The two most popular cuts of beef for Korean barbecue are cross-cut shortribs (galbee) and thinly-sliced ribeye (bulgogi). However, marinating a whole side of beef, or in this case, a flank steak ,in the same seasonings, grilling, then slicing the grilled steak after cooking is a good way to enjoy Korean barbecue as well. Most Koreans wrap up a slice of beef with a little spoonful of rice and some red pepper sauce in a lettuce leaf, but I usually leave the rice out and double up on the hot sauce.

In a small bowl, combine 1/4 cup soy sauce, 2 Tbsp sesame oil, 1 Tbsp rice wine vinegar, 1 Tbsp sugar, 1/2 tsp. minced ginger, 4-5 minced garlic cloves, and a dash of black pepper.

Place a 2 lb flank steak in a large zipper seal bag, along with the marinade. Let steak marinate for about 30 minutes, turning the bag occasionally to cover all sides. 

Grill the marinated flank steak for about 5 minutes per side for medium rare. Remove the steak from the heat and let sit, covered, for at least five minutes. Do not touch, poke or prod it.

If you didn't already know about it, then you know about Korean barbecue now with all of my posting about how Korean will be the new "it" cuisine this year. Korean barbecue restaurants serve raw, marinated meats, and diners cook the meat themselves at the table over a gas or charcoal grill that is usuall embedded in the table. Galbee (marinated beef shortribs), bulgogi (thinly sliced marinated flank steak), dae-jee bulgogi (spicy marinated pork) - these are all Korean barbecue meats.

But you don't have to restrict yourself to Korean restaurants for Korean barbecue. Japanese restaurants also serve their version of Korean barbecue and call it "yakiniku." They keep the same principle of grilling at the table and the same basic marinade for the meats. The Japanese restaurants add their own flair with fancier grills and different types of things to cook over the grill. Korean barbecue traditionally grills only meats with an occasional sliced onion or mushooms and get their vegetables from bahnchan. Japanese add vegetables to the grill - sometimes directly on the grill, or in small foil packets with butter.

In LA, Gyu-kaku and Manpuku are the only strictly yakiniku restaurants I've tried. Places like Musha in Santa Monica and Torrance serve yakiniku style items as part of a widely varied menu.

For many of us, the highest tech we will ever get is the top speed on our Kitchenaid Stand Mixer, so we may not care too much about CES taking place as we speak over in Sin City. See? We don't even know that CES stands for Consumer Electronics Show.

Our cousins over at Engadget however, are going absolutely bonkers, and truth be told, if I were in Vegas this weekend, I'd be going bonkers, too over a teeny tiny combination cell phone/MP3 player/PDA/GPS that gets embedded in your forearm (just kidding). 

But since I'm not there to marvel at the world's largest LCD at 82" from Samsung myself, the best I can do is pop over to LA's Koreatown and sidle up to one of the tabletop grills at Chosun Galbee, one of the largest Korean barbecue restaurants in LA. I'm not saying Chosun is the best, because I fear that it may be going the way of Woo Lae Oak and modifying a lot of the food to cater to "Western" tastes, but it's not horrible, and like Samsung and the new 82" LCD, it is one of the biggest Koreans out there.

Chosun Galbee
3330 West Olympic Blvd. (@Western Ave.)
Los Angeles, CA 90019
323.34.3330