Chef Esther Choi Beats The Heat In More Ways Than One

Forbes

5 hours ago

Chef Esther Choi recently partnered with Listerine to promote its new sensitive teeth product line.
Chef Esther Choi is used to heat. Whether it comes from her own Korean cooking, the heat of competition, the level of spice she ordains on the successful television shows she hosts, or this week's heat in New York, she's a pro at dealing with the sting of it; she even welcomes it. Some of that heat comes with celebration. As we speak, she is in the midst of celebrating season two of the wildly popular 24 in 24: Last Chef Standing show on the Food Network, season five of Heat Eaters with First We Feast, a year into motherhood, and ten years of her restaurant Mŏkbar . And to top it all off, she has a milestone birthday around the corner.
That's a lot for one chef's plate, but the heat and weight of all that is just another day in the life of this successful New York chef. Choi is one of a few major U.S. based Korean chefs, who, over the last decade, have brought Korean food into the mainstream and has made it one of our most craveable, can't-get-enough-of-it cuisines. One visit to Mŏkbar and you'll agree it is impossible to leave without slurping the classic ramen with abandon, relishing the juiciness of the halmoni dumplings, wanting to jar all three of the kimchis, or taking home the K-town fries for a late night, shouldn't-but-have-ta, snack. Layers upon layers of flavor. And heat. Choi and her team have pretty much slayed our addictions.
Which is why her recent partnership with Listerine actually makes sense. On the surface, it might not seem like the most likely collaboration--like repping a packaged food-- but as Choi explains, given the extremes of food temperature in Korean cuisine in particular, promoting a brand she grew up with and its new sensitive teeth product was a logical step. In Korean food, for example, 'The cold noodles are so cold they often have ice floating in it and the hot food comes to your table in a cauldron that's boiling hot, so….,'Choi stated coupled by a shrug of see what I mean.
From a boiling hot slurp of ramen, Chef Choi promotes Listerine's new product that will help sooth ... More the extremes of cold and hot foods.
Hot & Cold
To kick off the partnership, Choi created a menu that amplified the extremes of her cuisine, so people could not only enjoy the food, but go home and try the product to see if it lessened what those extreme temperatures can do to your teeth. It is not a miracle of course, but apparently over time, it is said to create a barrier that protects teeth from those extra cold or extra hot temperatures. The menu also included other toothy sensations from ultra sticky and tangy to impossibly sour, spicy or crunchy.
Ginger Maesil Slush–Soju, maesil (korean plum), fresh ginger, crushed iceoGinger maesil slush; Pomegranate Smash–pomegranate juice, fresh limejuice, simple syrup, club soda
Hamachi Crudo–Yellowtail sashimi, gochujang granita; Garden Goddess Kimbap: pickled purple cabbage, lettuce, asparagus, carrot, cucumber, green goddess sauce; Japchae Dumplings: shiitake, tofu, cabbage, garlic chives, glass noodles with a soy chili
K-Pop Chicken–extra crispy battered chicken in a sizzling hot soy caramel sauce or spicy gochujang glaze served in a salted blue waffle cone Toppings: chopped pistachios, sesame seeds, bacon bits, puffed rice, scallions; Classic Ramen–hot ramen with a gochujang pork broth, braised pulled pork, fresh noodles; Vegan Miso Ramen–Kombu doenjang broth with tofu and fresh noodles; Toppings: spinach, beansprouts, pickled mushroom, soy marinated soft boiled egg, nori, crispy potato, scallion
Ice Cream–toasted sesame, calamansi or fior (plain milk ice cream); Toppings include gochujang caramel, soy caramel, puffed rice, honeycomb, nata jelly, popping rocks, mochi rock candy.
PEBBLE BEACH, CALIFORNIA - APRIL 12: Chef Esther Choi attends the Saturday Tasting Pavilion at the ... More Pebble Beach Food & Wine Festival on April 12, 2025 in Pebble Beach, California. (Photo by Amber)
When talking about her contribution in raising our collective desire for Korean food in the U.S., she is certainly proud. In addition to opening Mŏkbar in 2014--now with three locations--she has since added the chic gastropub Ms. Yoo in NYC's Lower East Side, and Gahm by Mŏkbar , a more intimate, personal spot, in Brooklyn. 'Korean food is definitely making its strides and doing incredibly well," she said. 'There's something very special about that. It is addictive and uses fermentation and old world techniques that make it so damn delicious. But of course it is also driven by the passion of many chefs and restaurateurs,' she added.
Outside of her work in restaurants, Choi has been a force on television, lending not only expertise in the realm of Korean cuisine but expanding screen representation for women in the culinary industry, women of color, and women overall.
'Growing up, I didn't have a figure to look up to or want to become. Having that type of inspiration matters for me," she said. Which is why she does as much as she can to be that face of possibility, and that drive for others coming up behind her.
Choi, who has worked in restaurants she was 14, has also been very open about how much her inspiration comes from her grandmother. Having moved to the U.S. as a young girl with both parents working full-time, she and her siblings were raised in large part by her grandparents. In the 2021 documentary Her Name Is Chef, Choi talked about deviating from the path of lawyer or doctor as many Korean parents hope for, she said, and instead drawing passion from watching her grandmother serve and nurture in the name of food.
Chef Esther Choi is now hosting the fifth season of Heat Eaters, the on-the-road off shoot to the ... More popular Hot Ones series.
'My grandmother is a phenomenal cook. She grew all her own produce," she noted. "It was one of my favorite things. Watering the garden, picking the produce, then using it to cook whatever she was going to cook. She made everything from scratch,' Choi recalls in the documentary.
Today, as a new mom, Choi is enjoying a new perspective on cooking, cooking for others, and a newfound pride in her heritage. 'Being a mom, changes a you,' she said. 'You do look at cooking differently. And it has made me into an obsessive psycho,' she laughed. Although many chefs admit they don't cook when they are off the clock, so to speak, Choi says it is the opposite for her. She is still very much an avid cook, and now with her son in tow, she has been challenging her self to learn and re-learn techniques, while taking a closer look at ingredients.
Choi is a New Yorker, a Korean-American, a television host, a mom, and underneath it all, a passionate cook, who just wants to share with the world, what her grandmother first shared with her, the beauty of food and culture and how it nurtures a fierce sense of pride.
The Mŏkbar team.