Tag: Fast Food

Product Review: Annie Chun's Korean Sweet Chili Noodle Bowl
Annie Chun's noodles are not currently available in the ROK. After Annie Chun's Gochujang sparked controversy in the Korean blogosphere, I decided I'd check out one of her other Korean food offerings to get a sneak preview of things to come.
The Korean blogosphere has been spinning recently over how to introduce Korean cuisine to American markets and, particularly, what should be role of the South Korean government in this popularization. However, Korean food companies on both sides of the Pacific aren’t waiting for Seoul to tell them what to do.
Until Annie Chun's merger with CJ Foods in 2005, Annie Chun's line did not feature any Korean style foods. Since that time, she has introduced Korean noodles, Kimchi soup, and Korean seaweed wraps to her line.
Annie Chun is a Korean-born developer of one of the most popular lines of prepared Asian foods in the United States. After the merger with CJ Foods in 2005, Annie Chun’s started going back to her Korean roots with food items such as the Korean Sweet Chili Noodle Bowl. I found it in a local San Francisco Bay–area supermarket, which was not selling her newly released bottled gochujang (spicy red pepper paste) yet.
I tested the dish by preparing it according to label instructions and without modifications. What’s required is just scalding-hot water — heated in a kettle, bottle dispenser or microwave — to warm the noodles and reconstitute the dehydrated vegetables and spices.
The sauce is very sweet. A number of hanshik lovers may cringe at sweet and spicy Korean noodle dish, but the name of the dish does include the word sweet.
The label also says the spiciness level is “medium,” and that’s an accurate comparison with other spicy Korean foods. But it might be a bit mild for Koreaphiles.
The combination of spiciness and sweetness reminded my husband of the American Chinese food favorite orange chicken, with a Korean flair of sesame oil.
Pros
- 100 percent natural. For example, the sweetener is cane sugar juice instead of high-fructose corn syrup.
- Vegan. That’s rare for prepared Korean foods.
- Fresh noodles, not deep fried or dried.
- No MSG or preservatives.
- Quick to make. It takes about two minutes from heat to eat.
Cons
- High in calories. A bowl supposedly has two servings, totaling 640 calories for one bowl.
- Too sweet. Traditional Korean food items such as dakkalbi (spicy grilled chicken) and dwejikalbi (spicy grilled pork) have a balance of salty, sweet, spicy and bitter.
One of the reviewers for this product on Amazon.com posted her recipe for what you might call stir-fried Korean sweet chili noodles with shrimp.
So first you saute some veggies, say, in some peanut oil in a skillet or small wok, and then you add some scallops, say, or maybe shrimp, and then you turn off the heat and follow the directions on the box (using the microwave). Then you add the noodles, flavor pack and the UNBELIEVABLY fantastic Sweet Korean Chili sauce to the skillet and toss to heat through. Maybe you add some almonds or peanuts, say, after you add it all either to a bowl or a plate, and then you consume with some moderately sweet wine, like White Zinfandel, say. An absolutely fantastic meal.
That’s certainly a good option to stretch this 600-plus-calorie bowl between two to four people.
On its own, Annie Chun’s Korean Sweet Chili Noodle Bowl is a slightly healthier alternative for a quick lunch at work than greasy fast food or a bowl of deep-fried ramen. But if your sweet tooth is reserved for dessert only, you might want to leave this noodle bowl on the shelf.
June 13, 2010
BiBi–Oh, NO-O-O!!
Here it is, folks. Meet your new master.
Remember the beloved Cafe Sobahn in downtown Seoul? It closed down to create this:
The name “Bibigo” combines bibimbap, the spicy mixed rice and vegetable dish and “to go.” The restaurant’s emphasis is on quick takeout.
“It’s often the case that foreigners have a difficult time eating Korean food cooked and served the traditional way,” [CJ Foodville CEO Kim Il-chun] said. “Should Koreans emphasize the traditional element of the food, foreigners may take interest in it out of curiosity, but in the long term there will be a limit to that interest.”
[…]
[Get ready for it…]
“We want Bibigo to be the McDonald’s or Starbucks of Korean food,” he said.
I hope you weren’t in the middle of drinking your coffee when reading that.
Here’s the scoop. Some of you may remember Seoul Eats and ZenKimchi organizing secret test marketing last year for a Korean restaurant. It was for Cafe Sobahn’s expansion into overseas markets. Some of you participated in it, and it was a good time. The word spread about Cafe Sobahn, and it became a favorite amongst the foreigner crowd. Towards the end of the market testing, which the exec in charge admitted that CJ had little experience in doing, they asked what we thought of the name “Bibigo.”
There was almost universal laughter and strong opposition to the name.
I guess you can figure out that they threw the market testing out the window, shuttered Cafe Sobahn, and went ahead with shoving this Bibigo down their markets’ throats.
Despite the McDonaldization and that bitter tasting story, I would still like to try it out. They’re still obsessed with the “Americans will eat it because it’s healthy” meme over the reality that Americans put taste over health most of the time. They’re not Koreans. These guys have a hard time mentally wrapping around that concept. But after reading the description of one dish, black rice, bulgogi, and citron soy sauce, I’d be interested in checking it out.
But if they won’t listen to the market they’re trying to sell to, maybe they’d at least learn from the failed efforts of their rivals. It got passed on to me that Korean bakery Paris Baguette, which does have a location in L.A., try to rebrand itself in another location as Wheatberry Bakery in Pasadena, CA. Yes, they were able to fool some folks into thinking it was an olde worlde European bakery, but others saw through it. Through bad management (likely middle-aged ajosshis refusing to listen to the on-the-frontline notes from their underlings), unsanitary conditions, bait-and-switch overpricing (sound familiar?) and a total arrogant presumption towards their market, Wheatberry crashed down in flames.
‘McDonald’s of bibimbap’ debuts
[HT to a very special reader]
May 11, 2010
Junk: Lotteria's Red & White Burger
As a public service, I usually (not all the time) try out whatever new crime against nature product from Lotteria’s great minds. What really got it rollin’ was a text message from Wine Korea’s Joshua Hall saying something like, “You gotta try this!”
Already I felt a little safer about this one compared to something like, say, the rice burger, because I already like–am addicted to–the shrimp burgers. And this was a bonus one with two shrimp patties and two sauces.
One side was the standard tartar sauce-like stuff, and the other side was a sweet southeast Asian style chili sauce, all served on a long roll with lettuce.
Yep, I liked it. The shrimp burgers are getting closer and closer to tasting like po’ boys. It’s junky, and I can’t eat these all the time. It’s not gonna blow your mind, but at times Lotteria has to be treated like kids at a church camp–give them praise for effort.
April 29, 2010