Korean Fo' Reals

In Hawaii, we've got our unique local style Korean food, which has evolved independently for over 100 years.  We've got yakiniku style Korean food, which has gained popularity around the world.   But being the hub of the Pacific, with frequent travel to and from Asia, we've also got the modern, authentic Korean food, pretty much the same as you would get in Seoul.   Having grown up in Hawaii, and used to our local Korean food, I really wanted to try what the cuisine was like closer to modern Korea.   But we've got so many, where to go?    Well, if you're a woman in Hawaii, between the ages of 14 and 84, there's a semi high probability that you're a fan of Korean dramas shown on KBFD.  It believe that it is primarily a function of the attractiveness of young male Korean actors, but whereas soaps and Oprah command the female demographic on the mainland, Korean dramas dominate here.   This is a pretty sizable demographic to be marketing towards, and if you're watching these shows, you're probably seen the commercials for Choi's Garden, over on Rycroft St.   However, if you're tryinig a new cuisine for the first time, it helps to go with someone who is a native to that cuisine to introduce you to the really good stuff.   So I took my Korean friend, Jessica, out for dinner one night, and had her order (in Korean of course).   The place we went is the favorite among Koreans, Sorabol, right on the corner of Keeaumoku and Rycroft.

Just walking in to the two restaurants you notice a big difference.   Choi's Garden is decorated with Korean art and pottery, safely displayed behind plexiglass cases.   Sorabol on the other hand has fancy Korean panelling all over the doorways.   It's got a beautiful Korean scroll themed wallpaper, and ornately carved furniture.  Choi's Garden has the feeling of a family Sunday dinner place, whereas Sorabol has a more elegant decor more suitable for clients, dates, and special occasions.  

Ban Chan at Choi's Garden

The best thing I've found about going to an authentic Korean restaurant is the army of side dishes they serve, called ban chan.  I never really understood that going to Yummy's for lunch, and getting the choice of 4 side dishes is actually a trimmed down version of the dishes you'd get a more traditional Korean restaurant.  Kudos for Yummy's for bringing that uniqueness to the plate lunch level.  But even that seems slim compared to the dozen to half dozen little dishes they bring out at a sit down Korean restaurant.  I always feel sorry for the dishwasher at a Korean restaurant, just imagining the legions of little dishes they have to wash, or at a yakiniku place, the charred on grills they need to scrub.

Ban Chan at Sorabol

There's always a few different types of really strong kim chee (expect much spicier and more sour than the kind you'd get with a plate lunch).  There are all sorts of little seasoned vegatables, called namul.   There are little fish cakes, taegu (squid), or sometimes my favorite, kim chee raw crab (similar to aama crab poke).  You know that scene in Castaway, where Tom Hanks catches a crab for the first time and looks with dismay at the jelly like consistency of the uncooked crab?   I've never really understood that scene, because if he had only tasted the crab, he might have been pleasantly surprised by how good it tastes in that form.  Anybody from Hawaii or Korea would've known exactly what to do with that yummy morsel.  

Dol Sot Bi Bim Bap at Choi's Garden

Following the ban chan, the first dish that Jessica introduced me to was dol sot bi bim bap.   If that sounds familiar, it's because you can order a bi bim bap at Yummy's or pretty much any Korean fast food place.   The difference between ordering the familiar rice dish from a fast food place and going to sit down place, is the "dol sot" part.   The dol sot is a very heavy, very hot, Korean stone pot.  The purpose of which is to basically toast the rice at the bottom of the pot.    When done right, the rice touching the pot toasts into a very crispy rice cake.   You can then mix it up with the vegetables, meats, egg, and the rest of the rice.  If the pot is very hot, it will continue to toast any rice in contact with it, and you can repeat the mixing.   This creates a fantastic contrast between the crispy, crunchy toasted rice, and the soft, pillowy white rice in the same mouthful.   The mix of cruncy and soft along with the other ingredients is so amazingly tasty.

Dol Sot Bi Bim Bap at Sorabol

The big problem is that, ever since my very first time with my friend, I have never been served a pot with a lot of that really crunchy rice at the bottom.   I think when she ordered it, she asked (in Korean) for it to be prepared "extra toasty" or "extra crunchy".  Like I said, it pays to go with someone who speaks the language.  People say the same thing about going to dim sum with me.  You get extra street cred when you go with a native speaker.

Ginseng Chicken Soup at Choi's Garden

Koreans also have a lot of soups and stews.   I think it's a function of being such a Northernly country.   It gets cold, and you're looking for something to really warm you up.   The ginseng chicken soup called, samkaetang, is good example of this.   With the ginseng in it, it's supposed to be really healthy for you.   But honestly the one that I had at Choi's Garden was a little too bland for me.   I couldn't really taste much ginseng (or chicken for that matter) in the broth.

Soon Du Bu at Sorabol

The one stew that she introduced me to that I really liked at Sorabol, isn't offered at Choi's Garden.   It's a firey little broth called soon du bu.   To me, it really isn't that spicy drinking it down.   But after a while, it just warms you up, just the thing for a cold Korean night.   The best part about it, is the fantastic clam taste in the broth.   It packs a much stronger clam taste than many clam chowders I've had in my life.   The tofu in it is such a nice soft, melt in your mouth, consistency.  It's kind of similar to Chinese ma po tofu, without the ground pork.  But the broth itself, has an amazing flavor.   It's much more complex than the simple fire that you're expecting by looking at the bright red hue.   The spiciness doesn't overpower all of the other flavors, like the clam and the vegetables, and it has a wonderful warming, balance and harmony.

Kal Bi Chim at Choi's Garden

Out of everything Jessica introduced me to however, there was one dish that I really fell in love with.   In Hawaii, we're used to the 3 boned, thin, chewy cut of kalbi in our plate lunches.   But my favorite Korean dish, is the stew made from kalbi, called kal bi chim.   In stew form, instead of being the kinda tougher, chewier, meaty strip that we're used to, the bigger hunks of  kalbi becomes amazingly tender. Literally, fall off the bone tender.  At Choi's Garden, the stew is thickened to the consistency we think of as a stew, and it's accompanied with vegetables like carrots and daikon.  However, at Sorobol, the stew is much thinner, more broth like, and it the meat stands alone, except for a few flavor enhancers like a Chinese red date.

Kal Bi Chim at Sorabol

Being sandwiched between China and Japan, I wasn't surprised that I saw a lot of influences from both countries on either side.   The Koreans have their own form of sushi, called kimbap, and their own form of zaru soba, called naeng myun.  As I mentioned, the soon du bu reminded me a little of ma po tofu.  But what really surprised me was the kal bi chim at Sorabol.   I'm not sure what it was (maybe the sweetness of the red date), but there was something in the flavor that just reminded me of something my Po Po cooked for me when I was little.   I don't even have any idea what I'm thinking of, but something about that dish really reminded me of some Chinese dish she cooked when I was little.  It also helped that the kal bi chim at Sorabol was flawlessly executed.   It was so amazingly tender, it rivals the short ribs they used to make in the bentos at Suehiro's.   I can count the number of places that I've had short ribs that soft in my whole life on just one hand.  But while the Korean food is influenced by China and Japan, they clearly have their own distinct flavor.   The marinade for kal bi is similar to, but not exactly the same as teriyaki.   The kim bap has totally different seasonings and fillings than sushi.   It's familiar, yet different and distinct.

It's been awhile since my friend first took me to eat Korean food at Sorabol.   But after being around the island, trying several different Korean places, I still like the flavors at Sorabol the best.   Their dol sot bi bim bap was crispier (at least that first time).  Their soon du bu, a perfect balance of spiciness and a strong clam flavor.  Their kal bi chim, amazingly tender with a sweet, familiar flavor to back it up.  Add to that the elegant decor, and the fact that they're open 24 hours a day, and Sorabol just wins hands down.  They are a bit pricier than other places though.   But this is an instance where you do pay for quality.  And say what you want about the Koreans being rude, but the last time we were there, the waitresses couldn't get enough of my little boys and they kept doting on them, serving them, cutting their meat, and being all around super attentive.  It's enough to make Sorabol my favorite Korean restaurant, and keep me coming back wanting more.

Jessica has since moved back to the mainland, and I truly miss having her around, and not just to take me for good Korean food.   But eating at Sorabol always brings back good memories, and I can't wait to see her again, and to see what she introduces to me next. 

Where There's Smoke

If there is any Korean food that is popular on the mainland, it is Korean BBQ.   In fact, that may be the only form of Korean food that people on the mainland are generally familiar with.   Even when I was away at graduate school, there was a Korean BBQ nearby.   I was really bad actually.  There was one class that I had which was a business case study course.   The class was divided in half, during the first half different groups would come up and present their analysis of a classic business case and after the break the professor would lecture about the concepts we were supposed to have learned.   Unfortunately, the professor was just so old and boring that I just couldn't stand listening to him, and the fact that the class was an evening class just made it worse.   So almost every other week, after the first half, my friend Sean and I would skip out of class and go to have dinner at the Korean BBQ.   Given the choice between an exruciatingly boring lecture and some warm inviting bulgolgi, the bulgolgi wins out every time.   It would always aggravate my classmates to no end, especially since my friend and I actually did so well in that class. 

Back at home, we're no stranger to Korean BBQs.   However, they're never given the name Korean BBQ.   Nor are they really called by their Korean name, gogigui.   They're always called yakiniku restaurants.  Of course this is a little bit odd, since yakiniku is a Japanese equivalent, but these are Korean restaurants, not Japanese.   To add further confusing, the kanji for yakiniku, in Chinese reads "siu yuk" (or roast meat).  But siu yuk, is what we call the Chinese roast pork with that nice crispy skin on top.   So a newcomer could easily be confused.   But here in Hawaii, we know that yakiniku places are Korean restaurants.

There are quite a number of yakiniku places here on island.   Just driving along Kapiolani next to Ala Moana, or driving up Keeaumoku, you will find at least a dozen of them.    Ironically one of the nicer yakiniku places, is actually a Japanese chain (although it's Korean food), called Gyu-Kaku.  What sets them apart, is that whereas most yakiniku places use a propane burner, Gyu-Kaku uses coals.   The orange red glow of the coals gives everything a better flavor than using gas.   The only drawback of Gyu-Kaku is their smaller portions (of which you're meant to buy many of), but not-so small prices.   My favorite yakiniku place however, is Camellia Buffet Yakiniku on McCully (across from where McCully Chop Suey used to be).   They also have a place called Yakiniku Camellia on Beretania closer to the University, but I think the McCully location has slightly more variety.

Cold Asile at Camellia Buffet Yakiniku

Camellia is probably the best value you can get eating at a yakiniku place, since it's a buffet.   But don't let the buffet part fool you.  This is not a matter of quantity over quality.  Everything that they have tastes quite fresh and high quality.   The big drawback to most buffets is that the food sits there on the line getting cold.  Things start to congeal.  Things get overcooked.   Things get soggy or wilted.   But at a yakiniku place, this is a completely negated problem.   The only things sitting around are the cold vegetables (kept in refrigeration units), and meats (which are sitting in their marinade getting more flavorful).   Then as you eat, you're cooking directly on the burner, so everything you're eating tastes completely fresh off the grill (because it is).   In this sense, this is probably the best buffet there is.   Ever.   

Marinating Meats at Camellia Buffet Yakiniku

All of Camellia's meats taste fantastic.   That's because they're basically just sitting there all day in their marinade, getting tastier and tastier.   They've got all the standards: chicken, bulgogi (beef), kalbi, spicy pork, and when you come at dinner tri-tip beef steak.   You can throw on garlic, mushrooms, onions, lots of other goodies to enhance the flavor as well.  The worst part about eating steak, or any meat is when it gets cold and the fat starts to congeal in it, making it very unappetizing.  But at a yakiniku place, you basically can take it right off the grill and pop it in your mouth (if you're careful not to burn yourself).   In my opinion, there's pretty much no better way to eat any meat.

Vegetables at Camellia Buffet Yakiniku

Just because they've got tons of meats, doesn't mean that the veggie world gets left behind here.    They've got a huge, supermarket long aisle of veggies.   About half are different varieties of kim chee.  But the other half are yummy seasoned vegetables, like choi sum, cabbage, seaweed, bean sprouts, and a whole slew of others.  They're nice and cold too, so it goes great along with the fresh off the grill meat.    It's like those old McDLT commercials where McDonalds would give you a container that kept the (burger) hot side hot and the (lettuce & tomato) cold side cold.   Only this is even hotter, colder, and fresher as it's not take out.

Kalbi & Bulgolgi on the Burner at Camellia Buffet Yakiniku

My wife's big complaint about going to Camellia is the smoke.   The moment you step through the door, it's like you're walking into a thick haze of smoke.   It's practically like fog.   She says that after you leave all your clothes and your hair smells like you've just escaped from a burning building.    But to me that smell is completely alluring.   It's intoxicating.  Smoke, sizzling meat, fire.   There's something primal and irresistable about it.   They actually did a study and found that women are more attracted to flowery scents (which is why guys should always bring flowers to a woman on a date, even if they just don't see the point).   Guys on the other hand are more attracted to food scents (so if women want to attract guys, they should wear things like vanilla, cinnamon & sugar, orange or other fruity scents).   So I always tell my wife that she smells great after we've gone to eat there.  She thinks I'm daft, but I'm only half-joking.

Spicy Pork on the Burner at Camellia Buffet Yakiniku

Going to Camellia to me is kind of a guy thing.   I mean there's fire.  Mmm, fire.  Grunt.  There's meat.  Mmm, meat.  Grunt grunt.  And if you're so inclined there's soju and Korean beer.  It satisfies all of the basic caveman urgings that guys tend to have.   But actually going to yakiniku can be kind of romantic too.   My wife is, once again, going to think that I'm out of my mind, but sitting around the warmth of the fire at a yakiniku place, kind of reminds me of camp fire at senior camp at Camp Erdman.  My whole class as sitting on log around the fire, and I was sitting there alone when she came and sat down and snuggled next to me (although she still says I sat next to her).   It was the warmest and coziest I felt in my entire life, and that had nothing to do with the camp fire.   Somehow sitting around the fire at a yakiniku reminds me of this (although the warm, glowing coals at Gyu-Kaku are probably better for this than the sizzling, smokey haze at Camellia). 

Fire.   Meat.  Smoke.  Warmth.   As much as you want.  Who cares if you smell like you just escaped from a burning building.   The yakiniku experience is one of my favorite dining options in the world.  It's primal.   It's carnal.   It's simply outrageously delicious.

Yummy, Yummy, Yummy, I've Got Love in My Tummy

While local style Korean food may be almost unrecognizable by Koreans from the mainland or Korea, for the Koreans who grew up here (as well as everyone else who grew up here), it is a style that is unique and sorely missed with deprived of if.  I have one Korean friend in particular who, though originally from Korea, grew up here with our local Korean community.  After she spent several years on the mainland for college, the first time she came back the thing she was craving most was local Korean food.    Sure there was Korean food in the big cities on the mainland where she was, but all of it was the Korean food of more recently transplanted Koreans.  It was a reflection of the Korean food you would find in Korea today, but not the style of food of the Koreans that evolved independantly over a hundred years here.  So after she returned home after many years, and I picked her up from the airport, the first thing she wanted to do was make a bee-line for most famous of local Korean fast food, Yummy Korean BBQ.  

If Patty's Chinese Kitchen defined local Cantonese fast food here in the islands, Yummy did the same for Korean fast food.    They were among the first to open and pretty much singlehandedly established the market for Korean fast food, using modifications of their own family's recipes.   However, whereas Patty's lost the war against a large mainland corporation and closed their coveted Ala Moana corner store, Yummy has been doing fantastically well.  So well, that there have been many imitators, but no one does it nearly as well as Yummy.

Actually, when my sister was in college, one of her best friends was the scion of the Tasty Korean BBQ chain.   If the name sounds similar, it is because the families are cousins of the family that owns Yummy.   For quite some time, they were inseparable.   Yet in all that time, she was never able to get him to divulge their family secret for the really good kalbi, although he did cook it for her from time to time.    Given her culinary skills, I would've expected her to reverse engineer the recipe after a while, but I guess it's too well guarded. 

Kalbi is perhaps the quintessential Korean food around here.   I say this because while kim chee is pervasive, people still think of it as Korean, whereas kalbi has pretty much passed into the public domain realm of "local food".  This is especially true of our particular style of kalbi, the thin cross cut strip with the 3 bones at the top.  As ubiquitous as it is in Hawaii, you really don't see this particular cut of kalbi on the mainland or in Korea.   Probably the best place to get this style of kalbi, is at Yummy.   Sometimes the kalbi at other places can get really tough and dry, and while still flavorful, they can take a lot to chew them down.   The kalbi at Yummy is usually pretty moist and still packed with the flavor of the marinade.   Although I still prefer the strip steak cut of kalbi at Kim Chee No. 1, when I'm craving the 3 bone style Yummy is the place I'd go.

Yummy also has a very good meat jun.   Again, it is not the same as the juicy meat jun at Kim Chee, it is probably the best of the fast food variety.   Their version has a lot more egg taste than the batter at Kim Chee.  It is very different from the small medallion sized egg pancakes in Korea called jeon.   In Korea it's more of a small vegetable or seafood pancake, that is really more of an appetizer or side dish.   Our huge, ribbon sliced style with a large piece of beef inside is really more of a local thing.   You can imagine that the reaction from Koreans raised elsewhere would be the same as if someone else took our mac salad and turned it into a giant entree on its own.  

Meat Jun Plate at Yummy Korean BBQ

The most fun thing about going to Yummy though, is the big selection of side dishes they have (in true Korean style).   With most plate lunches, a mac or tossed salad along with your 2 scoops of rice is the most you'd be hoping to get on the side.    But at Yummy, you can expect no less than 4 selections from their extensive bar of side dishes.  They've got all of the classic vegetables, like kim chee, bean sprouts,cabbage and seaweed.  I really like to get their choi sum as well.  Between the seaweed, choi sum, and cabbage, you've got such a beautiful gradient of different shades of green.    But the side dish that I like best from Yummy, that you really can't find anywhere else, is their potato salad.  It is so totally addictive.   I have no idea what they put in it, but the mayo they use is more flavorful than anywhere else.  The potato pieces themselves are fried before adding the mayo, and leaving the potato skins on, making the dish really stand out from the plain scoop of mac salad served at other places.  If I'm only going to eat one thing at Yummy, the potato salad would be it.  

It may only be fast food, but for a the Koreans that grew up here (and to the rest of us as well), Yummy is like a taste of home.    Like losing Patty's Chinese Kitchen, losing Yummy would be a huge blow for our local heritage, but thankfully it they're still going strong.  

Kama'aina Kine Kim Chee

After the Chinese and the Japanese came to Hawaii to work on the sugar cane plantations, the Koreans followed shortly thereafter, in 1903.   Like the Chinese and the Japanese, after being in Hawaii for over a hundred years, the Koreans in Hawaii have really branched out and created their own subculture independent of other Koreans around the world.   Like the Chinese and the Japanese, this is most easily visible in the Korean food we have in the islands.

Usually when I'm travelling, I never want to eat something that I could get at home.   I have never understood why, after travelling thousands of miles, tourists would want to eat at McDonald's and waste the opportunity to try something you couldn't get at home.   But when my Korean friends come from the mainland, I still like to take them to eat our local Korean food, just to showcase how different it is here from the Korean food you'd find on the mainland or in Korea.   Usually they are pretty surprised.   In fact, one friend didn't even recognize the kalbi she was eating as kalbi.  The style of kalbi that we're so used to, the thin cross cut with the 3 bones at the top, is completely different from how kalbi is cut in Korea.   Though different, it is just as legitimately Korean as food from Korea, just developed independantly for over 100 years by our own local Koreans.

Shoyu Chicken & Mochiko Chicken Mixed Plate from UH Lunchwagon

Local Korean food is all over the islands, even if not in a Korean restaurant.  Spicy Korean chicken drummets, or our beloved 3-boned kalbi for that matter, are standard plate lunch fare and can be found at any diner or lunchwagon.   Kim chee is ubiquitous, but not necessarily in the places that you'd expect.   The lunchwagon over at UH for example always serves a small bit of kim chee with any mixed plate, regardless of what other items are chosen.  Ted's Drive-In at the top of the hill on S. King St. (across from the Humane Society), used to be famous for serving their kim chee burgers.  Sadly they've long since closed, but Old Waialae Road which replaced them continues the tradition.   Big City Diner also features kim chee, in their Grandma's Famous Kimchee Fried Rice.   But for the real local Korean flavor, the place that I would always go to are the Kim Chee Restaurants.

There are actually quite a number of them around the state.   The one that I am most familiar with, the one that I grew up with, is Kim Chee II, right next to Big City Diner in Kaimuki.   Ever since I was little, I loved that place.  Even waiting for a table, I have fond memories of staring at their little diorama of the mongoose trying to attack the pheasant.   Their rice to me, is some of the softest, biggest, stickiest, plumps of white pearls I've ever had, and when I was away at college on the mainland, this was the rice that I was missing.   But after I came home from college, we started frequenting the other Kim Chee Restaurants as well.   After attending any large expos at the Neil Blaisdell Center, we discovered that we really liked Kim Chee III, tucked away across from Thomas Square (not at all visible from King St.).  When I was working for a client on Kauai, I had the chance to try Kim Chee No. 9 in the Kukui Grove Shopping Center.    But to me, the best one is the original one.   Kim Chee No. 1, over in Kaneohe, right on Kamehameha Hwy. just before Windward Mall.  They are the original and still clearly the best one.   Their portions are just a bit larger than all of the others.   Their flavors are just a bit more intense.   They are probably the best definitve example of local Korean food.    But all of them are pretty good.

Barley & Corn Tea at Kim Chee II

When wandering in to a Kim Chee Restaurant, the first thing that you notice is that you can make yourself feel at home.    They let you meander over to the boiler and get your own cup of Korean barley & corn tea.    I love this tea, because it doesn't taste like any other tea in the world.   In fact, it's not brewed with tea leaves at all.  It's brewed with, well, barley and corn.   The barley gives it the earthy backbone, but it is the corn that sweetens it up.   Koreans drink it like water.

Seaweed Soup at Kim Chee II

No matter what you're having, the first thing you get is their seaweed soup.   It's a very simple, salty little clear broth.   But the deep flavor of the seaweed shines through.   There is also just a hint of the meat bones they probably used to make the stock with.

2 Types of Kim Chee at Kim Chee II

As a Kim Chee restaurant, you have to have kim chee of course.   I have always liked that crunchy gourd kim chee better than the regular one.   Besides that great crunch, it's got just a bit of sweetness and a little bit of spiciness to give it a kick.    To be honest, their regular kim chee is just too mild.  It's kind of a blend between kim chee and the tsukemono you get at local Japanese places.  They toned it way down, and it is just a little too bland for me.   However, I'll let you in on a secret.   They do make the real stuff as well.    You have to ask them for their "special" kim chee, the ones they usually only serve to their Korean patrons.   Then they bring out the much spicier, much more intense, slightly sour, slightly briney, authentic kim chee.

Special Kim Chee vs Regular Kim Chee at Kim Chee II

Then comes the matter of what to actually order.   But if you're like me and just can't decide, they've got a number of special combination plates, with a sampling of their best stuff.   My favorite thing there is their dinner special.   The shrimp "tempura", is decent, but when you dip it in that salty, spicy dipping sauce they give you, it just comes alive.   I've never really cared for mandoo, as much as I like gau gee or gyoza.  The pi (or wrapper) on a mandoo is always too thick and way too chewy for my taste.   But the mandoo at kim chee also has a pretty satisfying crunch to it.   The hearty crunch in combination with the thick chewiness makes their mandoo a lot more tasty than others.   But the 2 things that I absolutely adore at Kim Chee Restaurants are their meat jun and their kalbi.   The meat jun has a fantasticly addictive egg batter on it that just soaks up all of the meaty flavors, juices, and seasonings.   The kalbi is actually cut both ways.   In some dishes, it is the local style, thin cross cut with the 3 bones at the top.  But on their dinner special, it is a strip cut, with a single whole bone at the end.    The sweet and savory kalbi marinade at the Kim Chee Restaurants is simply the best there is.  I once had a bad steak at regular steak place.   It was kinda tough and dry and all around tasteless.   So the next day, I had an immediate craving for the juicy, flavorful strip of kalbi at Kim Chee, and the difference was like night and day.   They may be completely different from their current counterparts in Korea, but to me the meat jun and the kalbi at Kim Chee are second to none.  They are my favorite kalbi and meat jun, and my favorite Korean dishes, anywhere.  

Dinner Special at Kim Chee II

After a hundred years of evolution, even though from a common point of origin, the Korean food and culture in Hawaii are unique and independant on their own.   But, it is a difference worth celebrating and preserving, as a distinct and local identity.