if you are there alone. Heonjeong Shin, CEO of Yukhoe Story, took over the brand February 2019 and improved the quality and taste to an agreeable level with a rational price policy. He removed intermediary dealers and directly bought 1++ Korean beef from slaughterhouses to keep the price competitive while the quality intact. 

“There were four restaurants by the time I took over Yukhoe Story. I closed three and restarted with the restaurant in Yeonhuidong alone. Working in the industry for a long time, I’ve seen many restaurants selling foreign born beef as Korean beef. Though these milk cows are raised in the Korean soil, they are raised to produce milk but some aged milk cows are killed and sold as if they are Korean-breed beef. Quality and taste are of course very poor. I’m a man of morally-driven and I never fool my dinners and I confidently say that Yukhoe Story uses the best quality Korean beef” says Shin.

His honesty in business touched dinners first. The words spread fast and you can now find 10 Yukhoe Story restaurants in and around Seoul as well as one in Tongyeong, South Gyeongsang Province. 

“I think increasing the number of restaurant is not as important as maintaining the same quality, rational price and excellent services. Though I welcome willing partners but I usually choose one out of ten candidates. A business cannot avoid ups and downs and if a partner gives up easily during hard times without finding what have caused the slump with the head office, I can say he or she is not eligible to work with us because it also affects reputation of the brand.”

In this time of social distancing or if you are too busy to pay a visit to a restaurant, ordering Yukhoe Story on your smart phone app will be an easy option. PowerKorea>

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