Leonardo Knows Best

I should really have serious problems with a place like Gyu-Kaku.

According to the magazine cut-outs that line the walls at the entrance, about 8 or 9 years ago this Japanese restaurant chain was all the rage with the Hollywood elite. Billed as a “new” concept, Gyu-Kaku’s pull was that you could grill your own food. At your own table! It’s not that this was not even close to being a new concept, or that the concept had been ingrained and beloved in Korea for decades (hundreds of years? thousands?), it was that the items on the menu so obviously aped the basics of Korean BBQ, and billed it as a uniquely Japanese dining experience.

It hasn’t changed much. It’s extremely popular (not sure if Leo Dicaprio is still an avid customer) and the menu still features all the items familiar to K-bbq fans: kimchi (you have to pay for it separately!), cuts of kalbi, even miyok-guk and kalbi-t’ang. There are tons of Japanese-style items for sure, but for K-bbq aficionados like me, the menu feels rooted in Suwon, not Tokyo.

So I should have major issues with Gyu-Kaku…but I don’t. At all. It’s fantastic and I would just as soon take someone there as I would to a classic K-bbq jip. The menu is extensive, the portions are small enough that you can choose more than a couple of cuts of meat, and there are innovative items for the grill like corn and other veggies. We ordered 5 cuts and a pesto chicken cheese fondue that was perfect. We arrived at 6:30, just as Happy Hour (all menu items included!) was ending, but our waiter let us order everything at Happy Hour prices. Best of all—and this is key—the grills use charcoal, not gas, a huge rarity for indoor bbq places in Hawai’i. The only other place I know of is Migawon, which appears to have closed in the past year or so.

Big thumbs up to Gyu-Kaku. It was nearly perfect. Now about charging for kimchi…

gyu-kaku

media evidence of awesomeness

thou shalt NEVER charge for kimchi!

various cuts, perfect size portions

kalbi

Hirami Miso Steak (best cut by far)

chicken pesto cheese fondue

Big Island Shrooms

The onescoopkimchi family spent the Easter holiday on the Big Island swimming, playing, going to the beach, and of course, eating. The first stop is the supermarket, but it’s always a tough call on what to buy when traveling for a short time  to a place that has a kitchen. The essentials always include kimchi, but it’s never easy to finish a full jar. This time, I had a solution. I made up my own recipe on the spot and, judging from the reaction it got from the fam, it was a successful concoction.

Like many Americans, I’m a full-blooded mutt. I can trace my heritage to Poland, Lithuania, and Canada (French). I have never felt any particular connection to any of these cultural affiliations, but I have rather fond memories of grandmothers and great-grandmothers reminding me of my heritage, particularly the kinds of food they grew up consuming. At a very young age during visits to see them, they would prepare one or more of these dishes. I remember a few, but the one I remember most is what I knew as “greebies.” I recall greebies being slowly simmered mushrooms and onions, but I had no idea if the name was real or just a family thing my Lithuanian great grandmother created. I did some research and found that it is indeed real, but it’s not a recipe. The word grybas (pr. greebies I’m assuming) simply means “mushroom” in Lithuanian. Mystery solved.

So, what to do with a bunch of mushrooms, a stick of butter, and a jar of kimchi? Yep, Korean grybas. Our Saturday night dinner was steak, so I decided the K-grybys would be a delish topping/side dish/panchan. The recipe is as easy as it sounds. I slowly simmered a half-stick of butter, mushrooms, salt and pepper, and kimchi for about 2 hours. Perfection (IMHO 🙂

Not the best kimchi in the world, but did the trick

grybas!

simmer 2 hours

finis

recommended accompaniment: raspberry lambic (actually, i just though the picture was cool)

 

Ssam Kind of Haute

One of my grand life-ideas has been to open a high-end Korean restaurant that would take common Korean dishes and make them haute cuisine. This has been done with other regional cuisines with great success. Morimoto has created upmarket Japanese food in his restaurants. (He has, by the way, created a version of tubu kimchi (tofu kimchi) for his Hawaii menu; even he is not immune to hybridizing his menu for local tastes.) Roy Yamaguchi has done the same thing locally with Hawaii Regional Cuisine. While undoubtedly cooked with more care and flair, many of his menu items wouldn’t be out of place on a local plate lunch hole in the wall.

Korean food seems to be ripe for this kind of swish rediscovery. While in Korea there are ample places to eat upscale versions of Korean food (i.e. Yongsusan), in the US there doesn’t seem to be a push for high-end Korean restaurants. There are exceptions, however, and it seems they are highly successful.

Today I ran across this article on Momofuku Ssam Bar. David Chang has created a bbo ssam (pork shoulder wrap) dish that, judging from the accompanying photo, barely resembles bbo ssam. The most fascinating thing about the dish: the price. If people are going nuts over this dish and are willing to pay top dollar, I think a haute Korean restaurant would do quite well. Of course David Chang has already made a name for himself, but I still think with the time and energy you could sell all kinds of amazing Korean dishes at exorbitant prices.

Don’t go stealing my idea.

Wine and bbo ssam? The soju gods are wincing.

Spring Break Fun Jakes

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1O3qxbGuWU8

Central Vietnam

Dining alone in Hawaii Kai? The choices are limited an there is only one Korean food choice: Yummy’s. The epitome of localized Korean food, Yummy’s is just fine if you are starving enough to eat 2 pounds of food. I was not, so I tried Pho 777, he newish pho place in HK.

The menu was a pleasant surprise. Most pho houses stick to the 3 or for basics like raw beef and chicken. Pho 777 has about 20 varieties, one of which I was fully ready to dive into. A further perusal revealed some interesting soups like central Vietnamese specialties and Khmer dishes. I ordered the egg noodles. Hot, fresh, and delish, it was nice to be eating something unique in HK. I’ll be back.