Bulgeogi pizza? Why not?
By Michelle Woo
When the Kogi BBQ truck first rolled into Los Angeles earlier this year, introducing the universe to their now-famous Korean tacos, the hungry masses went wild. And why not?
Tacos? Good.
Korean marinated meats? Good.
Together? Goooood.
Now everyone’s talking about “Korean fusion” dishes. We’re ambivalent about the descriptor, but love how our very own ingredients are making their way into the bellies of mainstream America. Here are the latest edibles that have been Korean-ized. What will be next?
PIZZA
Tired of pepperoni and olives?
Los Angeles’ Mr. Pizza Factory (3881 Wilshire Blvd., 213-738-0077) serves up bulgeogi pizza, a slather of marinated beef, along with potatoes, bacon, sour cream and chives on top of a greasy pie. The dish hasn’t gotten great reviews, so hopefully the innovators at California Pizza Kitchen (www.cpk.com) will fare better. They’ve created a Korean-style barbecue pizza, which has yet to hit the menu.
BURGERS
We’ve all taken leftover galbi or bulgeogi from dinner and shoved it into a bun for lunch the next day. Now, restaurants are making money off this wondrous carb and protein combination.
For the time crunched (or just plain lazy), there’s the bulgeogi burger at Burger Housein Houston (9247 Gulf Freeway, 713-910-1567). For about $4.50, you get some meat slapped on some bread, just like you’d make at home.
HOT DOGS
Koreans and hot dogs go way back. Budae jjigae, anyone? But hot dogs topped with more meat?
Now that’s something new (and slightly disgusting). Carnivores can get their fix at New York Hot Dog and Coffee (245 Bleecker St., 917-388- 2608) which offers regular beef dogs topped with bulgeogi or grilled chicken sausages crowned with Korean marinated chicken.
STEWS
Top KA chefs are Korean-ifying their soupy creations with the ingredients they grew up with.
At Joulein Seattle (1913 N. 45th St., 206-632-1913), Rachel Yang’s pot-au-feu with sweet soy broth is a twist on galbijjim.
At 610 Magnolia (610 W. Magnolia Ave., 502-636-0783) in Louisville, Ky., Edward Lee is known to slip gochujang into his stews and cassoulets.
And David Chang of New York’s Momofuku makes a mean kimchi stew—a mingling of braised kimchi, shredded pork and rice cakes in a rich pork broth. Mmm, mmm good.
