As the meal unfolds, Kim talks about the jangs we are about to eat-a tasting of soy sauces, including one that’s more than a hundred years old, inky and abyssal, dressing a procession of jeons (battered, fried vegetables); a sample of gochujang made by his mentor, tart and sizzle-sharp, sits next to a mellower, more mass-produced variety, duelling sauces for an exhilarating presentation of grilled beef and pork, meltingly tender, alongside a ruffle of lettuces and perilla leaves.