korean food renders all other food tasteless.

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Koreans: [img]/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img]

I have mixed feelings about Hoedeopbap(sp). Specifically, I'm a big sushi fan, and have really come to appreciate the subtle flavors of the fish. If you put a bunch of spicy sauce on it, it masks the fish. This also leads me to think that the preparer can get away with serving inferior fish. [img]/images/graemlins/confused.gif[/img]

Oh, and Bay Area 2p2'ers, a non-El Camino recommendation is Four Seasons Tofu House in Fremont.

[Wu36]

that fridge full of souju is awesome

[Aloysius]

OT - usually only seen Hoedeopbap served with raw cuttlefish, so to me a superior cuttefish not much > than any random cuttelfish cut.

I agree in general though, the "mixing" and "heavy saucing" aspect to Korean food (mainly in the comfort food sweet spot) kills alot of the subtle-ty of dishes. I like Gochujang alot, but a dish can just taste like that sauce.

My favorite Korean fish dish is Eundaeku Jo-Rim (black cod with daikon radish, sauce is like a soy/sesame base that is spicy).

-Al

[offTopic]

[ QUOTE ]
OT - usually only seen Hoedeopbap served with raw cuttlefish, so to me a superior cuttefish not much > than any random cuttelfish cut.


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The place I had it in SJ, it was kind of like a big chirashi with salad...they didn't use sushi rice, of course, and they served the sauce on the side, but it was raw fish, smelt roe, and, IIRC, some raw squid.

My brother-in-law ordered one in a sushi restaurant in SF (the owner is Korean) and, while it looked great, using all kinds of raw fish, shellfish, and some cooked octopus , he was sweating about half-way through. All I was thinking was that was a waste of good fish.

[Aloysius]

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All I was thinking was that was a waste of good fish.

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OT - oh ok, I can picture it with other stuff, especially the squid or octopus.

Haha yeah - I mean personally, I wouldn't bother to get a raw fish dish unless it were Japanese. Sweating while eating is reserved for chigae or yukgejang consumption only.

-Al

[Popinjay]

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"kimchee sucks"

couldnt disagree more! i love it.

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kimchee couldn't be a better example of a love/hate thing.

[fish2plus2]

Is it true that you arent supposed to eat rice with chop sticks in Korean culture?

[Aloysius]

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Is it true that you arent supposed to eat rice with chop sticks in Korean culture?

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Spoon FTW.

[ QUOTE ]
Koreans,

What about eating live octopus? Is this common? Have you ever tried it?

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I tried it once in Seoul like couple years ago, and once in LA (this bar called The Prince). I had baby octopus tentacle - it was pretty squirmy, and I was pretty good about chomping it to death in my mouth before swallowing. It doesn't really taste like anything though, just viscous - it's drenched in garlic and a really spicy sauce.

Did you see it being served alot in Seoul? I can't remember if it's that standard, cause I never look for it.

-Al

[DeezNuts]

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KKF - chicken soup with ginger is Sam-gye-tang, it's good and restorative (think mainly a summer dish). If you like that, I think you'd also like any Gook Soo dish (hand-cut wheat noodle in soup). It's standard Korean comfort food, a broth with anchovies, seaweed, kimchi. Chicken gook soo prolly uses chicken broth (taste is similar to sam-gye-tang, not as gingery tho). Add scallion-chile paste, very tasty.

-Al

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I love this stuff. I especially like when they serve the rice stuffed in the chicken.

DN

[DeezNuts]

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"only honkeys order only bbq when they go to bbq, and if you need the other dishes to draw in the koreans."

Forget the Koreans. If I get my parents to open one of these in Miami there are going to be about 10 Koreans coming in all year. I dont even think the honkies give a crap about 'banchan'. You could probably just serve them meat, and a bucket of mashed potatoes. LOL. You would probably also be better off not mentioning Korean and just calling it "BBQ in the middle of the table Restaurant invented by Abraham Lincoln"

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I like going to Korean restaurants with first-time white people. When the banchan comes, they're always like...."did we order this?!". And if you share a jjigae with each other(everyone shares a communal soup), they will look at you like you are a barbarian. Yes, it sounds unsanitary, but we Koreans are all brothers.

In Los Angeles, many people I know have experienced poor service if they go to a Korean restaurant but do not have a Korean-speaking person with them. Koreans are like that, so I completely believe it.

DN