"KoreanCooking" news and stories

The other day, on a whim, I took my whole family to the Melting Pot, an outlet of the U.S. fondue chain. I was in the mood for quality fried food, and what's more quality than food you fry yourself, in oil only you've used? ("I think we'll have the Bourguignonne, or however you say it," I told our 20-year-old waiter, scraping up my best guess at its pronunciation. "Wow, that took me nine days of training to learn!" he said.)

As I was frying up tempura zuchhini and beef tenderloin au natur on the little hotplate in the center of our table, I remembered a Koreatown restaurant with mini copper hoods that descended when it was time to start frying. And I thought: I want one of these tables!

So my wishlist for my future kitchen is begun. The dining room will have a traditional table, but my "breakfast nook" will have its very own grill, with a mini hood. I'm sure it will cost thousands - so my future kitchen is FAR in the future. Now all I need to do is figure out where to get the hardware. Am I going to have to go to a restaurant supply distributor or are these in-table grills available commercially? Anyone ever installed one?

Today's Seattle Times Food & Wine section is almost poetic in its choice of themes. Bulgogi, Barbapapa, kumquats, cookbooks, Yaksik, Japchae... it could be a foodie rap.

•  Every chef should add some of these traditional Korean-American dishes to their repertoire. Especially recommended: Bulgogi (Korean barbecue, yum), Yaksik (sweet rice with nuts and jujubes), Japchae (clear noodles stir-fried with vegetables) and Tteokguk (sliced rice pasta soup).
• Try the Barbapapa from Seattle's Sambar, "almost like two drinks for one price." It's a martini-like concoction of Hangar One Kaffir Lime vodka, Cointreau, lime juice and... rhubarb sorbet. Phew. I was just wondering what to do with that rhubarb sorbet...

Source