Buy one yogurt, get second one free with toppings!

Not many people can say they used to snowboard professionally or be identified as a “rising star ” chef in the United States. Akira Back, born in Korea, moved to Colorado at a young age and became a professional snowboarder. He was featured in some of the top snowboarding magazines such as Transworld and Snowboarder and also earned prominent endorsements with companies such as Etines.

As a professional snowboarder, Akira also spent time cooking in local Aspen restaurants, where he realized his passion for food was equal if not greater than snowboarding. After a strong 7 year career in snowboarding, Akira decided to attend culinary school and began working for some of the best Japanese restaurants in the world, include Chefs Nobu Matsuhisa and Masaharu Morimoto.

Akira has been widely recognized for his food by the culinary world including being named one of the “Rising Stars” by Restaurant Hospitality magazine.  As the Executive Chef for Nobu Matsuhisa’s namesake restaurant in Aspen, he became even more popular for his unique style and precision.  He has prepared meals for many celebrities and important figures such as Jay Z, Mariah Carey, Paris Hilton and former President Bill Clinton.  Currently, he is the Executive Chef of Yellowtail Japanese Restaurant at the Bellagio Hotel in Las Vegas, where Grammy Award winner Taylor Swift has called the meal that Chef Akira Back prepared “the best of her life”.    Akira has also been featured on the Food Network’s Iron Chef America, taking on Bobby Flay in a spinach battle. (see battle video below)

Less than a month ago, we had the pleasure of trying out Chef Akira’s current restaurant to taste and talk about his food.

The food was a pleasant surprise especially for a Korean American. Although the restaurant is technically called a Japanese restaurant and you can order sushi, what makes this restaurant good is the Chef’s ability to use his creativity and integrate Korean flavors into fresh and clean tasting food. I would not call his food Korean Japanese fusion, but rather American Cuisine, using Japanese and French techniques using Korean flavors.

For example, one of my favorite dishes was his Toro Sashimi wrapped around some micro mixed greens and “gochujang” (korean red pepper sauce) topped off with some caviar. (see picture below)

I’d also recommend the Big Eyed Tuna Pizza, his signature dish that will blow your mind.  It’s basically tuna on a fried tortilla with some minced onions with some truffle oil and greens on top.  (see video below)

So the next time you are in Las Vegas, I would highly recommend trying at least a couple of Chef Akira’s dishes and ask for something with gochujang in it, because you won’t be disappointed.

At the end of December 2009, the Chosun Ilbo published an article stating that the current spelling of “Makgeolli” might cause some non-Koreans to mispronounce it as Mak-jolee. The author suggested that the spelling should be changed and this would popularize this alcohol overseas. He recommended a few different options such as Maggoli, Makkoli, and Makoli.

I wish that the author had done some research to test this opinion, because it caused quite a stir with the aT Center (The Agro-Trade Center) and amongst the Korean public. The aT Center is a government organization that has been heading the Korean Food Globalization project and my company (O’ngo Food Communications) has been working with them on several different projects including how to market makgeolli overseas.

Back in October of 2009, our company and the heads of many makgeolli companies had a meeting to discuss changing the name of makgeolli. I will tell you the same thing I told them: it is not cost efficient, it will cause needless confusion, and it won’t put the drink in people’s hands.

If you Google the current spelling of makgeolli, you will get 75,800 hits on the traditional rice alcohol. This is the spelling accepted by CNN, the Lonely Planet, Wikipedia, Korean newspapers, the Korean government, and overseas newspapers. If you search for maggoli (which sounds like maggots), you will get 103 hits — most are about a Scottish family. Makkoli has 35,000 hits (the top hits refer to a Japanese sushi restaurant in New Jersey) and most of the hits about “makoli” are of a famous chess player with the same last name.

Changing the name of something that is obviously accepted would cost the Korean government millions of dollars and cause endless confusion.

Go here to read the rest:
http://www.koreaherald.co.kr/NEWKHSITE/data/html_dir/2010/02/02/201002020014.asp

Posted By Daniel Gray of Seoul Eats

In New York, the melting pot of world cuisines, I constantly meet people who say they have never tried Korean food. Some are aware of Koreatown and others have never heard of it. Below is a quick video introduction to what the popular 32nd and Broadway location has to offer. There are tons of restaurants, bars, karaoke bars, grocery stores, hair salons, and even spas. Minutes from Penn Station and the Empire State Building, you can take numerous subway lines, buses, and of course taxis to 32nd Street between Broadway and 5th Avenue. If you want a recommendation on what to order, definitely try bibimbap (cooked rice mixed with meat and vegetables), chapchae (savory noodle dish served warm with vegetables and meat), pajun (korean pancake with scallions and if you want, seafood).

From our friends at Seoul Eats, a featured article on the Best Burgers of Seoul.

Today is the day that my diet begins. Finding and ranking the best hamburgers in Seoul has been a joy and a curse. Luckily, the restaurants have gotten better but there are more of them as well. Suffice it to say, hamburgers are not just a fad in Seoul; you’ll find burger restaurants dotted all over the city.

The first review that I did a year ago was received with an equal amount of praise and scrutiny. I found people are passionate about their burgers. For this review, I went to over 20 restaurants – a few more than once. This year I decided to not include franchise burgers to this list. Also, I decided to look at the signature burgers of each restaurant. My criteria for ranking were on the quality of meat, bun, toppings, service, and overall enjoyment.
Slyders

10. “Slyders” from Julio in Gangnam. This Mexican joint serves up some tasty mini burgers. Does this mean that they will be the new trend? I can see it happening. They use all Austrian beef and they have three different options: classic cheese, chili, and teriyaki (not recommended).
Price: Three slyders for 7,000 won
Phone: (02) 568-5324
Where: Gangnam
Jack Sauce Burger

9. “Jack Sauce Burger” from Bistro Corner in Itaewon. The sauce was a bit too sweet for my liking, but the hickory char-grilled hamburger patty is excellent.
Price: 7,500 won
Phone: (02) 792-9282
Where: Itaewon
Bacon and Egg Burger

8. “The Bacon and Egg Burger” from Tony’s Aussie Bar and Bistro in Itaewon. It’s breakfast on top of a burger. You get a cooked egg, bacon, and cheese on top of Australian beef. The burger is great with their hand-cut fries.
Price: 7,500 won
Phone: (02) 790-0793
Where: Itaewon
Sliders from Yaletown

7. “Sliders” from Yaletown in Sinchon. Yaletown is the youngest restaurant in the group, but they are making waves with their delicious cuisine and attention to quality. Their char grilled sliders (mini hamburgers) come on homemade bread with a dollop of mayonnaise and a single leaf of lettuce.
Price: Three mini burgers come for 8,900 won
Phone: (02) 333-1604
Where: Sinchon
The Webby

6. “The Webby” from Beer O’Clock in Sincheon. By the way, char-grilled= delicious. Here you get a char-grilled handmade patty topped with cheese, jalapenos, onions, mushrooms, lettuce, ham and BBQ sauce. Sure, it might sound like a train wreck of toppings, but it works damn well.
Price: 9,000 won
Phone: (02) 333-9733
Where: Sinchon
Paddy Mac’s Big Beef

5. “Paddy Mac’s Big Beef Burger” from Wolfhound Pub in Itaewon. Weighing in at over a half a pound (240 grams), you get a fist full of meat topped with two slices of cheese, lettuce, tomato, onion and 2 strips of bacon. The paddy is made from savory wagyu beef and it is well seasoned. You also get an option of fries, mash potatoes (recommended), or salad with your side of cow.
Price: 12,800won
Phone: (02) 749-7971
Where: Itaewon
The Hamburger

4. “The Hamburger” from Sam Ryan’s Sports Bar and Grill in Itaewon. If you want a classic bacon cheeseburger that’s the size of a baby’s head, then this is the place. The burgers at Sam Ryan’s are massive. They are manly burgers that should be enjoyed with a beer and football.
Price: 13,500 won
Phone: (02) 749-7933
Where: Itaewon
Mushroom Burger

3. “Mushroom Burger” from Banana Grill in Hannam (near the U.N. Village). Sauteed onions and mushrooms with a hint of balsamic vinegar and mayonnaise is a great combination. Banana Grill is all about flavor and they don’t ruin the burger by adding unnecessary ingredients such as lettuce, tomato, and onion when they are not needed. The meat is plush and well seasoned, the buns are toasty, and they serve great fries.
Price: 7,000 won
Phone: (02) 792-3088
Where: Hannam
The Chili Burger

2. “The Chili Burger” from Chili King in Itaewon. You need a fork to get started with this burger because you have to get through the generous heaps of chili on top of the beef patty topped with real cheddar cheese (we are not talking about the plasticy individually wrapped stuff). The chili is excellent on it’s own (what else would you expect from the Chili King) but magical on the beef patty and between the rolls. The jalapenos on this dish are an added bonus.
Price: 8,900 won
Phone: (02) 795-1303
Where: Itaewon

1. “The Fresco Burger” from Jacoby’s Burger in Haebangchon. This is the Eiffel tower of hamburgers in Seoul. You have a moist and richly favored hamburger patty topped with mozzarella cheese, bacon, tomato sauce and a tower of onion rings. It is a beautiful thing to behold and a tad difficult to eat. The crunchy onion rings with the tar tar sauce, plush garlic beef patty, and mozzarella cheese fuses beautifully. After your burger you will be smiling with a halo of shiny beef grease around your mouth. Oh, and you can customize your burger just the way you want.
Price: 10,000 won
Phone: (02) 3785-0433
Where: Haebangchon

The Best Burger Franchise in Korea: “W-burger.” Woah, they have excellent meat that’s a little pink in the middle just like I like it.
Price: 4,700 won
Where: Throughout Seoul

Honorable Mention: “The USO Hamburger” at the USO near Samgaki Station. Get the military burger with fries for only $2.
Phone: (02) 795-3063
Open: 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Weekdays
Where: USO

In a Class of their Own: The W-hotel Hamburger. Now I’m not talking about the X-burger (150,000 won) but its little brother. It’s a classic hamburger on an oat-wheat bun speckled with pumpkin seeds and topped with melted cheese. The meat is a mix of lean sirloin and marbled wagyu beef. The meat is so good that I’m sure that Buddha change his religion just to have it.
Price: 25,000 won
Phone: (02) 465-2222
Where: W-hotel

By Daniel Gray

Korean chef Roy Choi who made truck food famous with his kogi tacos in southern California is now about to expand his food empire.  What started a year ago with a single truck and a bunch of Twitter followers has now become an empire of 4 trucks and a soon to be restaurant in west L.A.

The new, still unnamed restaurant won’t use the Kogi name, Mr. Choi says, and he doesn’t plan to serve the taco. Instead he will try to update the rice bowl. “I see bacon-fat-studded chestnuts and fresh herbs on braised lamb; steak with a soft-poached egg and hand-crushed sesame seeds; organic rice, braised pork-belly, fresh-water spinach in a beautiful broth with sesame leaves,” he says, rattling off ideas. The food, he says, will be inexpensive enough that people who normally eat McDonald’s can afford it.

We named Roy Choi as one of the most influential Korean-Americans in 2009 and his impact was truly evident with new Korean taco trucks popping up everywhere and restauranteurs serving up their version of a Korean taco.  Roy Choi embodies the hard working culture of Koreans and many Korean-Americans can relate to his life.  He may not be the most eloquent guy but his focus and diligence has brought him this far and his belief in himself has turned the food world upside down.  ”There is something very Korean about Roy being Roy,” says David Chang of New York’s Momofuku restaurants, who is also of Korean heritage and who met Mr. Choi last spring. “It’s about working your a— off, and not believing that you’re any good.”

Source: Wall Street Journal

From our friends at SeoulEats.com, a photoblog of Junju, the big southern heart of Korea.

4 old and new friends (www.hoyacooks.com).
1 who calls Junju (Namwon) home.
36 hours of glorious food!

Part 1. Hanok Village and coffee houses a old and new.

Hanok (한옥) The traditional homes of Korea.
We stayed at the Hanok Village (한옥마을) in Junju.

It’s a village made for tourist, but that also makes it very well kept and gorgeous to photograph.


Mehju (매주), dried soybeans to make soy sauce and soybean paste.

View from the room in the morning, stunning.

Roof shingles used as pathway decoration.

Spoon used as lock, amazing!

Traditional tea house, Rhu gal dah won (루갈다원)

The owner handmade these lamp shades from Hanji (한지), handmade Korean paper.

Shang hwa cha (쌍화차)

Shang hwa cha (쌍화차) and Pine leaf tea (솔잎차)

A cafe with a gallery in the Hanok Village.

A new coffee house in the central shopping district, with hand drip coffee and in-house roasting.

Michelle Min is a freelance graphics designer and photographer based in Seoul. You can see her design website at www.touchtastedesign.com

www.seouleats.com

I recently had a discussion with a friend about dumplings, and we concluded that each country has its own form of dumplings. The Chinese have their dumplings that everyone seems to love these days. The Italians have ravioli, the Argentineans have empanadas, and the Polish have Kluski. And then there’s mandoo, Korean dumplings.

They may look similar, but Korean dumplings are actually not quite the same as Chinese dumplings. The main difference lies in the stuffing – in mandoo, you will obviously find kimchee but also tofu and sometimes seafood! In New York, there’s something to say about restaurants that have stayed open for over 10 years. Mandoo Bar, which lies in the heart of K-town on 32nd St, has wooed patrons for years with its hearty and flavorful Korean dumplings.

Mandoo Bar offers several types of dumplings, some healthy (steamed ones) and some not so much but the deliciousness makes up entirely for it. Flavors include traditional pork, kimchee tofu, and shrimp. My personal favorite is the kimchee tofu, just because it’s the most unique and the mashed tofu adds a creaminess to the dumplings. You can make your own sauces with various chili pastes and herbs they offer.

What some people might not know is that Mandoo Bar actually has a pretty extensive menu that goes beyond just dumplings There are a ton of salad options, as well as various bi bim baps and traditional Korean stews like Soondooboo (tofu stew) and Yook-gae-jang (spicy beef broth with veggies and clear noodles).

Check out our visit to the dumpling tour de force!

Seoulites love their late nights. It might sound crazy, but they especially love their nights when they’re cold. I’ve even grown to love the phenomenon. After a long night of clubbing or drinking with friends, some of the best places to visit are the pochamacha: Korea’s Tent Restaurants.

These orange colored tents usually have clusters of jacketed men and women enjoying a final bottle of soju over steaming bowls of soups, yellow omelette rolls dipped in ketchup, steamed white tofu topped with spicy sautéed kimchi, or –my favorite—- Daktoritang.

Daktoritang is a spicy ginger chicken stew made by slowly braising morsels of chicken, potatoes, carrots, and other vegetables in a ginger sauce which is made red by gochujang (red chili paste). It is usually served with rice, but at my particular tent restaurant it had noodles. When cooked right, the chicken falls right off the bone and the potatoes become miniature heaters and sponges: they sop up the alcohol in your stomach while keeping your entire body nice and warm.

One of the best pochamachas you can visit is in Hongdae. “Samgeori Pocha”, which translates to “Intersection Tent”, is a run of the mill car park by day, but the place comes to life after 7pm, and it stays alive until the sun comes up the next day. There is always a line and, inside, you’ll find fashionable university students bundled in hats and overcoats as they laugh and joke around with their friends.

Here, the daktoritang is served in a huge steaming bowl and the spicy-gingery sauce is watery like blood. Underneath the bowl is a portable gas range which is ignited as the meal arrives at your table. As you sit, the bubbling stew will become richly flavored with the chicken while the starch in the potatoes break down and thicken the broth. When you add noodles, the dish becomes a spicy Korean version of chicken noodle soup.

There are many other offerings at Samgeori Pocha to go along with your soju, beer, or makgeolli (Korea’s rice wine). One favorite of mine is tofu kimchi. This dish consists of sautéed sour kimchi with pork surrounded by slices of steamed tofu. The warm, flavorless tofu is the perfect carrier for the pungent flavor of kimchi.

And be sure to get the Gyeran-mari, which is an egg omelette that is tightly rolled into something resembling a log. There is also live octopus, beef stew, seafood stew, raw fish, and spicy octopus stirfry. The extensive menu has every kind of Korean food that you can think of.

Dining at the Pochamacha is an experience that every visitor to Korea should have — especially in the winter.  To get to Samgeori Pocha, take Subway Line 6 to Sangsu Station and get out at Exit #2. You will see the front gates of the Far East Broadcasting Company. Follow the front gates toward Hongik University for 30m and you’ll see the sign.

Daniel Gray works for O’ngo Food Communications. You can follow his food adventures at www.seouleats.com

Written and Photographed by Daniel Gray

It’s that time of the year again for some hot soondooboo! As you may remember from my entry a couple months earlier, Korean soft tofu stew is one of my favorite Korean foods. My darling is still Cho Dang Gol, but it now has a hefty competitor sitting in the middle of 32nd Street – BCD Tofu House.

The chain was started in California in 1996 and has since expanded to the motherland Korea (I guess that’s how good it was), Japan, and most recently, New York. The decor of BCD is starkly different from other restaurants, with its tall, black ceilings and minimalist architecture. On first sight, BCD definitely strikes as a more modern setting, especially compared with more traditional, wood-floored restaurants like Kunjip or Woorijip.

The focus of BCD’s menu is unsurprisingly, tofu. The menu offers seven different flavors of soft tofu stew, and you can choose your preferred level of spiciness.  The meal is served with a variety of complimentary banchan dishes, but unlike other places, it offers a plate of fried fish. Each person gets one! I’m not a fan of their fish, but I do know some that swear by them. Taste-wise, BCD’s soondooboo is quite different from the one at Cho Dang Gol. BCD uses silken tofu that is extremely soft and slippery, whereas Cho Dang Gol offers freshly made tofu that has a more crumbly texture. BCD’s soup is also a bit heavier in flavor than Cho Dang Gol’s, but each to their own!

If you’ve never been to BCD and are curious, check out our video below!