Story
A Kitchen that Specializes in Jinju-style Cuisine
The name of the restaurant, “Hamo,” means “Indeed! (an expression to show that you strongly agree with what the other person says)”
in the Gyeongsangnam-do dialect, which embodies our hope to create lasting good memories for you.
From a long time ago, Jinju has been known for its gyobang food with a flourished aristocrat banquet culture.
Often called as chibohwaban (flower-like rice decorated with seven gems), Jinju-style bibimbap was highly praised,
in particular, as one of the top three dishes from Joseon Dynasty.
Hamo aims to reinterpret the forgotten Jinju-style bibimbap and many other local dishes
from western Gyeongsangnam-do to promote quality and excellence in fine local cuisine.
Hamo’s Taste
We prefer to serve you healthy food, consuming adequate
amounts of sauce and applying proper cooking methods.
With our special home-made deonjang(Korean miso), soy sauce,
and sesame oil, we always try to bring out the natural flavors of
the ingredients directly from local farmers. In this ever-changing digital world, we attempt to remain unchanged, believing truly that an analog way of life is worth pursuing.
Hamo’s House-made Jang
We truly believe that jang (paste and sauce) is the key to great Korean cuisine.
Every year at Hamo, we make deonjang(Korean miso) and soy sauce out of our self-produced beans. We boil soybeans planted in spring and harvested in autumn in the same year, and carefully ferment them in a red clay room. When the Lunar New Year comes, we create a fermented paste of boiled soybeans and soy sauce, a by-product of making deonjang.
It takes a lot of patience and hard work until a fermented soybean lump made of high-quality soybeans, water, and salt turns into a delicious deonjang in a breathing traditional Korean earthenware called onggi, thanks to the help from the sun and the wind. As time goes by, jang becomes even more exquisite and pleasant, which lays the foundation for all our beautiful dishes.