Korean Food USA is a new series that showcases Korean and Korean-inspired eateries all around the nation.

Owner Kamala Saxton (right) with her employees

Asian fusion food has been all the rage lately, but few have seen as much success as the Korean taco. Take our previous post on the flourishing Hankook Taqueria in Atlanta as a prime example. Seattle‘s version of the Korean taco is curated by Marination Mobile, a food truck specializing in Hawaiian-Korean cuisine.  Owners Kamala Saxton and Roz Edison have perfected their business so much that Good Morning America declared Marination Mobile “America’s Best Food Truck.”  Not a bad feat for two home cooks with no professional culinary training!

Marination Mobile’s key menu items are their tacos, sliders, kimchi fried rice, kimchi quesadilla, and SPAM musubi.  Beverages include soda and Hawaiian Sun soft drinks, as well as beer.  The store front mimics the close quarters of a food truck, and while there are a few stools and ledges to sit and eat, a mobile food experience is still promoted.  Now, let’s take a closer look at some of these food items!

Tacos

Marination’s savory tacos feature two soft corn tortillas stuffed with your choice of filling (kalbi, spicy pork, miso ginger chicken, or ‘sexy’ tofu) and topped with a pile of sweet slaw, adding a cool, zesty crunch to the otherwise warm dish.  Pickled pepper slices and a wedge of lime come on the side.  Add a drizzle of Sriracha to turn up the heat, if that’s your flavor.

Sliders

Perhaps Marination’s most signature dish besides tacos are their sliders.  Nestled inside of a sliced sweet bun are your choice of juicy shreds of kalua pork or a hunk of SPAM, topped with crunchy slaw.  If the thought of eating SPAM makes you wary, it’s in your best interest to at least take a bite.  After all, there’s a reason why SPAM is considered Hawaii’s unofficial food!

Kimchi Quesadilla

Take a traditional tortilla and cheese quesadilla, add a few bits of kimchi, and top with a handful of slaw and zesty sauce.  this is Marination’s take on a classic snack, and it’s good to every last bite.

Kimchi Fried Rice

For their last signature dish, Marination takes another classic dish of fried rice and adds Korean ingredients to really maximize the flavor.  Starting with a traditional fried rice base, kimchi is added, along with a fried egg and swirl of green onion and furikake to top it off.  Vegetarians can eat the dish as is, or meat lovers can add savory kalbi  for an added cost.

Marination Mobile has stimulated so much business that last April, a store front called Marination Station was opened in the Seattle neighborhood of Capitol Hill, while the truck continues to roam local neighborhoods.  Another store front is planned to open in West Seattle this year.

Marination Station
1412 Harvard Avenue
Seattle, WA 98122
http://marinationmobile.com
Follow on Twitter @curb_cuisine
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Marination Mobile Locations
http://marinationmobile.com/locations

[Photos: Suzi Pratt for Eater Seattle]

Korean Food USA is a new series that showcases Korean and Korean-inspired eateries all around the nation.

Look out Dallas, Korean tacos have officially landed. SsahmBBQ, a newly-minted food truck, has brought the NY and LA phenomenon to the Lone Star state. It’s a collaboration between two foodies, Joey Hong, the owner of a local Italian restaurant, and Andy Park, the son of parents who run an LA-based Korean BBQ restaurant. You could say that BBQ runs in the family… they’re bringing traditional family recipes back in a new and delicious way.

The truck is serving up tacos, quesadillas and burritos, served with your choice of beef, pork, chicken, or tofu. Tacos, a steal at $3 each, are topped with caramelized kimchi, cilantro and onion, salsa, and sesame soy vinaigrette salad. Burritos are concocted in a similar fashion, with the added topping of cilantro lime rice. The quesadillas combine two of the most perfect ingredients on earth, monterey jack & cheddar cheese with caramelized kimchi.

The kimchi fries are also a popular option not to be missed. Crispy hand cut fries slathered with spicy mayo, cilantro and onion, monterey jack and cheddar cheese, and caramelized kimchi are equal parts filling and delicious. Pork enthusiasts have the option of adding marinated spicy pork.

SsahmBBQ has already acquired quite the following, so smart eaters should line up early and come hungry!

ssahmBBQ
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[Photos: ssahmBBQ]

Korean Food USA is a new series that showcases Korean and Korean-inspired eateries all around the nation.

We’re always on the lookout for the best and tastiest new options in the world of Korean cuisine, and NYC has delivered, yet again. Korean food trucks are not a exactly a new phenomenon, but the latest to join the ranks offers some serious competition for the likes of Korilla BBQ and Kimchi Taco. The fare is what founders Bob and Jo describe as “korean fusion cuisine”: baguette sandwiches with your choice of chicken, bulgogi, or kalbi, complete with sweet and sour radish and carrot kimchi, all toasted to perfection.

For those with a more traditional palate, there is a combo platter (any choice of meat) served with rice. Vegetarians need not beware, as there is also bibimbap bowl with four sauce options, and japchae with fresh peppers, onions, spinach, and shiitake mushroom.

Launched on July 14, the truck is not even a week old, yet people are clamoring for its delicious food.

Bob & Jo Korean Fusion Truck
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[Photos: Donny T/Midtown Lunch]

Korean Food USA is a new series that showcases Korean and Korean-inspired eateries all around the nation.

The growing trend in Los Angeles is no fashion fad, but that of food trucks. With real-time updates on social media websites such as Twitter and Facebook, the daily hunt for food trucks is becoming a new way for the roaming hungry to dig into something unique. The BapPul duo, John Hong and Eric Kim, took to the streets of L.A. with a purpose: make kimbap mainstream like Korean BBQ.

In 2009 Eric (the man with the plan) approached John (the culinary genius), and together they decided to create a new style of kimbap. And after months of developing flavors, John’s masterpieces were complete with kimbaps like the Spicy Soy Lime chicken kimbab, packed with vinegar pickled radish and cilantro, and the Beef Katsu kimbab, with cabbage, carrot and their special “Sexy BBQ” sauce.  The truck offers four unique takes on kimbap and comes with six undoubtedly delicious sauces that leave you finishing your meal down to the last bappul.

BapPul Kimbab Truck
http://www.bappul.com
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[Photos: Audrey Yun-Suong]