The New York Times has a little piece and video on making Pajeon, the Korean pancakes that make great drinking food.
Category: Globalization
Off the Broiler Does Mandoo Bar in Manhattan
Jason Perlow (eGullet, Linux Magazine) has posted an enticing droolscape of Mandoo Bar in Manhattan’s Little Korea on his food blog Off the Broiler.
The New York Times Reviews MomoFuku Ssam Bar
Frank Bruni, the somewhat controversial New York Times food critic, has given a somewhat decent review of David Chang’s new restaurant, Momofuku Ssam Bar.
Significance?
Well, it’s a bit of a Korean themed restaurant that is getting some buzz in New York. Chang himself is of Korean descent, and the word ssam is Korean for “wrap.”
In fact, I’ve read somewhere that they have a good bossam “off the menu” if you ask for it politely ahead of time. A pork feast for twelve.
Am I being too optimistically paranoid that Korean food is becoming a bigger deal in New York?
Korean Pears Contribute to $110 Burger
I recently read on Slashfood that a $110 Kobe beef burger has been introduced at the Four Seasons Hotel in Jakarta, Indonesia. It uses premium ingredients that are almost all imported, which accounts for the price. The hamburger is made from Kobe beef, Portobello mushrooms, foie gras, and Korean pears.
If you’ve never had a Korean pear, you gotta try one. You can also find them in the grocery store labeled as “Asian” pears. They’ve quickly become one of my top five favorite fruits. They’re sweet, extremely juicy, and have a firm solid texture that makes them unique. They are not at all like the familiar Anjou pears, which I always thought had a soapy taste, which makes me wonder why the Korean pear is called a pear. I’m not a botanist, so I’m sure there’s something I’m missing in the lucrative academic field of fruit classification.
I do feel that Korean pears are one of Korea’s great contributions to the world. I actually think it would work well on a Kobe beef foie gras burger. Then again, it’s Indonesia. What–did they run out of durian?
Boston Globe Bulgogi Recipe
Another sign that Korean food may be the next Asian food trend in America. A bulgogi recipe from chef Kim Joon Hak showed up in the Boston Globe.
Slashfood also did a bit about the Korea Times article on Korean royal court cuisine.
The Black Table’s Take on Galbi in New York
I was looking around for something I forget about when I came across this blog entry about Korean BBQ in NYC. Looking at the pictures and reading the descriptions, it’s amazing how Korean food is non-negotiable when moving to other countries (unlike Chinese food). The only differences I saw was that beef was more common, because of price and tastes, I assume. And coarse salt was a condiment, which I only see for samgyeopsal in Korea.Really, this article describes the primitive emotions in eating Korean BBQ. Another thing that pleased me was that the author was introduced to Korean food through Japanese friends, “who spoke of Korean barbecue with a kind of animal yearning, as thought it wasn’t simply food to be eaten, but a condition one must aspire to, a gift to be coveted, then ravished.”
My impression of the tense historical relationship between Japan and Korea was that the Japanese looked on Koreans with disdain as backward country folk with no redeeming qualities. There’s even a graphic novel that’s currently popular in Japan that racially degrades Koreans and Japanese.
WAY OFF TOPIC
Honestly, I think that’s why I prefer Korean food over Japanese food (even though I really like Japanese food). Koreans’ history of dealing with poverty and famine has created a unique rustic and honest cuisine that is very different from Japanese cuisine. It’s like comparing Parisian cuisine to the staples of Provence. I prefer the peasant food of Provence.
That aside, this article captures the spirit of Korean BBQ in America and gives me comfort in the thought that my fellow countrymen can embrace kimchi and the art and danger of grilling food at your table.