Even if TV, radio and events host Sam Oh has been away from "home" since age six, she still was brought up in a Korean "environment" by her parents. No English and Tagalog at home. There was a lot of Korean food in the house and there's always kimchi in the fridge. To date, she still hasn't forgotten her roots even if she has moved on, been living on her own, and has been eating a lot more than the Korean fare--from her own baked goods (she made a beautiful cheesecake once) to those made by good chef friends (including Aileen Anastacio and Jackie Ang-Po from "True Confections" and Nino Logarta from "Sarap at Home".) We got to steal a couple of minutes from her busy schedule to ask to her about food. Here's what went on during that chat.

Do you have any fond food-related childhood memory?
I have a lot because my mom was quite the cook. She would cook a lot for us when I was growing up. I remember her making us pizza on loaf bread. It wasn’t baked. It was toasted on a pan. That was my childhood pizza. She made us Tonkatsu. I remember growing up eating a lot and loving my mom’s food so it was really about mom’s cooking.

Do you know how to cook?
That’s an uncomfortable question because all I really do is just get  recipes online and follow everything to the letter. I think I’d be more comfortable telling people that I cook when I can raid someone’s fridge, see what's in there, and whip up something amazing with whatever. So short answer is no [laughs]. I can bake because it's more like a science. But cooking, I’m not comfortable saying that I actually cook.

What are your favorite restaurants?
Off the top of my head, I love Cyma, Hossein’s because I like Mediterranean food, Benjarong because I like Thai food. I’m not  very hard to please.

What’s your ultimate comfort food?
Pizza. It’s easy. Maybe it has something to do with me having pizza when I was young. I’ve always liked pizza. It’s something that I crave when I’m in the apartment and lazy to cook and just pop in a DVD and eat pizza. It’s comfortable. Although I don’t feel very good about myself after eating pizza [laughs].
 
What's your guilty pleasure?
Probably chocolate. I’m a chocoholic. Whenever I do my groceries, I have to buy a couple of bars. Kahit ano. The cheapipay ones, the expensive ones. Doesn't matter.
 
What's the weirdest thing you’ve ever eaten?
When I went to Pampanga, we went to this restaurant and they had us actually cook in the kitchen of the restaurant. We had frogs and we had to fry them, stuffed them up with frog meat. All this exotic stuff. I’m not much of an adventurous eater, so anything that’s in a random place in a food chain I get very irked by it. But I tried it and it’s true what they say, it tastes like chicke [laughs].

And what won’t you dare it?
Eyeballs of some sort.

Pasta or rice?
I love all carbs equally and without discrimination.

Seafood, pork or beef?
Seafood. Feeling ko healthy siya. And I enjoy it. Flavor-wise also.

Cake or ice cream?
Oh gosh. That’s a tough one. Pwede bang ice cream cake? Those are so good.

Where do you want to go on a food trip? Why there and with whom?
I think I’d like to go back to China and eat all the exotic stuff. I didn’t really get to do that. I went to Beijing last January. I was there with a friend and we were both new to China so we didn’t really know which dishes to eat. We made sure to eat Peking Duck but aside from that we weren’t really adventurous. When I went to Wang Fu Jing Snack Street, I was alone na. My friend left already. So all  I could do was just stare at the scorpion and starfishes and I couldn’t really ask them—the language barrier. I can’t speak Chinese so I couldn’t really ask or talk to them. But I would love to go back with a friend and actually try them. People seem to enjoy it but I was just too chicken to do it by myself.

Where have you had the best meal thus far?
I just got back from Korea and in my last family dinner there, we went to a restaurant where they were serving smoked duck which was something I’ve never tried. And on a table there’s a grill, that’s very Korean. And you would just grlll the smoked duck and there’s a black sesame dipping sauce. And you eat it with pickled cabbage. To me, duck is a very rich meat but for some reason this didn’t feel rich at all. I guess the smoky flavor helped. It was really different and I really enjoyed it.

What is always in your ref/ pantry?
I don’t think I ever ran out of butter. For cooking and baking.

What do you want your last meal on earth to be?
Something my mom made. It’s a classic answer but it’s true.

The last thing you ate before this interview? And how was it?
Mais con hielo, from Goldilocks Thirst Quenchers.

 

Filipino Recipe
Thursday July 08 2010 04:05:53 PM

She is really pretty and sexy IMO. Would love to meet her in person. She really has a bright aura.

angelo
Tuesday February 23 2010 05:50:45 PM

I agree with everything you said, jon. Add to that, a really funny person. I got to work with her on True Confections and there would be times when we'd be laughing our hearts out.

jon
Tuesday February 23 2010 12:50:02 PM

i really admire her, whenever she's on tv, you can just feel the sincerity and integrity. she is a very good host, seems that she's living her life to the fullest everyday...if i could, i would take her to a foodtrip, not in china, but in in our own chinatown! i bet there are a lot of items there that she would love...