Tag: Fusion

Blomster’s opens second Korean diner ‘popup’ in California wine country
It doesn’t seem to make sense that a 40-plus-year-old San Francisco Bay-area brunch joint is sharing valuable restaurant space with a fusion diner known for its Korean fried chicken and Los Angeles galbi with mac and cheese. It might be even more surprising that the owner of the Korean diner has never stepped foot in Korea, yet the breakfast baron has racked up many frequent flyer miles to Korea — particularly, Jeju Island.
David Blomster prepares to cut the ribbon for his second Korean diner, located in Santa Rosa, Calif., on Nov. 17, 2015. (Tammy Quackenbush photo)
David Blomster opened his second Dick Blomster’s Korean Diner officially Nov. 13 as the afternoon and night shift in Don Taylor’s Omelette Express, located in the historic Railroad Square district of Santa Rosa, a city about an hour north of San Francisco. During the ribbon-cutting party Nov. 17, I caught up with Blomster and Taylor, as the latter was pouring shots of homemade 12-year-old ginseng-infused soju for his business partners to celebrate the new collaboration.
Don Taylor, owner of the Omelette Express, shares shots of ginseng soju with business partners as he celebrates his new business venture with David Blomster. (Jeff Quackenbush photo)
Blomster opened his first pop-up Korean diner, called Dick Blomster’s, in Guerneville, California, in 2012, sharing space with Pat’s Diner, a Guerneville institution since the 1940s. For the first six months or so of his enterprise, Korean-American chef Eugene Birdsall helped him develop the menu for the restaurant and got the concept moving. Local residents embraced the restaurant so much that after a couple of years as a renter, Blomster made enough money to buy Pat’s Diner outright. A “popup” restaurant can be a one-off event, a market test or a business strategy to save money on rent and startup costs. So it’s unusual for a popup to buy its own landlord.
A rustic yet classy way to celebrate a new Korean restaurant venture: 12 year old ginseng soju. (Jeff Quackenbush photo)
“I knew there was a need in West County for Korean cuisine,” Blomster said, referring to western Sonoma County, located just west of Napa Valley. At the time of his debut in 2012, the nearest Korean restaurants to Guerneville were Tov Tofu in Santa Rosa, which is a half hour drive east of Guerneville, or Bear Korean in Cotati, which was about 40 minutes away until it closed in 2014.
David Blomster is the restauranteur behind Blomster’s Korean diner. (Jeff Quackenbush photo)
Although Blomster knows that popup restaurants are a hot trend in culinary circles, he doesn’t believe the term fully explains his restaurant concept.
“I don’t like being referred to as a popup, because popups lack permanence,” he said. “I consider Blomster’s Korean Diner a permanent popup.”
Blomster’s expansion to Santa Rosa’s Railroad Square district brings it among several high-end hotels, but there are few Asian restaurants within walking distance.
Taylor reached out to Blomster a few months ago to see if they could find a way to share his space with the Korean diner.
“This is a 40-year-old family restaurant that is not open at night, in the middle of Railroad Square,” Taylor said. “It’s a fabulous location.”
Blomster didn’t have to order up any Korean-style decor for his new popup. Omelette Express is already covered in Jeju-inspired items from Don Taylor’s frequent trips to Korea. (Tammy Quackenbush photo).
Blomster couldn’t ask for a better place for his second location. This Omelette Express restaurant is partially decorated with mementos from Taylor’s frequent trips over the last 15 years to Jeju Island, a popular vacation spot off the bottom of the South Korean peninsula. As a former Santa Rosa City Council member, Taylor has been instrumental in fostering Santa Rosa’s sister city relationship with Buk Jeju–Jeju City, the capital of the island province.
“I love Korean food,” Taylor said. “I am excited that David was making Korean food more accessible. He figured out how to make Korean food successfully.”
Blomster’s menu is partly inspired by his college years. He lived near L.A.’s Koreatown, with its mix of traditional Korean restaurants and more modern, hip noodle places.
“I wanted a playful combination of Korean, American and noodle dishes,” he said. “Ingredients like kimchi, ssamjang and gochujang are a starting point for the other items on the menu. We have a few traditional Korean dishes, like tteokbokki, which is a Korean street food, but I don’t claim to be or desire to be a traditional Korean restaurant.”
With dishes like mac and cheese, fried pickles and fried peanut butter and jelly sandwiches on menu, this Korean diner is equally inspired by Blomster’s roots in the U.S. heartland.
“I grew up in the Midwest, where ‘ethnic food’ was spaghetti,” he said.
One of Blomster’s favorite signature sides is buttered bread: sourdough slathered with butter and fried on a griddle. That’s inspired by his Detroit hometown.
Blomster’s Korean-style restaurant commands a 4 out of 5 rating on Yelp.
Dick Blomster officials opened his second Korean Diner on Nov. 13 at Don Taylor’s Omelette Express, located in the historic Railroad Square district of Santa Rosa, California. (Jeff Quackenbush photo)
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Dick Blomster’s Korean Diner
112 Fourth St.
Santa Rosa, CA 95401
www.dickblomsters.com
707-525-1690
Hours: 5–10 p.m. Wednesday, Thursday and Sunday; 5–11 p.m. Friday and Saturday
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December 2, 2015
Douceurs au miel et aux epices, recettes medicinales coreennes
Dans la tradition de la cuisine coréenne, ou la cuisine asiatique en générale, le terme « dessert » n’existe pas… cependant, il ne manque pas de recette sucrée ! En les découvrant, nous pouvons voir une autre utilisation du sucre se mêlant avec du sel et des ingrédients inhabituels, comme par exemple, le haricot azuki (pat) ou le soja qui sont désormais bien connus.
Yaksik traditionel
Alors, deux mets sucrées coréennes sont les belles du jour à découverir : Baesuk (poire pochée) et Yaksik (gâteau de riz aux épices).
Le Baesuk, poire pochée à la coréenne est une sœur jumelle de la poire pochée que vous connaissez déjà, les coréens y mettent du poivre, du miel, du gingembre et du jujube.
Le Yaksik est un gâteau de riz gluant aux fruits sec, aux saveurs du miel et du sucre non-raffiné. Il n’y a pas de laitage, il est agrémenté de l’huile de sésame grillé, et pour rehausser le parfum, on utilise…la sauce de soja ! En Asie, la sauce de soja s’emploie naturellement à la confection des mets sucrés. Par exemple, la recette de tapioca au lait sauce caramel beurre salé à la sauce de soja que j’ai déjà publié (voir la recette).
Thérapeutique Selon la coutume, on les déguste comme spécialité hivernale, car la plupart de leurs ingrédients employés a le caractère « chaud » selon la médecin traditionnelle. A l’époque, les épices, le miel ou le sucre étaient les denrée rares et précieux, entrant dans la pharmacopée. D’où son nom yak (médicament) sik (repas). La poire pochée aux épices est un remède d’antan quand les maux d’hiver guettent les hommes.
Le Yaksik à la fleur de poire
Est un arrangement de ces deux recettes pour mieux adapter au gout actuel.
L’époque a changé, nous avons maintenant besoin des aliments légères, mais tout en ayant richement des micronutriments. Baesuk et Yaksik, recettes indépendantes, sont réunies ici pour renaitre en un plat plus léger. L’autre avantage, c’est que, grâce à la présence de la poire poché, recette bien connue ici, il facilite d’initier aux desserts asiatiques ceux qui ne les connaissent pas.
Les recettes restent authentiquement coréennes, c’est au niveau de dressage que j’ai arrangé à ma manière. Suivons donc dabord les deux recettes.
RECETTES
Baesuk, poire poché à la coréenne
Ingrédients pour 4 portion
2 grandes poires fermes Comice ou 4 petits
Sirop aux epices
500ml d’eau
130g de miel d’acacia
2g de gingembre (1/3 c à café)
10 graines de poivre noir
2×10 cm d’écorce de clémentine (à défaut citron)
-Epluchez les poires
-Coupez en deux et enlevez le trognon, les pépins (ou vous pouvez les enlevez après la cuisson lors de la découpe de poire)
-Portez le sirop à l’ébullition
-Plongez les poires et laissez frémir 10-15 min selon la grosseur et la fermeté de vos poires

-Retirez délicatement les poires et laissez refroidir (une fois refroidis, conservez hermétiquement hors jus, remettez dans le jus au moment de servir, ils reste ainsi plus fermes)
-Réduisez encore un peu le sirop en continuant la cuisson (un tiers réduit, reste 70%)
-Filtrez, laissez refroidir et réservez à part
Yaksik, gâteau de riz aux épices
Note : La recette à l’ancienne est assez compliquée et prend 3-4heures (hors trempage). Aujourd’hui la plupart de famille coréenne utilise le four à micro-onde ou l’autocuiseur de riz pour faire ce gateau. Cela ne prend que 30minute et le résultat est même, surtout celui du micro-onde, car on peut travailler en deux étapes comme à l’ancienne)
Ingrédients pour 4-6 pers
150g de riz gluant
150ml de thé de noyaux de jujube (6 noyaux de jujube bouillis doucement avec 200ml d’eau, 15 min, à couvert)
Sauce
30g de sucre non raffiné muscovado
30g de miel d’acacia
1 c à soupe de sauce de soja foncée
1 c à soupe de huile de sésame grillé
Un peu moins de 0,5 c à café de poudre de cannelle
Fruits secs
6 jujubes dénoyautées découpées en 8morceaux + 2jujubes pour décoration
2 c à soupe de raisin sec
15g de pignon + une vingtaine de graine pour la décoration
8 châtaignes frais
des grains de courge pour la décoration
-Lavez le riz gluant et laissez tremper 4h dans 4 fois volume d’eau
-Faites cuire les châtaignes et épluchez
-Égouttez bien le riz et mettez dans un grand bol allant au four à micro-onde
-Ajoutez-y 150ml de thé de noyaux de jujube (s’il en manque la quantité, complétez avec de l’eau)
-Couvrez et chauffez au puissance maxi 4min30sec
-Mêlez dans un bol tous les ingrédients de la sauce
-Dans le riz, incorporez la sauce, les fruits sec, les châtaignes et mêlez-les
-Couvrez, remettez au micro-onde et chauffez au puissance maxi 2min
-La cuisson est fini, laissez ainsi reposer 5min, toujours à couvert
-Sorti du four, mêlez délicatement l’ensemble en aérant
-Façonnez en le mettant dans un moule carré, rond ou de forme spéciales etc. Ou tout simplement dans une boite large (chemisez du papier sulfurisé huilé), vous le découperez après le refroidissement complet.
-Serrez les graines de riz et les fruits sec sans pour autant écraser, ça aide à tenir la forme
-Laissez refroidir (ne mettez surtout pas dans le frigidaire, le riz devient dur)

-Enroulez la chair d’une jujube sur elle-même
-Tranchez-la en épaisseur de 2mm et décorez vos gâteaux, on peut y ajouter 2-3 pignons comme décoration
Maintenant, yaksik à la fleur de poire
-Préparez le yaksik comme la recette ce-dessus, sauf que vous mettrez à part les châtaignes et les rendrez en purée en humidifiant avec un peu de miel (1-2 c à café, quantité juste pour pouvoir les agglomérer)

-Avec vos mains mouillées (sinon ça colle), prélevez une boule de diamètre 6cm de yaksik, aplatissez légèrement et creusez le milieu
-Mettez-y 2-3 c à café de purée de châtaigne (resserrez bien les grains de riz)
-Posez à l’envers le demi-sphère sur l’assiette
-Emincez les poires en 3mm d’épaisseur, puis couvrez le demi-sphère de yaksik
-Arrosez 2 c à café de jus de cuisson de poire sur les tranches de poire (pas trop de jus, car le liquide fait éparpiller les graines de riz)
-Finissez en décorant avec la (les) fleur(s) de jujube, les graines de pignon et de courge
Conservation : La poire pochée se garde au frais. Le Yaksik, comme tous les mets de riz, devient dur dans le frigidaire. En le gardant propre, sans toucher à la main, toujours enfermé, il peut rester deux jours dans la température ambiante. Au delà, on le garde au frais et, au moment de manger passe TRÈS brièvement au four à micro-onde ou à la vapeur. La congélation est possible.
Lors de montage du yaksik à la poire, vous pouvez préparer à l’avance les demi-sphères (gardez couvert pour empêcher le dessèchement) et la découpe de poires. Montez les tranches de poire sur le riz juste (ou 1h maximum) avant les servir.
December 22, 2013
Salade a la dorade crue sauce coreenne
Cela fait un moment que l’Occident a découvert les mets de poisson cru. Depuis, nous avons vu tant de restaurants de sushi et cela proposant tous à peu près les mêmes choses. N’est-ce pas maintenant qu’il est temps de changer et varier le plaisir de cet ingrédients ?

Le pays voisin du Japon, en Corée aussi, le poisson cru, appelé “hoe“, est un mets très recherché, mais, différemment. Dans la péninsule, on préfère relever la sauce avec le piment au lieu du wasabi. C’est la pâte de piment fermenté, gochujang qui assume le travail.
Si la sauce de soja donne un ton caramel, réglisse, accompagné d’un gout relevé boisé du wasabi, la sauce gochujang habille la chair de poisson un peu plus chaud, au rouge de piment, d’une note fruitée de l’acidulé et le sucré. Un peu comme le citron pour les produits de la mers, le vinaigre intervient ici judicieusement pour allonger l’écho iodé.

La recette présentée ici est une salade que l’on peut manger avec du pain, mais, elle sera également bonne de confectionner un bibimbap en servant sur un bol de riz cuit tiède, sans oublier la sauce gochujang.
Vous pouvez bien sûr utiliser tous les poissons se mangeant en sashimi ou en sushi, par exemple, dorade, bar, calmar, saumon etc. Coté légumes aussi, ils seront variables selon vos inspirations de couleurs et de textures. Les fruits aussi peuvent y avoir une place sans gêner les autres.
Ingrédients pour 4 entrées
250g de filet de dorade royale
50g de carotte râpée
80g de brocolis
2 oeufs
150g de radis blanc découpé en allumette de 4mm d’epaisseur
marinade pour radis : 1 c à café de vinaigre + un tiers de c à café de sel de mer +moitié de c à café de sucre
2 c à café de ciboule émincée
Huile végétale
Pour la sauce au gochujang
50-60g de gochujang (pâte de piment fermenté, moyennement fort, type 3*)
3,5 c à soupe de vinaigre de riz
1,5 c à soupe de sucre
2 c à soupe d’huile de sésame grillé
2 c à café de graine de sésame grillé
-Mêlez tous les ingrédients de la sauce gochujang
-Laissez mariner le radis minimum 30min dans sa marinade
-Blanchir le brocolis « en grosse fleur » dans l’eau bouillante salé pendant 3min
-Rincez-les avec l’eau froide et taillez en petites fleurettes
-Séparez les blancs et les jaunes d’oeuf et battez brièvement chacun, salez
-Sur une poêle bien chaude, mettez un peu d’huile végétale et faites l’omelette plate blanche et jaune
-Taillez les en lanières de 50x3mm

-Demandez à votre poissonnier de préparer la dorade en filet sans peau. Si vous faites vous-même, regardez ce vidéo ci-dessous
-Pour enlevez la peau de filets : voir ce vidéo ci-dessous
-Avec un couteau bien affilé, tranchez, légèrement en biais, les filets d’une épaisseur de 5-7mm
-Egouttez le radis et mettez avec les autres légumes dans de grands bols
-Dressez dessus le poisson et saupoudrez un peu de ciboule émincée
-Servez à la table avec la sauce à côté
* Il existe plusieurs dégrées (1-5) de force pimenté dans la gamme de gochujang. Au commerce, on trouve en générale n° 3 (moyen) et 4 (assez fort).

November 18, 2013
[Francais] Rosbif & Kimchi de concombre à la coriandre
Est un ensemble qui va bien avec l’été, léger, simple et élégant. On savoure le contraste entre le croquant du concombre et la tendresse juteuse de la chair, la verdure fraiche et la rose nue. De petits piques espiègles de piment rouge dans le baume douillet de l’huile d’olive gorgée de soleil, un air inspirant le sud.
Idéal pour un déjeuner simple et gouteux, il suffit de découper des tranches fines, arrogez généreusement d’huile olive qui emballe si bien la fraicheur relevée du kimchi que le filet délicate de rosbif. Accompagnez un verre de vin blanc sec, Rully pour moi, ou un rosé, ce sera un repas lévitant, là, faites intervenir un peu de pomme de terre vapeur – encore assez chaud – qui donnera un peu de poids, ce gout de terre, c’est rassurant. Comment ne pas avoir la bonne appétit ?
Oi-sobaggi, kimchi de concombre, est farci habituellement avec les ciboule de Chine (Allium tuberosum). On peut les acheter aux épiceries asiatiques, mais, restons locavores, les verts de poireau assument plutôt bien ce rôle de parfumeur herbacé – la ciboule serait trop forte. La coriandre et le poivron ajoutent des reliefs aromatiques.
Le kimchi est un mets lacto-fermenté se conservant plusieurs jours. Vous pouvez en déguster accompagné du riz, des pâtes ou des viandes rouge ou blanche. Ce kimchi de concombre, spécialité de l’été se mange assez rapidement, vous pouvez commencer à déguster dès le 3ème jours. Différemment des autres kimchis, je vous conseille de ne pas dépasser 1semaine de conservation, ça risque de se ramollir. Cette recette est légèrement interprétée, pour la recette de oi sobaggi classique, voyez ici.
August 20, 2013
A Tale of Two Tongues: Pairing Wine with Hansik
Asian cuisine, and Korean food in particular, is notoriously difficult to pair with wine. Even wine-lovers agree that beer is easier on the palate, as it combats the ever-present chilli peppers and compliments the potent flavours without neutralising them. What’s more, wine doesn’t play a large role in Korean dining culture. Even locally produced wines (such as Majuang) are not always on offer in restaurants, and are usually enjoyed alone or with snacks. Most restaurants that serve Korean food don’t even keep wine glasses. That’s not to say that Koreans don’t drink wine. Western restaurants offer wine and wine bars are now cropping up in every city. At first glance, it seems that people either go out for western or eastern food and drink, and never the two shall meet.
With a closer look, however, it’s clear that the wine scene in South Korea is small, but thriving. There is also a growing global interest in pairing wine and hansik (Korean food), particularly in the US – where the large Korean/American community has fostered the spread of Korean restaurants. In South Korea itself, there are some wine-pairing pioneers that hope to educate wine connoisseurs about hansik’s potential as a great companion to some of the world’s favourite wines.
With this in mind, I decided to try my hand at pairing a new love – hansik – with an old – red wine. I thought it best to start modestly, following the advice of those who had gone before. Wine experts usually pair hansik with an off-dry Riesling or a Pinot Noir, the latter of which is more versatile than most reds. Picking up a 2009 Agustinos Pinot Noir Reserva Privada, I headed off to a restaurant in Daegu that specialises in Soondubu Jjigae.
As with most Asian food, hansik is usually shared. The table ordered four varieties of the jjigae: kimchi jjigae, mandu jjigae, beegi jjigae (with okara) and kopjang jjigae (with chitterlings). If pairing a wine with four dishes wasn’t difficult enough, Korean meals are always served with side dishes known as banchan. Our table was adorned with ramekins that offered intense flavours, as most banchan are very salty, sweet or spicy, and many are fermented, such as the ubiquitous kimchi.
While awaiting the jjigae, we opened the wine. The Pinot’s nose offered sweet aromas of vanilla and cherry, and so I was surprised when it tasted thin, albeit with a pleasant, slightly astringent, finish. My South African palate was longing for the Hermitage/Cinsault in the Pinotage hybrid, but I reserved final judgment until the end of the meal.
A spoonful of kimchi jjigae blasted over my tongue and erased all memory of the banchan or the wine. Uh-oh, I thought. This experiment may fail. The next sip of wine only confirmed these fears, as the tannins only enhanced the gochujang (a chili-pepper paste omnipresent in hansik). I felt like there was a battle for dominance being waged on my taste buds. Perhaps I had chosen the wrong wine?
Thankfully, the beeji jjigae came to the rescue. The dubu was smoothly mixed with okara, producing a nutty and creamy flavour which toned down the gochujang and yet retained a strong edge. After a spoon of this, I sipped the wine again. This was a far better pairing: the wine wasn’t lost, nor did it eclipse the jjigae. With a bite of japchae (a noodle dish) to cleanse my palate, I was ready to pair it with a new dish. The wine stood up to the mandu jjigae beautifully, and I began to appreciate the Pinot’s versatility. Overall, the wine’s tannins boosted the spice of the jjigaes and added to the warmth of the meal, which makes it a great pairing for winter. I wouldn’t recommend this pairing in the humid Korean summer, but it was a hearty combination in the icy January weather.
One of the best things about Asian food is that there is always a variety of combinations available on any given table. You are never stuck with a single pairing of tastes and textures, and can always cleanse your palate with a bite of mulkimchi (a milder, watery kimchi) or danmuji (pickled radish) and start again. A host of variables awaits the diner, who is free to customise their meal and select flavours that suit the wine. Who says Korean food doesn’t like wine? Next time, I’ll ditch the Pinot and get more adventurous. Hansik can handle it, of that I’m sure.

For more information on Korean food and wine pairing, see:
WineKorea
Asian Palate
May 11, 2013
Review of Korean taco truck Seoul on Wheels
I found Seoul on Wheels at the Eat Real Food Festival in Oakland, Calif. at Jack London Square. Julia Yoon was serving up a truncated menu of Beef, Chicken, Pork or Tofu Korean tacos and spicy chilled noodles.
We tried the chicken and beef Korean tacos. They were very good. The charcoal grilled beef and chicken BBQ was served on a corn tortilla with chopped romaine lettuce, sliced daikon radish and topped with sour cream and spicy gochujang. The bulgogi taco had the right amount of sweet and savory that one expects from bulgogi and the grilled chicken was a good kind of spicy. A small amount of sour cream kept the spice balanced.
The best part of our visit to Seoul on Wheels (besides trying their food) is an impromptu interview I did with a young man who was trying Korean food for the first time. Check out his reaction to his first bite at 2:03.
Seoul on Wheels has a Twitter account with more than 3,700 followers broadcasting their whereabouts. You can also find them on Facebook.
March 28, 2011
Koreamerican creation: Kimchi buffalo hot dog
Napa Valley chef Hector Marroquin topped his buffalo hot dog with his "kimchi 3.0," on a whole wheat bun slathered with Dijon mustard. I included sweet potato fries to complement the spicy kimchi. (Photo by Tammy Quackenbush)
There’s arguably no food more recognizably Korean than spicy cabbage kimchi. But what is quintessentially American? Few meats are more so than bison. Hunted nearly to extinction in the 19th century, the American buffalo was brought back from the brink of extinction to such abundance that it is becoming more common on American dinner tables via dedicated conservation.
Chef Hector Marroquin of the Pupusa Griddle booth at the St. Helena Farmers Market in Napa Valley wanted to expand kimchi creations beyond his kalbi-style short ribs topped with kimchi made with a blend of local peppers.
Inspired by a picture of my husband eating a hot dog topped with kimchi, Marroquin “koreafornianized” the street food favorite hot dog topped with sauerkraut. He put a Native American spin on it by replacing the beef Kosher dog with a buffalo dog and swapping the kraut for kimchi. The spicy, garlic-forward tang complements the bold buffalo flavor.
Marroquin’s buffalo kimchi dog was a quick seller at the farmer’s market.
“The customers loved it, and did not mind paying $7 for a buffalo kimchi dog on french,” Marroquin told me.
Demand for the Kimchi buffalo hot dogs consistently outlasted the supply.
But he ran into a serious problem making it a permanent feature on the menu.
Primarily, it was finding grass-fed, humanely raised buffalo hot dogs. The most promising source was the company who supplies the dogs exclusively to Whole Foods Market. Having to pay retail at $8.99/lb. took a big bite out of his profit margin.
Despite the setbacks, Marroquin featured the franks on the menu for several weeks, running out every time he offered them on the menu.
February 1, 2011
Two versions of Korean tacos
Posted by Tammy
Since 2010 seems to be the year of the Korean taco truck, I decided to bring this popular Korean fusion food to you. I’m serving up a So-Cal vs. Nor-Cal face off between two very different versions.
California is Korean fusion cooking central, in a manner of speaking. According to the 2007 U.S. Census, more than 322,628 native Koreans make California their home. It has the largest number of Korean immigrants of any in the U.S., even Hawaii.
Kogi-style* Korean Tacos
First off the grill is a version inspired by Roy Choi’s famous Kogi taco truck. The Kogi Korean taco was born in Southern California, with a strong Hispanic influence. A warm corn tortilla is topped with bulgogi (savory-sweet grilled beef), shredded cabbage and the spiciest kimchi you can find.
The key to this recipe is the bulgogi marinade.
1 pound thinly sliced milanesa beef sliced into thin strips
4 ounces pear juice
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup sake
1 tablespoon honey or mul yoot (Korean malt syrup)
5 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons sesame seed oil
2 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds
pinch of salt
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1. Mix with the beef and marinade for at least a half-hour. The longer the better.
2. Grill the bulgogi in a cast iron skillet until it is well done.
3. Place one warmed corn tortilla on the plate with a small handful of shredded cabbage. Top with bulgogi and kimchi. This recipe will serve four.
Namu-style Korean Tacos
Another Korean taco style hails from San Francisco, which has over 150 years of Chinese, Japanese and Korean immigrant history going back to the earliest days of statehood. Many of the leaders of Korea’s independence movement used San Francisco as their base of operations during the Japanese occupation.
The Namu-style Korean taco is a nori — kim, in Korean — “taco shell” with a bit of sushi rice, bulgogi or boneless kalbi (grilled ribs) and kimchi on top. It’s more of an appetizer than a meal, but it packs a lot of flavor. For the seaweed used for the “shell,” I used Annie Chun’s Roasted Seaweed Snacks, which I found during my futile search for locally sourced gochujang sauce. I have both the wasabi- and sesame flavored-wraps and used one of each for these tacos.
Asian grocery stores sell small sheets of kim. Koreans often wrap them around a small bite of rice and pop the package into their mouths, eat the seaweed sheets by themselves or cut them into small strips to sprinkle on bibimbap (mixture of ingredients such as vegetables, meat and an egg with rice).
1 pound carne de taco beef marinaded in bulgogi marinade for at least a half-hour
2 nori sheets per taco
sushi rice
diced tomatoes
The most complicated part of this recipe is the sushi rice. Here are the basics.
2 cups Japanese short-grained white rice or Calrose short-grain rice
1/4 cup rice vinegar (no substitutions)
2 teaspoons salt
1/4 cup sugar or add more to taste
1. Heat the vinegar, sugar and salt in a saucepan until the sugar is dissolved. Do not boil the mixture. You can also microwave the mixture for 30-45 seconds to achieve the same result. Leave sitting off heat until needed. You can make this portion ahead of time.
2. Take 2 cups of rice and rinse two to three times until the water runs clear or nearly so.
3. If your rice cooker has a sushi rice setting, use it. Otherwise, remember you need equal parts of rice to water. For example, 2 cups of rice needs 2 cups of water. Keep covered until the rice is done.
4. Once the rice has finished cooking, take off the lid and let the rice cool down for about 15 minutes.
5. Once the rice is cooled down, add the vinegar seasoning mix to the rice.
6. Turn the rice out of the pot and into a nonreactive glass or wooden bowl (tradition dictates a wooden bowl to better absorb the excess liquid). Use a tool like a shamoji, which is a flat Japanese rice paddle.
7. Use a gentle chopping motion to spread out the grains of rice and ensure the seasoning covers every grain. To speed up the cooling process, some people use a hand-held fan to help in the cooling process, but I didn’t find that necessary.
8. Once it’s cooled off, you’re ready to grill your bulgogi and assemble your tacos.
9. Put two sheets of nori on the plate, one on top of the other. Add up to a few tablespoons of sushi rice on top of the nori.
10. Pile a couple of tablespoons of bulgogi and garnish with diced tomatoes
Which version do you prefer? Tell us in the comments below.
* Kogi style tacos are in no way affiliated with the Kogi Taco Truck, just inspired by it.
July 17, 2010
Namu at the San Francisco Ferry Building
Namu is a Korean and Japanese fusion restaurant owned and operated by three Korean American brothers — chef Dennis Lee and his brothers, Daniel and David — who have established a presence at the Thursday and Saturday farmer’s markets at the San Francisco Ferry Building. They serve what they call “cutting-edge new California” cuisine.
The market menu (PDF) features kimchi fried rice, okonomiyaki and their own spin on Korean tacos (ssam in Korean), using toasted seaweed as the wrap.
Korean seaweed topped with rice, bulgogi and kimchi.
While there a recent Thursday, I tasted the Korean tacos, which cost $5 for two. Each have two sheets of Korean or Japanese seaweed with some sushi rice topped with teriyaki-marinated beef and kimchi salsa on top. Each taco is two or three bites of Korean fusion genius and more healthful than those wrapped in soft or fried tortillas.
Korean french fries topped with chopped kalbi and gochujang will fill you up.
The gamja (Korean for potato) fries are made from “hand-cut potatoes” and topped with kimchi relish, gochujang (Korean spicy red pepper paste), sweetened mayonnaise (Namu uses the popular Asian brand Kewpie), teriyaki, chopped short ribs and green onions. Orders for the fries were flying off the grill, especially in tandem with the Korean tacos.
The okonomiyaki, or Japanese savory grilled pancake, was in demand as well. Namu makes its “crispy and gooey flour pancake” with kimchi and market vegetables, topped with bonito flakes, okonomiyaki sauce and sweet mayo. Most ordered it with a sunnyside-up fried egg. I saw one brave soul pass me with a plate of okonomiyaki with a raw egg on it though.
The dish’s name comes from okonomi, which can be translated “as you like it,” and yaki, for “grilled” or “cooked.” A thinner version is similar to the Korean flatcake dish panjeon.
The okonomiyaki were made fresh and to order.
Namu, whose Korean name means “tree,” is at the Ferry Building on Thursdays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. — get there before the 1 p.m. rush — and Saturdays from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.
The brick-and-mortar restaurant is located at 439 Balboa St. in the city, near Golden Gate Park. The menu there also includes Korean fried chicken, ramen, bibimbap and additional Japanese-influenced items. Also served there are more than 30 selections of wine, sake and soju.
June 18, 2010
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