I tried Korean food for lunch yesterday and I’m obsessed! All of the flavors are so bright! I don’t know why I’ve never tried it before.

I had “spicy pork belly in sauce” which wasn’t all that spicy, although they may have taken a look at me and toned it down a bit. The meat was very high quality - no fat that I could see and that’s not easy with pork. The locals seem to like it - pretty much every table was full.

The sides made the meal and there were several of them. Green salad with a dressing made from peanut butter, pickled Daikon radishes (I liked them so much I bought a Daikon radish on the way home and it’s pickling as I type this), pickled onions, a slaw made of Napa cabbage (also a first for me - very mild), something they called fish cakes but tasted nothing like fish and looked like big soft Fritos (delish!) and perfectly cooked rice. It wasn’t cheap - the meal with a drink was some $18 but I got enough food for two meals so that’s not bad.

Googling around, it looks like the three heavy hitters in Korea are BBQ ribs, Bulgogi, and dumplings. The place I was did not offer the BBQ but did offer several variations on Bulgogi and dumplings. They also offered several dishes made from ox tail.

Any suggestions as to what to try next?

I love all the Korean food I've tried but I'm really ignore about the names (though I know some names in Japanese, not at all helpful!)

Chijimi?? is yummy....

All those pickles you describe are the same or similar to Japanese dishes, and yes, they are amazing!!!

We can't get daikon here, but when Mr. SK goes to the Japanese store in the big town, he gets lots of pickled stuff!

I posted on the local “Buzz” board and it just exploded! Dozens of replies in
less than an hour!

Turns out that there is a place in a nearby town that people regard as some sort of shrine to Korean food. Yelp reviews describe it as an “existential experience in a strip mall.”

I will be making the pilgrimage tomorrow after I get my second shot.

Mmmmm, bulgogi. My nephew and his wife took us to a Korean barbeque place somewhere near Santa Monica pier where they deliver platters of raw meat and there is a grill in the center of the table. Sort of a do-it-yourself Benihana, but Korean. It was great, once you got past the idea that you had just been served a platter of sliced raw meat. (It did come with sides.)

Korean dumplings are not sufficiently differentiated from Chinese or Japanese dumplings, so probably OK to not make it a point to taste them.

Bulgogi and B.B.Q. are the sort of dishes best enjoyed hot off the wok/grill, not as good for take out, so maybe wait until after you can eat in a restaurant again? (Or try preparing them at home ... if you can find a Korean grocery stor that sell pre-marinated sliced beef or pork, it should be fairly easy to prepare these dishes at home.)

Bibimbap is OK for take out; start with a cold, more rudimentary Bibimbap that you can take out (or have delivered) in a plastic bowl. When you can eat in restaurants again, try a Dolsot Bibimbap where it's served in a sizzling hot stone bowl.

Less exotic but very quintessentially Korean is the soft tofu soup. Chinese and Japanese also have many tofu dishes and use tofu in various soup recipes, but the Korean soft tofu soup is sufficiently differentiated from the Chinese and Japanese stuff that I consider it a separate branch of culinary delight all on its own. Again, you want this prepared and served in hot stone bowls ... so another thing to try for when you can eat in a restaurant again.

Enjoy!

As a vegetarian I have only had the bibimbap and some salads/pickles. Great stuff! There are quite a few good Korean restaurants in central NJ, also fusion Indian/Chinese!

quote:

Originally posted by RealPlayer:
As a vegetarian I have only had the bibimbap and some salads/pickles. Great stuff! There are quite a few good Korean restaurants in central NJ, also fusion Indian/Chinese!

Find a Daikon and pickle it.

Magic!

My CSA brought me a huge daikon a month or two ago. I had been wanting to make kimchee for a while. I had the daikon and really nice garlic and fish sauce and basically everything you need but the napa cabbage. (I know...I know...it's essential.)

There are lots of recipes on the internet for kimchee made of collards. I had collards. I gave it a try.

The result? It tasted great. The pickled daikon was great, so I agree with you, Steve. But the collards just did not work. The leaves were way too thin and tough. I tried to power through because the daikon was so good, but I wound up trashing it. The CSA brought me Napa cabbage last year. I can try again if they bring more this year.

My experience with Korean food cooked by people who know how (i.e. not me) is limited, but good. I like bulgogi a lot. I had something that I think was bi bim bop, and it was also delicious. Congee is great. I made some lately and it was really good. If carbs weren't an issue, I'd have it often. I'd like to try more Korean food when we're able to get out and try new restaurants.

quote:

Originally posted by Steve Miller:

quote:

Originally posted by RealPlayer:
As a vegetarian I have only had the bibimbap and some salads/pickles. Great stuff! There are quite a few good Korean restaurants in central NJ, also fusion Indian/Chinese!

Find a Daikon and pickle it.

Magic!

Daikon is easy to find here. What are the ingredients used to pickle it (in the Korean style)?

This reminds me.... I was invited to give a talk at U of Washington in Seattle (in the before times...) and my host took me to a Korean restaurant (after apologizing for not taking me somewhere Japanese, which I did not mind).

It was AMAZING... I need to figure out what we ate, I really need to try to remember all the specific names of the dishes, otherwise I may never get to eat them again!

Also, Ax, I don't care if something is "sufficiently differentiated" if it's yummy, I'll eat it!

quote:

Originally posted by RealPlayer:

quote:

Originally posted by Steve Miller:

quote:

Originally posted by RealPlayer:
As a vegetarian I have only had the bibimbap and some salads/pickles. Great stuff! There are quite a few good Korean restaurants in central NJ, also fusion Indian/Chinese!

Find a Daikon and pickle it.

Magic!

Daikon is easy to find here. What are the ingredients used to pickle it (in the Korean style)?

1 LB Daikon, cubed
1 small onion, chopped
1/2 cup vinegar
1/2 cup water
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar

Make the brine and stir to dissolve sugar. Add daikon and onion and stir. Cover and store in fridge. Recipe says it will last up to two weeks.

Try the Korean seaweed rolls. It’s rolled up rice rolls using sticky rice and seaweed as the wrap. Like an egg roll. The center is filled with a vegetable such as broccoli.

Try the Korean kimchee. It’s a fermented cabbage. It can be very spicy.

About the Korean pickled radishes. Were they a bright pink color? I once asked my Korean neighbor about that. The radishes are dyed to that color to make them appetizing.

We went to a Korean restaurant.
We were the only people there.
The food was underwhelming.
Will try another place. I like Asian food.

quote:

Originally posted by Qaanaaq-Liaaq:
Try the Korean seaweed rolls. It’s rolled up rice rolls using sticky rice and seaweed as the wrap. Like an egg roll. The center is filled with a vegetable such as broccoli.

Try the Korean kimchee. It’s a fermented cabbage. It can be very spicy.

About the Korean pickled radishes. Were they a bright pink color? I once asked my Korean neighbor about that. The radishes are dyed to that color to make them appetizing.

. The radishes I had were white, although I did find a few recipes that called for red wine vinegar.

I asked for restaurant recommendations, as well as what dishes to try on our local Facebook page.he response was crazy! 50 plus replies and more coming in. These are passionate people!

The restaurant that keeps being recommended is "da rae", which is in a strip mall kind of place.

The portions are very generous, and everyone raves about the food. This is a meal for one person.



I'll give it a try next week.