The Wall Street Journal has a profile of the man who started the gourmet taco truck craze and was inadvertently one of the big boosts to Twitter in the early years (early as in late 2008)–Roy Choi.  Yes, the same Roy Choi of the Kogi Taco Truck.  The story goes into his Korean-American background and the all-to-familiar themes of pressure to perform at school with subsequent rebellion.

It also gives some hints to what his upcoming rice bowl restaurant will be like.  They say in the article that there’s no name, but I could have sworn that I read somewhere that it was going to be “Scoop.”

[HT to Edward]

The King of the Streets Moves Indoors

Tags: All Korean Food, Food, kogi taco, Korea, korean, korean taco, koreatown, los angeles, mexican, Restaurant, roy choi

Posted by shinshine

Living in New York usually means limited space.  I go through an automatic justification process in my head on how much space a specific item will occupy even before considering its price.  I have a stovetop coffee maker for its compact size and a hand mixer instead of a kitchen aid.  There are so many other things I just decided not to get because it wasn’t worth trying to re-define the kitchen boundary (can I keep an ice cream machine next to my couch?).

Then it dawned on me that the biggest instrument sitting on the kitchen countertop is my rice cooker.  The frequency of use somewhat makes up for its permanent occupancy, but even after reading all about the things I could/should be making with my rice cooker, I’ve made so many of the same plain rice for so long.  Time to change it up and get more rent out of the rice cooker.

Hence the carrot-mushroom rice.  This is an abridged version of my Japanese host mother’s takikomi gohan (I lived in Japan for a year a long time ago), rice mixed with chicken, sliced carrots, shitake mushrooms, fried tofu skin (abura age), and burdock roots (gobou), seasoned with soy sauce and sake, then cooked in dashi water.  Variations are easily found on the internet.

To Make Carrot-Mushroom Rice) To make rice for 2, make dashi water with a piece of kelp (size of any of your 2 fingers) soaked in 2 cups of water for an hour or boil then cool down.  Soak 1 cup of rice in dashi water for an hour.  Add thinly sliced vegetables, in this case, carrots and shitake mushrooms.  Add one tablespoon of soy sauce.  Adjust the water level to barely cover all ingredients sittng flat on the rice cooker bowl (may not need all 2 cups of dashi water).  Press the ‘cook’ button and walk away.  When the rice is done, crack an egg into the rice cooker, and start the rice cooker again.  Check after 5 minutes (may need more/less time) for a perfectly cooked egg to put on top of the rice bowl.  Don’t forget to turn off the rice cooker!

The ratio of water to rice is the tricky part and also varies slightly depending on the rice cooker.  Dashi water is optional, you can use just plain water.  I also used sticky brown rice (=glutinous brown rice, sweet brown rice), which is my favorite kind of rice because of its stickiness and texture (vs. short-grain brown rice lacks stickiness, short-grain white rice lacks texture).

The title of ‘Rice Cooker Series’ is more for me – to encourage myself to make more varied use of my rice cooker.  This could be one of my new year’s resolutions!

Shinshine grew up in Seoul and has been living in the U.S. roughly the latter half+ of her life, including the last 5 years in New York.  Even with her career in finance, her true passion, the kitchen, has always beckoned.  After culinary school last year, she is now a full-time restaurant cook in New York City.  Recently she started her food diary, www.shinshine.com, which is about three things in life she enjoys the most – food, Korea and New York.  When she’s not in the kitchen, she’s usually scouring New York’s markets and streets for cooking inspiration.

Tags: All Korean Food, Food, foods, Korea, korean, Korean Recipes, korean recipes, rice

The past few years I have spent my free mornings walking up the leg of Gwanak Mountain that’s behind my house.  It’s an easy thirty-minute walk that passes by four gorgeous Buddhist temples and ends with satisfying views of my fair city of Anyang.  In June, little berries popped out on the side of the road that looked like raspberries.  They’re tart and seedier than the raspberries and blackberries I used to pick at my grandparents’ place in North Carolina, but it’s always cool to forage your snacks while hiking.

These little berries are called “san ddalgi” 산딸기, or “mountain strawberries.” The English name is Korean raspberry.

This is the first year, though, that I’ve seen them for sale on the street.  I bought a small batch from my local tiny mart and tried them.  They’re much milder than the ones on the mountain behind our home.  They have the texture of a raspberry and the flavor of a very weak strawberry with some other aroma that hits the back of the tongue that’s unfamiliar that’s similar to the way that Korean bean sprouts taste, what I say, soapier, than other bean sprouts.

Nonetheless, I found that they were good blended with frozen bananas in a smoothie.  With the store bought ones, though, clean them thoroughly and check each one for mold.

They’re on the mountains from now until late July.  If your eyes are peeled, you’ll also catch some tiny berries that actually do look like wild strawberries.  Last year, I broke all the rules of my old Boy Scout manual and tried one.

Didn’t die.

The wild strawberry was mild and juicy.  Not sweet.  But again, something interesting to look out for when hiking the many mountains in Korea.

Tags: Food, korean, mountain, strawberries

Eun Jeong and I are on Arirang Today, um, today.  It’s a magazine show on Arirang TV.  It’s a bit about the globalization of Korean food.  Got a free meal out of it.

Tags: arirang, Food, korean, tv

We had the pleasure today to take a little journey to Sanchon 산촌, a fairly famous restaurant in Insa-dong.

Famous, you say?

It’s the place known for Buddhist temple cuisine.  Remember a while back I did an article about temple cuisine?

Oh, you don’t.

Okay, well, this is one of the few times that I would say vegetarian food is good.  GOOD!

Sanchon is a bit pricey, so it’s a special occasion place.  And it truly surprises.  The food uses no animal products whatsoever.  It’s not only vegetarian, it’s freakin’ VEGAN!

The difference between this vegan food and the vegan food you’d get in California is that this actually has flavor.

The ladies there gave me a special honor in letting Eun Jeong and me into the kitchen to watch how they make some of the dishes, specifically the namul 나물.  This is the category for small veggies.  Here’s a little recipe for watercress, which is in the top bowl in the picture.

2 cups Watercress, cleaned and trimmed
1/2 tsp. Sesame Oil
1/2 tsp. Soy Sauce
1 tsp. Sesame Seeds
1/2 tsp. Garlic, minced
1/2 tsp. Gochujang
1/2 tsp. Sugar
1/2 tsp. Rice Vinegar

Add each ingredient and mix one-by-one with the watercress.  Serve in a wooden bowl.

Since I did that article on temple cuisine a while back, I noticed that they were breaking a few rules there, particularly in using garlic, gochujang and refined sugar.  Those are no-nos in traditional Buddhist cuisine.  We asked about it and got the reply that occasionally the use of those ingredients is okay in moderation.  I remember asking the Buddhist monk who lectured us on temple cuisine about using garlic, and he said it was okay, too, in special circumstances, like when a monk has low energy or some type of illness.

They modified their claims by saying that one could request their meal be totally free of the verboten passion-inducing ingredients.

Nonetheless, this is a well-balanced dressing for any peppery greens.  It would work on arugula, too (for all you Obama supporters).

Tags: buddhist, Food, korean, recipe, temple, watercress

The weather gets cooler–it’s street food season.  Check out these Eggy Bread (Gyeran Bbang 계란 빵).  They’re a bit like French Toast but more… eggy.  They have a slight sweetness but not overpowering, and they are perfect for a late night street food crawl.

Tags: bread, egg, Food, korean, Street Food

Hey, I know the Korean blogosphere was going nuts over President-elect Obama saying, “Annyeong haseyo” to a Korean supporter. But I’m more impressed that he expressed a liking of bulgogi and kimchi when he talked to President Lee Myung-bak on Friday.

Tags: Food, korean, obama

When I ride above-ground transportation through Korea, I like to play a game where I read as many Korean signs as I can before they pass by. As a result, my reading speed is about at the level of a five-year-old’s. On the bus home from work last week, I caught this sign at the corner of my eye.

Did I see that right? Yang-gogi?? Lamb?? Now, in the past, I’ve seen some restaurants advertise “Yang Gobchang 곱창” which has nothing to do with meat that bleats. So I was ready for disappointment. But then I noticed the cartoon lamb on the sign.

The next day, I mentioned it to my boss when he suggested going for beer after work. Chris, Chris and I walked from work Friday evening to this place I spotted. It looked more and more like it was an honest to goodness lamb restaurant. The plants outside indicated that it was new. When we walked inside, the smell confirmed it.

Get ready for some lamby goodness!

Now, generally, I have heard from Koreans that lamb is not a popular meat. Too gamey. They don’t raise sheep here, so it’s all imported from New Zealand. It’s a very foreign meat. You’d might as well put a zebra on the grill.

Despite this assumption, the place was packed. The location is in Indeogwon in northeast Anyang, otherwise known as the “Ajosshi Playground” because it’s where the government workers in nearby Gwacheon go to have some good times–and they must really enjoy getting massages from blind people, considering that’s the dominant business in that area.

The other pleasant treat at this restaurant, Jogicheon Yang-gogi 조기촌 양고기 (Ph. 031-457-8800), was that the prices were highly reasonable, ranging from 10,000 to 18,000 won per person for grilled meat. The basic “Lamb chop with soy sauce and herb,” 250g for 10,000 won, was the best deal.

I’ve said it many times before. Lamb has been begging for a Korean interpretation. It’s the perfect marriage. Sometimes when you get “lamb” in Korea, it’s mutton. But this meat was clean and subtle in flavor. It was real lamb. The marinade enhanced its natural taste rather than cover it up. Even better, this was sutbul gui 숫불 구이, meaning it was cooked over charcoals at the table and not over plain gas.

The side dishes stood out too. We went there two nights in a row, and most all the dishes had changed. Nothing was mediocre. The lamb also comes with a honey mustard and a smokey hot sauce for dipping.

The menu tries to incorporate lamb in a hearty handful of traditional Korean dishes, including Galbi Jjim 갈비 찜, Jeongol 전골, and, can you believe it, Yuk Hui 육회–Korea’s steak tartare.

We ordered the Yuk Hui on the second night, and it was one of those times when Jennifer (Fatman Seoul) did one of her faces that looked like something naughty was going on in her brain. Rob (Roboseyo) liked it too. Again, it was clean, freshly made and only had a subtle lamb flavor. The sauce was fruity with a slight hint of heat. It’s the closest lamb has come to being dessert. (Hopefully Jen will send me the picture she took soon.)

To get there, head to Indeogwon Station (line 4) and head south along the right side of the road. Turn right at the river. It’s on the second floor.

[Google Earth bookmark]

Tags: Food, galbi, korean, lamb

Longtime Korea gadfly Michael Breen has posted a great tongue-in-cheek rundown of how Korea will be in 2068. Despite the head-scratching political overtones (“Many, including Korea, have adopted a flat tax regime”) and ironic cheerleading of its published source (“The Coryo Times, formerly known as the Korea Times, is the most widely read newspaper in the country and the leading daily in East Asia”), it’s particularly entertaining towards the end, where it comes to dining life.

The Korean diet has changed somewhat in recent decades and Koreans have developed a taste for what was once considered foreign food. Most small towns have Indian, Thai, Ethiopian and Lebanese restaurants.

With the departure of the Blue House to Gaeseong, the area around the old Gyeongbok Palace in Seoul is now a vibrant restaurant center featuring every type of cuisine imaginable. Several of the world’s top chefs work there and at any given time, two or three establishments feature in the Hankook Tire Guide’s list of top 20 restaurants in the world.

Pretty funny!

Tags: breen, Food, Korea, korean, michael, times