If you’ve seen New Yorkers walking around Union Square with coffee cups decorated with the Korean finger heart, you might not realize that they’re infused with beef bone broth.
These innovative drinks are the creation of NYU Stern alum Edlin Choi, who recently landed a spot at the Union Square Holiday Market for his bone broth company, Reclamation Foods. Formerly known as Heart & Seoul Food Co., the company aims to honor Choi’s Korean heritage while also reducing food waste.
“Reclamation Foods is about trying to reclaim that cultural wisdom to use the whole animal,” Choi said in an interview with WSN. “In doing so, we reclaim our health, our joy and creative agency in the kitchen.”
In addition to Reclamation Foods’ matcha and turmeric bone broth lattes, Choi’s Holiday Market booth offers a holiday exclusive — the Tis the Season, a beef bone broth-infused salted honey peppermint hot chocolate. While it may be an unconventional addition, the broth adds a rich layer to the drink, balancing the sweetness of the honey and chocolate. Choi’s Holiday Market booth also serves bruleed sweet potatoes with a caramelized exterior that melts in your mouth.
After Choi graduated from NYU in 2010, he began working a corporate job, but remained interested in pursuing a career in food. Nine years later, he left his job in tech to begin an apprenticeship at a regenerative farm in Georgia — where he was inspired by the usage of every part of the animal.
According to the United States Department of Agriculture, about 30% of hog weight and over 40% of cattle weight is considered inedible, and often goes to waste. When Choi started his company in 2023, he aimed to challenge both these industrial practices and cultural taboos surrounding the consumption of non-traditional cuts of meat.
Choi first began by renting out space at a commercially-licensed kitchen, working 16 to 20 hours per day to prepare bone broths for farmers markets and pop-up events. Since the broths are unseasoned, they can serve as a replacement for anything that calls for water. Choi uses it to cook rice and thicken pasta sauce, but said it could even be added to smoothies.
While Reclamation Foods is still in its early stages, the company has gained traction in the past year — it won an award at the 2024 Good Food Awards and is a finalist for the 2024 Shelfies Awards, both of which highlight growing brands. This year, Choi also began developing a shelf-stable broth for online orders, using animal parts from local farmers to promote a more sustainable food system. Moving forward, Choi hopes to open a brick-and-mortar location — a bone broth bar.
“I used to get made fun of for being Korean as a kid, so that’s definitely a formative memory and maybe a part of why I’m doing this personally,” Choi said. “The main theme of Reclamation is also partially about reclaiming my pride in my heritage.”
Contact Yasmin Minos at [email protected].