The Korean Taco Has Gone Mainstream, but KOGI IS STILL KING

Yup, the secret is out.  What started out as a cool, out-of-the-box food idea has spread like wildfire over the past year and a half...Korean tacos have hit the mainstream.

The New York Times did a recent article on the subject, as did the Dallas Morning News, the Wall Street Journal and the Seattle Times. Food blogs and magazines have written about them and more and more eateries all over the United States are adding Korean tacos to their menus.  I wrote in an earlier blog post about trying them at Hashigo Sushi, I saw them on the menu at California Pizza Kitchen a couple of nights ago and Baja Fresh made news a year ago when they pilfered the original idea for their menu.  Seoul Station in NYC has them.  So does Hankook Taqueria in Atlanta and numerous food trucks in various cities across the country.

But LA food blog The Great Taco Hunt made a great point in their recent posting Korean Taco FAIL.  There may be a whole lot of tacos being served out there using meat cooked Korean-style, but many if not most of them come off as cheap copies of the original.  Chef Roy Choi's Kogi BBQ recipe is still the king!

We profiled Kogi BBQ last year in episode 105 of BITE ME! the MAN Cooking Show, and have been big fans ever since.  Their tacos seriously rock, plus their sliders, burritos, hotdogs and quesadillas all more than hold their own in the yummy department.  Korean tacos might be popping up all over the place, but we know where to go for the best of the bunch.

BITE ME! the MAN Cooking Show - Shabu-Shabu

BITE ME! the MAN cooking show
Episode 205 - Shabu-Shabu

The Japanese dish shabu-shabu might possibly be the world's perfect date food. Why? Not only is it light, healthy and delicious, but you cook it together with your date right at the table. She'll think it's crazy romantic and the next thing you know your clothes will be all over the floor.

In this episode, Josh Landis shows you how to set up and serve this secret weapon right in your own dining room. Here are the written recipe instructions.


Shabu-Shabu

1 pound shabu-shabu beef (Find it in the meat section of your local Asian market or have your butcher slice ribeye or top sirloin paper thin)
1 small head of napa cabbage
4 green onions
1 package of enoki mushrooms
1 bunch of chrysanthemum leaves (optional)
1 package firm or medium firm tofu
1 package udon noodles
1 clove garlic, finely chopped (optional)
1 bottle of pon shabu sauce (ponzu dipping sauce)
1 bottle of goma shabu sauce (sesame dipping sauce)
2 cups of white rice (preferably calrose)

Place portable burner in the middle of your table, or where you and your date can both reach it, and start a pot of water boiling. If you don't have a portable electric burner you can use your stove, but the whole cooking-together-date thing works way better with a portable burner at the table. You can get one for about $20 at your local discount store. Cook the rice. (For rice cooking instructions, see BITE ME! the MAN Cooking Show, episode 102.)

Peel off some napa cabbage leaves and cut them into 3-4 pieces each. You want each piece to be a little larger than bite-sized. Cut off the end of each green onion, then cut each one into finger-sized pieces. Cut off the dirty ends of the enoki mushrooms. Cut tofu into 1-inch cubes. Place all of your vegetables, plus the tofu and udon noodles, on a plate or plates next to your pot of boiling water. Pour the two shabu-shabu dipping sauces into small bowls for each of you. Finely chopped garlic goes great with the ponzu sauce, but if you're cooking for a date you might want to pass on it.  Once the rice is prepared, fill a bowl with rice for each of you.

To cook and serve, place pieces of vegetables and beef into the boiling water. Cook each bite as you go. The beef only takes about 15 seconds, while the vegetables, noodles and tofu take a few seconds longer. Once cooked, dip the pieces in either of your dipping sauces and eat with rice.

BITE ME! the MAN Cooking Show - Seared Ahi Tuna with Mixed Greens and Wasabi Vinaigrette

Let's start things off with our latest episode of BITE ME! the MAN Cooking Show.  Josh demonstrates how to make seared ahi paired with mixed greens and a wasabi vinaigrette.  Here's the recipe.


Seared Ahi

2 slabs of ahi (or yellowfin) tuna, about 3" x 3" or so each
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 tablespoons black sesame seeds
salt and pepper

Heat an oiled pan or griddle on high. Coat both sides of the ahi pieces first with oil, then with salt, pepper and black sesame seeds. Once the pan has heated up, place one of the ahi pieces on the pan. You should hear it sizzling. (If not, remove it from the pan and wait until the pan is hotter.) Cook for about 2 minutes, or until you see a thin stripe of white on the side you are cooking. Flip it over and repeat on the other side. Once both sides are cooked, stand the ahi up on it's side and cook the two ends. Remove from the heat and repeat for the second piece of ahi.

Slice each ahi piece into 1/3" strips. Make sure you slice in the direction that gives you strips that are cooked on the ouside but raw on the inside. Arrange the slices on a plate like a fan, leaving some room for your salad.



Mixed Greens Salad with Wasabi Vinaigrette

Mixed greens salad mix
1 tablespoon honey
1/8 cup rice wine vinegar
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup sesame oil
1 teaspoon of wasabi (or to taste)
1 tablespoon of cilantro leaves

Mix the honey, vinegar and oils in a small bowl or measuring cup. Add wasabi to your preferred heat level. You can find wasabi in paste or powdered form, and it may come in different strengths. We used wasabi paste packaged in a tube for the video. Chop up a few cilantro leaves (no stems) so that you have about a tablespoon of chopped cilantro, then mix it into the vinaigrette.

Arrange some of the mixed green salad on the plate next to the fan of seared ahi. Top the salad with the vinaigrette.