Located in a far Northern California college and beer berg, Enjoy Teriyaki has a fast-food or fast-casual vibe in decor and setup. It’s in a former Taco Bell restaurant space. There are no servers. You order at the counter for pickup when your name is called. The restaurant’s main appeal is a menu of tasty…
Recipe: Kkaenip (깻잎) Hummus
Kkaenip in Korean cuisine commonly is made into a 김치 kimchi — a general term for pickled vegetables — or wrapped around barbecued meat and related 반찬 banchan (side dishes). Adding Kkaenip (similar to shiso in Japanese cuisine) to hummus pairs the minty earthiness of the herb with the tang of citrus in the chickpea paste.
Korean cuisine class returns to Sur La Table
Six years after my interview with Anne Haerle, Sur La Table’s corporate chef, Korean cooking classes continue to be popular in culinary schools across the U.S., and grocery stores continue to add more Korean ingredients such as 고추장 gochujang (red pepper paste), seaweed snacks and 뒨장 doenjang (fermented soybean paste) to their shelves. Sur La Table is offering two classes this…
Roy Choi gives U.S. craft brewery Korean culinary star power
Renowned culinary innovator Roy Choi has a new gig as a national pitchman for Blue Moon Brewing Company, matching his Los Angeles Korean-style food with craft beers. From what he told me a while back, this move into 맥주 maekju (beer) seems to have been brewing for some time: “To me, culturally, Korean food is…
A Korean spin on American food trends
Traditional and fusion Korean foods topped National Restaurant News’ list of top food trends for the past couple of years, yet the prognosticators foresee an ebbing in enthusiasm for Korean cuisine in 2016 even while hankering for a couple of hanshik staples deepens. Several of NRN’s favorite food trends have Korean equivalents. Fried Chicken Americans seem…
Review: Kokio Republic food truck, San Francisco Bay area
South Koreans took the States’ beloved Southern fried chicken and made it into something even better: Korean fried chicken. This is cultural appropriation — aka fusion — at it finest. Thanks to Kokio Republic, I don’t have to drive two-plus hours to San Jose or fly to Los Angeles for an authentic Korean fried chicken fix. …
Cutest Korean snack review ever
Dear Husband took a couple of high-carb Korean snacks to work. As a courtesy and before sampling the tastiness himself, he gave his fellow American co-workers fair warning of the assumed flavor profile of the sweet potato and 떡볶이 tteokbokki snacks. He texted the following report at lunch: Carbs for the co-workers. The 떡볶이 snack…
Review: Snack Fever Korean munchies by mail
The element of surprise is why we love to give and receive gifts and this box taps into that side of all of us. The Snack Fever munchies-by-mail offers a care package for students far from their South Korean homes, those around the world surfing Hallyu (Korean wave of culture) and the homesick former ex-pat. Southern…
Hidden Kimchi: The Bird and the Bottle, Santa Rosa, Calif.
The Bird and the Bottle in Santa Rosa, Calif., is another example of the breakout of Korean flavors and ingredients from longtime culinary enclaves such as Los Angeles’ Koreatown. Located about an hour north of San Francisco, it opened in September 2015. Not so hidden on the menu of this American cuisine restaurant are Korean ingredients…
Generous tipping pays off in food-story buffet
Finding the hottest new Korean restaurant or food trend often comes with a little help from your friends. Case in point: Getting to cover a unique Korean government-funded cuisine contest in California wine country.