After obsessively checking the Twitter postings of the Korean taco maker to see where the truck will park next, they begin lining up — throngs of college students, club habitués, couples on dates and guys having conversations about spec scripts.

And they wait, sometimes well beyond an hour, all for the pleasure of spicy bites of pork, chicken or tofu soaked in red chili flake vinaigrette, short ribs doused in sesame-chili salsa roja or perhaps a blood sausage sautéed with kimchi, all of it wrapped in a soft taco shell.

The food at Kogi Korean BBQ-To-Go, the taco vendor that has overtaken Los Angeles, does not fit into any known culinary category. One man overheard on his cellphone as he waited in line on a recent night said it best: “It’s like this Korean Mexican fusion thing of crazy deliciousness.”  Read more>

JYP and the Wonder Girls are coming next week to America!

His name is Sungha Jung and he’s a YouTube prodigy.  Over 70,000 people follow this kid play guitar on a daily basis.  I bet you’ve never heard Michael Jackson’s Billy Jean played like this.

We’ve written about Kogi mutiple times and everytime I scan the news wire on food, Kogi keeps popping up.  Now it’s in the International Herald Tribune.  Kogi is blowing up… in popularity.

And they wait, sometimes beyond an hour, all for the pleasure of spicy bites of pork, chicken or tofu soaked in red chili flake vinaigrette, short ribs doused in sesame-chili salsa roja or perhaps a blood sausage sautéed with kimchi, all of it wrapped in a soft taco shell.  Read>

2 cups brown rice

Meat
12 ounces lean beef fillet, cut into strips
2 ounces dried shiitake mushrooms

Marinade for the beef and mushrooms
4 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons rice wine
2 tablespoons light brown sugar
3 green onions, only the green part, sliced into thin rings
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons sesame seeds
2 tablespoons sesame oil
Salt and pepper to taste
2 tablespoons Korean red pepper paste

Vegetables

Squash
5 tablespoons vegetable oil
12 ounces summer squash, julienned

Cucumber
12 ounces cucumber, cut into thin disks and marinated in the following:
1/2 cup rice wine vinegar
1 Tablespoon light brown sugar
1 teaspoon Korean red pepper flakes
1 Korean red pepper, deseeded and sliced diagonally

Sprouts and Spinach
12 ounces soybean sprouts, washed and soaked in cold water (10 minutes, this is just to clean)
1 pound fresh spinach, leafy part only, washed

Marinade for Sprouts and Spinach
2 tablespoons soy sauce
3 green onions, sliced into thin rings
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 tablespoons sesame oil
3 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds
Salt and pepper to taste

Korean red pepper sauce
1 tablespoon red pepper paste
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1 tablespoon light brown sugar or corn syrup
2 tablespoon rice wine vinegar

4 eggs
1 tablespoon sesame seeds for garnish

1. Combine ingredients for beef marinade. Pour over beef. Set aside.
2. Wash the brown rice until water is clear. Cook in rice cooker or follow directions on package.
3. Combine the ingredients for the Korean red pepper sauce to the consistency of a thick cream soup, and set aside.
4. Place the squash, cucumber, Korean pepper, and sprouts into separate bowls. Sprinkle a little bit of salt into both the squash and cucumber so you extract excess water. Squeeze the water out of both vegetables using a cloth or in the palm of your gloved hands. Repeat if necessary.
5. Blanch the spinach until bright green, about 30 seconds. Shock in ice water to stop the cooking process. Squeeze out excess water and set aside.
6. Combine cucumber marinade ingredients and pour over cucumber. Set aside. Combine ingredients for the sprouts and spinach marinade. Pour half the marinade over sprouts and half over spinach.
7. Place four Korean stone bowls or cast-iron skillet on an open flame until hot. Be very careful.
8. Sauté sprouts in 1 tsp soy sauce and a drizzle of vegetable oil (just enough to lightly coat the pan) until tender, about one minute. Set aside.
9. Saute spinach for about 30 seconds. Set aside.
10. Sauté the beef until desired doneness and set aside on a plate. Sauté mushrooms in same skillet.
11. Sauté the squash for about two minutes. Set aside.
12. Saute Korean red pepper for one minute. Careful the pepper might have a very spicy aroma. Set aside.
13. Cook a sunny-side egg, or you can crack open an egg on top of the dish as a garnish. (The egg will cook due to the very hot stone bowls) Set aside.
14. Using oven mitts, remove the stone bowls from the flame onto the safe plate, which usually comes with the bowl when purchased. Place about a cup of brown rice into each of the stone bowls. Arrange the vegetables on the rice, alternating dark colors with light ones if you like for visual appeal. Place the beef in the center with a tablespoon of Korean red pepper sauce. Place the egg on top of the sauce. Sprinkle some toasted sesame seeds for garnish.

Spicy squid and noodles lined tables in the packed Great Hall on Friday. Students danced to “Strong Baby” by Big Bang’s Seung Ri — a popular Korean song. And Korean clothing brands were displayed on the stage during short performances.

The 17th annual Korea Nite celebration, hosted by the Korean American Student Association, treated its audience to a fusion of the Asian peninsula’s traditional and current culture through performance, food and storytelling.  Read>

Donghyun Lee brought the Korean lunar New Year, Seollal, to the folks of UNH.  He is a student at the University of New Hampshire and here’s his quick story.

When looking for a school to attend in America, Lee wanted to live in an area where there were few Korean people. According to educationportal.com, about 2 percent of the students at UNH are of Asian descent.

“Learning a second language isn’t easy,” said Lee. “If you’re around Korean people, you’ll want to speak Korean more and not the new language.”  Read>

It’s the third annual Korean American Film Festival in New York this Saturday, Feb 28th.  Being held at the The Times Center, KAFFNY will feature innovative short films and teasers of feature films by emerging young Korean filmmakers from America and abroad, with director Q&A to follow.  Our camera crews will be there to interview the audience and directors.  There are two programs: 5pm and 8pm.  Purchase tickets now before they run out >

Kollaboration was a smashing success.  It was a star studded event in LA on Saturday evening.  Congrats to the organizers on their efforts.  There have been numerous videos uploaded to YouTube with performances from BoA to David Choi so go check it out.  Read>