For the first time in its history, Saveur has crowd sourced its annual 100 List.  Of notable interest to Korean food fans, banchan (38) and ssam jang (57) made the list.

What do you think, Korean food or not, should have been there?

From the JoongAng Daily

A few days ago I posted an article of an event at the Institute of Traditional Korean Food.  They had a layout of dishes that supposedly foreigners liked best.  I wondered aloud what the dishes were and how they came about it.

The JoongAng Daily came to the rescue.  So it looks like a survey was sent to overseas restaurants.  These were the top twelve.  Many no-brainers on the list, but their placement seems odd.  Hobakjuk is at #3.  I like pumpkin porridge, but I didn’t know it was popular.  The grilled meat dishes are close to the bottom.  And hobak tteok??  I don’t think I’ve even seen it much in Korea.  Is it even in western countries?

At least now we have the list.  Controversial, I’d say.  Reactions?

[HT to The Marmot]

Behold, the Korean taco!

Now that all the yearly and decadely reviews are over, it’s time to take out the tarot cards, the crystal balls and the 800 Psychic Hotline number to predict what will be big in 2010.  Much like last year, Korean food is predicted to be the lone or minority ethnic cuisine to stand out in a time when people will turn more to domestic comfort foods.  But it won’t be in royal court cuisine or “topokki.”

Food industry analysts Technomic predict Korean food will “hit the mainstream” in the form of Korean barbecue and galbi tacos.  Baum & Whiteman are banking on Korean fried chicken–”invisibly coated, amazingly flavorful and fried twice for ultra-crunch.” Epicurious sees a jump in fried chicken in general, too.  But expect competition in the fried chicken frenzy from other cultural variations, such as Columbian, Guatamalan and Malaysian.

There are a lot of haters who don’t like this growing trend.  Just looking at the comments for Bite Club Eats, who included Korean food amongst their predictions, and some people really have a problem with it.  Maybe former or current English teachers.  Maybe Korea’s crooked private schooling system is finally biting the country on its butt after letting so many guest teachers get cheated without considering that those teachers would become influential in their home countries.

Ah… karma…

The Chowhound forums are leaning toward claiming that Korean food has already peaked on America’s west coast and is gaining steam on the east, especially NYC and DC, and could possibly spread to middle America.  On the forefront, some are speaking of banchan, gochujang replacing sriracha (gochujang mayo?), fusion kimchi, more Korean street food trucks, and “Korean is the new Thai.”

The National Restaurant Association’s Chef Survey: What’s Hot in 2010 has Korean food at 37% “hot trend,” 42% “yesterday’s news” and 21% “perennial favorite.” So maybe there is some credence that Korean food has crested, at least on the west coast and the hardcore foodie front.  But the following predicted trends sound more positive: black garlic, green tea, newly fabricated cuts of meat (could include L.A. galbi), non-traditional liquors (soju is included) and ethnic condiments (gochujang?).

In my opinion, the three-hour lines and the hype over the taco trucks will create a backlash, thus making it a fad.  No matter how good a food is, waiting a long time for it will only set you up for disappointment.  Soju will gain traction.  I wish makgeolli would, but the milky visuals may turn Americans off.  Kimchi will move from fine dining and ethnic restaurants to a few mainstream restaurants–via Korean tacos.  Expect to hear rumors of wild experiments by young chefs, such as grape kimchi and powdered kimchi.  I think Hanu beef is still under the radar but will be talked about in chefs’ circles (it already is), gaining some press maybe in 2011.

So, tell us.  What are your predictions for Korean food and food in Korea for 2010?  Is everyone on the mark or full of oxen manure?

The Chosun Ilbo relates an event at the Institute of Traditional Korean Food that invited prominent Americans living in Seoul (I wasn’t invited because I was too prominent).  It featured 20 Korean dishes that were most favored by Americans.  Would love to know what they were and how they figured this out.  The killer quote came from ITKF founder Yoon Sook-ja (the author of the kimchi book I like):

“New Yorkers tend to favor dishes that accentuate the flavors of individual ingredients. They also like sweet and soft dishes, such as pumpkin porridge.”

Followed by

“Diners in L.A. also enjoy spicy dishes, which seems to reflect the prevalence of Asian and Mexican foods in that part of the country as it has a large population of immigrants.”

I’ll leave it to you.  I’m not from New York or Los Angeles but from the Gulf Coast–ya know, where Tabasco comes from–so we can handle the spice no problem.  But do you think there are really distinct differences in what New Yorkers and Angelinos like in Korean food?

(HT to The Marmot)

Photo by Oliver Plath

Ana Finel Honigman writes a story, picked up by the Korea Herald, on how Korean food is a hit with the hipster crowd in Berlin.

Every international city offers a mix of street foods, but for most cities the culinary culture is defined by a taste for a particular type of exotic cuisine. While London is as famous for its curries and high-end Indian food and New Yorkers take pride in their connoisseurship at Japanese sushi restaurants, Berliners routinely tuck into Thai or Vietnamese food when eating out. Now, thanks to the brilliant new Korean restaurants captivating the tastes of Berlin’s coolest foodies, Korean food is becoming a favored choice for one of Europe’s most international and progressive cities. As Berlin-based video artist Cecile Evans recounts, “There is a great range of Korean dining – from the ultra hardcore purists to some of the more dressed up places catering to the nouveau culture crowd. It’s all surprisingly fresh and the kimchi always has the obligatory kick – hard to find in spice-phobic Europe!”

Read more on the Herald site.

(HT to Edward)

Lee Hong-chul, the team supervisor of the winners of the Young Creative Korean Culinary Competition’s Team Haute Cuisine Challenge, has some wise words to say about the promotion of Korean cuisine abroad (via The Korea Herald):

“Food is not just about the chef. It is about the diner.”

For Lee, domestic as well as foreign consumers need to be taken into consideration and other culinary methods can be used as long as the identity of the cuisine is not lost in the process.

—

“Right now, young Koreans, who are the main consumers, do not even eat it, so how can we tell foreigners to eat it?”

In Lee’s opinion, it is hard to find slightly more casual and lower-priced hansik restaurants for people to go to on dates or with guests.

“So, although the globalization of hansik is a form of globalization, first we need to eat it ourselves,” he said. “If we eat it often, then diverse ideas, what I mean is, lots of demands will arise … ‘I would like it like this or like that.’ Comments like that will lead to more commentary. The people who make it will try this and that, leading to diverse attempts. So, initially, through this, globalization will happen, step by step.”

I just scanned through a fluff piece in the Dong-a Ilbo where they interviewed hotel chefs on what Korean food needs to do to globalize.  It’s a theme that’s recycled each month in the papers.  I agreed with Chef Shim Chang-shik of the Grand Ambassador Seoul that Korean food needs to stay true to itself.

Again, the cringe-inducing catchword “well-being” found its way into the article.  Yes, that works for Japan and maybe certain parts of California.  But the rest of the world still cares about taste before green tea powder.

Needing to create a world-class chef to make Korean food popular?  I’m still on the fence with that.  I still think that Korean food is gaining popularity without–in spite of–the government’s efforts.  Knowing the food du jour they’re trying to promote, I wouldn’t be surprised if the next one is dried squid.

Supposedly the government has started a program to artificially create a famous chef.  Yes, we’re taking the JYP-Wondergirls approach.  And this program lasts for two to three months.  That’s it.  Not even a college trimester.

And what aspiring young chefs are taking this course?

Mostly “‘CEOs and corporate executives,’” according to a person quoted in the article, who “struggle with the program’s purpose.”

I think we just missed a golden reality show opportunity.

Edward passed along this blog post by gas•tron•o•my about Gyenari (owned by William Shin), which serves Korean food that seems to appeal to Americans.  It also has American prices ($12 for Kimchi Jjigae, whew!).  But a lot of the foods look clever and tasty.

Gyenari – Los Angeles (Culver City)

Gyenari (official site)

I have a feeling someone at Gourmet is reading the ZK Food Journal.

[Gourmet Magazine: Kimchi Quesadillas]