Like SC First Bank, shinseonro ‘is an exotic mix,’ says its CEO

Richard Hill, president and chief executive of SC First Bank, said shinseonro (traditional hot pot) combines flavors to present an exotic mix, “just like our bank.” By Oh Sang-min

Though the apron-clad Richard Hill was out of his element in the kitchen cooking shinseonro (traditional hot pot), the SC First Bank CEO was all smiles, eager to get involved.

Hill was at Marco Polo restaurant’s open kitchen in Samseong-dong, southern Seoul, cooking one of his favorite Korean dishes.

“How do you say carrot in Korean? I learned it during my Korean language class recently, but I forgot,” Hill asked chef Kim Ho-kyoung from the Grand InterContinental Seoul hotel, who was there to help the president and chief executive learn how to cook shinseonro.

When the chef responded that a carrot is called danggeun, an attentive Hill nodded and jotted it down.

“I study Korean and this week I started a new chapter on Korean food,” he said, adding that he used some dialogue from his Korean study book and inserted the word shinseonro instead of bulgogi.

Beside him was a glass of Chilean wine to sip on - he had ordered a bottle prior to the cooking session. Hill said he enjoys a glass of wine at home while cooking dishes like roast beef, believing that “wine helps the cooking.”

He was comfortable, extra pleased and most of all excited to get started.

Hill and Kim started work on the shinseonro, considered one of the tougher Korean meals to make. First they boiled water with clams, vegetables, a pinch of salt and some pepper. While the concoction simmered on low, the chef advised Hill to prepare a number of ingredients to put in the hot pot before adding the broth later on.

Hill began by preparing meatballs, then made fish jeon (fish pancakes) and boiled abalone, carrots, and radish. Next up, the chief executive sliced Napa cabbage, water parsley and leek, which would later be placed at the bottom of the hot pot.

It was in 2008, his first year in Seoul, that Hill had his first taste of shinseonro with his colleagues. Hill was relocated from Singapore to take up the positions of executive vice president, chief financial officer and head of strategy at Standard Chartered Korea and its banking unit. He later became president and chief executive in late 2009.

“I like the dish shinseonro because it comes in a really interesting pot. The visual performance of cooking is actually really important,” Hill said. “The dish also has a combination of flavors, which shows an exotic mix just like our bank,” he said, noting that the Britain-based financial company operates in more than 70 countries with people from more than 100 nationalities working for the institution.

As for the bank’s Korean unit, there are more than 10 nationalities represented.

“What makes us different [from other banks] is that we offer an international banking network to Korean consumers,” Hill said. “Every employee working for us is different in terms of race and cultural background, and yet we come together, just like the dish shinseonro.”

To exemplify this, Hill noted that the chief information officer of the bank’s Indian subsidiary visited the Korean unit several weeks ago as part of a recruitment program. More than 400 people interested in pursuing a career overseas signed up.

“The whole international nature of the bank is fascinating,” Hill said. “We are so much more than a foreign bank in Korea. I would like us to be the number one testimonial of the Korean experience for foreign investors, because Korea’s future is about interdependence with the international world.”

Shinseonro, said Hill, could be a representative dish of Korea.

Standard Chartered Korea owns five companies: SC First Bank, Standard Chartered Savings Bank, Standard Chartered Capital, Standard Chartered Securities, and Standard Chartered Fund Services.

As Hill continued on about shinseonro and his business philosophy, Kim signaled that the hot pot was ready for presentation.

Hill and the chef placed sliced Napa cabbage in the bottom of the pot before adding abalone, meatballs, shiitake mushrooms and water parley.

After warming the shinseonro on low heat, Hill dipped his spoon into the hot pot and tasted the heavily brewed seafood stock, noting the distinctiveness of each of the 15 ingredients.

“I could make the dish at home, but I wouldn’t be sure if the taste would be all very nice,” Hill said, finishing off his last sip of red wine.

Richard Hill (45)

*President and CEO of Standard Chartered Korea, Standard Chartered First Bank (since Dec. 2009)
*2008-2009: Standard Chartered First Bank executive vice president, CFO and head of strategy based in Seoul
*2006-2007: Standard Chartered CFO of global consumer banking based in Singapore
*1995-2005: Allied Domecq PLC
*1983-1986: Studied medical physics at the University of Exeter

By Lee Eun-joo [angie@joongang.co.kr]