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Much thanks to blether and thelobster for offering steakhouse suggestions. Blether, Outback Steakhouse is one of the largest casual dining restaurant chain in Korea (?!). Places that serve steak with salad bar (Sizzler style) are also very popular. Bear in mind that Korea is the birthplace of bulgogi and galbi, so Koreans are traditionally hearty beef eaters. Are there other non-steak related eateries that could be recommended high on trendiness?

Mainly for personal information, but also for work reasons. I want to look at some food trends that are popular in Korea and compare them with equivalents in Japan -- that's the work part, but my personal curiosity is greater so it feels more like a personal research project for me... Hope that answers your question

I will be visiting Tokyo in mid-March for about four days to benchmark restaurants that fall under the following categories: 1. Steak and/or Seafood Buffet Restaurants 2. Organic (Vegetarian or Non-Vegetarian) Restaurants 3. Steakhouse/Grill Restaurants 4. Other Noteworthy and Trendy Eateries in Tokyo (can be any type, from fast food to fine dining serving any type of food) I would very much appreciate any input from Egulleters living in Tokyo (and rest of Japan). The restaurants can range from casual dining to fine dining establishments. Also, does anybody know if a steak house called Bronco Billy (it's in Nagoya, supposedly) has an outlet in Tokyo? Thanks all for your input!

I have to cook lunch for my church this Sunday and I was thinking about cooking a large batch of bolognese sauce to feed about 300 people. Our church has a gas-fired aluminum kettle that will easily cook and hold that amount of sauce. Problem is that it is aluminum and I've read warnings that any acid will react with aluminum. How much of a problem would this pose if I simmered the sauce for just one hour?

Nakji did a great job categorizing the different types of mayo-based salads served at Korean eateries. Some more recent mayo-based variations served in Korean restaurants: 1. Yellow pumpkin salad - Steamed yellow squash (such as acorn) mixed with mayo, diced red/green peppers, diced onions (optional), raisins (optional). 2. "chon sa chae" salad - Seaweed gelatin based "noodles" mixed with mayo. I have a feeling that this is made from the same process used for making the skinless raviolis popularized by el bulli. Except the noodles are crunchy in texture. 3. Macaroni salad - Cooked elbow macaroni mixed with mayo, chopped carrots (optional), chopped peanuts (optional), raisins (optional).

I have a thing for KFC's original recipe fried chicken. They may be a soggy, greasy, and msg laden mess to others, but to me, they are tasty, juicy, and delicate morsels of finger lickin' goodness...

No matter what cooking school you go to, in the end you are 100% responsible for the level of knowledge, skills, and experience you will ultimately gain while in culinary school. As a graduate of the CIA, I have seen fellow students who cruised through 2 years without any significant improvement. I have seen final year students who still did not know how to saute a piece of fish or even handle a knife proficiently. In other words, you have to decide what you want and need to learn during your time at culinary school and this involves extra effort on your part. CIA is an excellent school if you take the time and effort to take advantage of what it has to offer -- I think that this is the case for other well known cooking schools as well. As a career changer with an MBA, I was in a similar situation as yourself when I was considering attending culinary school. You should probably think about the opportunity cost involved in attending culinary school. Is the financial return sufficient enough for you to give up what you are doing now to spend 1~2 years without income (or drastically reduced income)? This question becomes even more difficult if you are married and even more so if you have kids to support. Although passion and love of cooking are good enough reasons to pursue a possible career in this field if you are young and unattached, they are not sufficient enough reasons to make a drastic switch into cooking when you have had some real experience working and living in the real world (a career, marriage, etc...).

I was wondering how a Brazillian rodizio/churrascaria restaurant manages to control its food cost when it offers 10 or more cuts of meat that might go to waste (if they are already roasted in the spit) at the end of the day. With the all you can eat cold/hot buffet as well as the meat, I can only guess that the food cost would run at least 35% and over. Can anybody guess what the profit model for a rodizio would be?

I bought the ingredients from an internet site called New England Cheesemaker or something. Next time I'll try stretching the curd by heating them up in salted water. Although the texture was off by a bit, the taste was similar to the store-bought cow's milk fresh mozzarella. Maybe if I had a water buffalo in my backyard...

I recently got hold of some citric acid and rennet tablets to try my hand at making fresh mozzarella cheese at home. I followed the internet posted intructions and was able to get the curd set. I followed the instructions to microwave the curd for 30 seconds and knead it and microwave it again and knead it until the cheese starts to stretch. However, the cheese never stretched and broke off after just stretching a little bit. The texture was grainy and not pliant. Is the microwaving technique the culprit here? Am I better off using the standard hot salt water bath in melting the curds until they start stretching? Also, what do I do with the whey in order to make ricotta? Thanks!

Thank you for the great blog! I 100% agree with you about the Chocohip, the Korean chocolate chip cookie! It's soft, chewy, and somewhat cake-like at the same time. They are quite addictive, as I have been known to go through an entire box without blinking an eye... Maybe I should start a photo-thread about Korean cookies and snacks one of these days...

All the fast food joints in Korea have a version of bulgogi burger on their menus. McDonalds has one (made with pork patty...), Burger King used to have one, Lotteria has one (and even had a version that used a compressed 'rice' bun), even KFC has one. Is it popular in Korea? Yes. Is it a way to propagate Korean flavor profiles? Maybe. Agreed. ←

muichoi: You made a good observation here. There is too much seasoning in most Korean food to let you actually get a full taste of the underlying food. A good example is the way in which Koreans like to eat raw fish. The Japanese will age their fish and dip it in nothing more than soy sauce and some will even omit wasabi. Japanese sashimi focuses on the taste of the different types of fish. The Koreans like their "hweh" (Korean sashimi) to be made from just caught fish because of the extra chewy texture. The preferred dipping sauce is a sweet and sour "cho-gochujang" sauce, whose major components are Korean gochujang (Korean style red chili paste), vinegar, and sugar. This sauce manages to mask out any inherent flavor present in most fishes so that the only sensation is of chewing something that tastes sweet, sour, and hot. In addition, many Koreans also like to eat the fish as part of a lettuce wrap that consists of the raw fish, dipping sauce, and a raw sliver of garlic. I am not saying that the Korean way of eating raw fish is not tasty -- it is actually very good in its own merits. However, my personal feeling is that the subtleties or nuances are lost somehow. Korean cuisine is not all about raw bold flavors. From what I have read, the traditional imperial cuisine of the Korean royal court as well as upper level aristocratic cuisine used to be very mild and more subtle. The vegetarian cuisine of Buddhist temples in Korea are also good examples of lightly seasoned food that allows the ingredients to become the highlights.

I think that the mainstreaming (or dumbing down) of Korean cuisine and the further refining of authentic Korean cuisine are two efforts that can go together. For example, the average Joe can have a toned down version of bibimbap at a fast casual type of outlet at the local mall while a diner who has some experience with Korean food can have an authentic Chonju-style bibimbap at a tonier Korean restaurant in Manhattan. Chinese is popular in the United States because it caters to every taste -- from the gloppy stuff served at take out joints to the refined regional dishes served at better Chinese restaurants. At the end of the day, everyone has experienced Chinese food in one form or another. The popularization of Korean flavor profiles through watered down sauces, mixes, and marinades is one way of getting the average diner become aware of Korean food and ingredients. Once he or she gets a taste of Korean food through mainstream versions of Korean food at the local mall (for example) wouldn't the next step be in trying the real thing at a real Korean restaurant? What about the status of authentic Korean restaurants in New York? The quality of Korean restaurants in Manhattan (even including Woo lae oak in Soho) in terms of quality of food, service, and interior cannot compare with the product offered by the best restaurants in Seoul. In general, they are not as up to date in terms of food/menu and service with the rapidly changing counterparts in Korea. Many native Koreans who have eaten at Korean restaurants in the United States have commented on the fact that the seasoning is too heavy or 'traditional' -- in other words, too salty and heavy. Native Koreans now generally prefer food with a lighter touch in terms of seasoning, which is in stark contrast to the heavily seasoned food you normally encounter at Korean restaurants in New York. In other words, Korean restaurants in the United States are stuck in the 80's~90's whereas the restaurants in Seoul have continously evolved through the years to accommodate the changing tastes.

Following up on the comments made above, I believe that the Korean restaurants in mid-town (and in Flushing or Fort Lee) do a good job of presenting everyday ordinary Korean food. However, that is the problem, because ultimately these places are catering to the Korean population and the simple, straight in your face type of foods are what the average Korean (or Korean American) likes to eat. I am wondering if there needs to be an effort to further modernize or westernize Korean food in order to make it more accessible for mainstream tastes here in the United States. I hate to say it, but a place like P F Chang's serves watered down and heavily modified (some not even Chinese) versions of Chinese food and they seem to be doing very well with mainstream diners.

Interest in Korean food appears to be growing, as evidenced by the steady increase in Korean food related topics by Egulleters as well as positive reviews of Korean restaurants from the New York Times. However, I can't shake off the impression that Korean food and Korean restaurants (at least in NYC) still fall under the 'I've tried it once' type of one-time ethnic dining experience category. What I am trying to say is that Korean food is not as ubiquitous as Japanese or Chinese restaurants in the city (as well as the numerous Japanese style maki/sushi places). Is Korean food too Korean/ethnic (as served by the restaurants in mid-town) or too strange (Korean-fusion attempted by D'or Ahn or even Bahn) for New Yorkers?

Is Taiwanese Chinese food different in some subtle way from mainland Chinese food. Would there be a reason why mainland Chinese diners would be attracted towards a restaurant that serves Taiwanese Chinese food? Thank you all for your insight.

I have a dinner reservation at Per Se next week and would like to know what the proper attire would be? Would I be okay with a jacket with shirt but no tie? How 'casual' could you go? In addition, for other top tier restaurants in NYC, would a blazer with no tie be okay? Thanks for your input.

The acorn jelly is never eaten as is. Korean acorn jelly or "dotori mook" (dotori=acorn, mook=jelly) is always eaten with a spicy sauce, which is usually a blend of chopped green onions, korean red pepper flakes, chopped garlic, a little bit of sugar, and soy sauce. The "dotori mook" is sliced and tossed with this sauce and with fresh sliced cucumbers and carrots. It makes for a good banchan (side dish) or accompaniment to cold beer.

Water kimchi or "Mool Kimchi" (Mool is water in Korean) is kimchi that is fermented and served submerged in ample fermented liquid. Regular kimchi is sort of a "dry rub" marination method and the only liquid that comes out is the naturally fermented juice drawn out from the heavily salted and seasoned cabbage. In the case of mool kimchi, water is added to the kimchi so that it ferments while completely submerged. The fermentation process will also ferment the liquid as well, imparting it with a refreshing tartness and slight spritz. Mool kimchi in general are not overly spicy as a result of adding less red pepper flakes (and/or ground fresh red pepper) for the marinade. As a result, it is a more delicate form of kimchi in terms of flavor. The liquid is the most important component of this kimchi, as it is eaten with a spoon to get a mouthful of liquid and contents. Some people will only drink the liquid of mool kimchi. Also, the liquid is supposed to be a cure-all for bad hangovers (although I haven't tried it). The most popular mool kimchi eaten in Korea are "Dong chee mee" made with Korean white turnip and "Nabak Kimchi" made with small cut cabbage as main ingredients. The liquid from "Dong chee mee" is a major flavoring component for the cold beef broth used in Korean "Naeng Myun" (or cold noodle soup).

The banchan served at these Korean bbq places are not necessarily first course items. They are meant to accompany the grilled meat. Here is a summary of typical banchan served in grilled meat restaurants in Korea: 1. Various kinds of kimchi - Regular kimchi - Scallion kimchi - Cucumber kimchi - Water kimchi - Unfermented kimchi (basically "raw" kimchi that has been fresh made and not fermented) 2. Various "Jeons" or pancakes - Seafood and scallion pancake - Mungbean pancake - Pancakes that utilize seasonal produce 3. Various leafy greens for "Ssam" - for wrapping the meat - Green leaf lettuce - Red leaf lettuce - Chinese cabbage - Korean perilla leaves (I don't know if this is the accurate name for this aromatic leaf) 4. Condiments for "Ssam" - Korean fermented bean paste for "Ssam" (called "Ssam-jang") - Korean red pepper paste ("Gochujang") - Sliced raw garlic slivers (dipped into Ssam-jang and put on top of meat wrapped in any "Ssam" leafy green) - Marinated scallions (these are scallions that haven been shredded very thin and tossed with sesame oil, salt, red pepper flakes, vinegar) - also to be put into "Ssam" 5. Various "Banchan" - Various "Namool banchan" - various blanched and marinated vegetables such as mung bean sprouts ("Kongnamul"), spinach ("Shigumchi namul"), etc. - Various fermented seafoods "Jutkkal" - fermented squid, fermented oyster, fermented fish guts, etc. 6. Dipping Sauce for Meat - Sesame oil with salt and pepper mixed together - Sometimes grilled meat is dipped directly into "Ssam-jang" 7. Western Style Salads - Iceberg lettuce in some form of house style oriental dressing - Potato salad (usually boiled potatoes with apples in mayonnaise) - Kabocha squash salad (steamed kabocha in mayonnaise or simply served as is) 8. "Mook" or Jellies - Acorn "Mook" - Jelly made from Acorn starch and marinated with sesame oil, red pepper flakes, salt, etc. - "Chungpo Mook" - Jelly made from starch of mung beans (I might be wrong) and also marinated with sesame oil, dried laver, soy sauce, sesame seeds, etc. These are the accompaniments to the grilled meat. Just pick and choose whatever you want to eat with your meat. After you are done eating the meats, the rice or noodle course ("Shik Sa") is served. Steamed white rice is served with "Dwenjang Chigae" (Korean fermented bean paste stew) or a cold noodle in beef broth "Naeng Myun" is served. Dessert follows, which is ususally fresh fruit. Sometimes the restaurant will also serve Korean style fermented sweet rice punch called "Shik Hae".

Ah, so the restaurant still exists! I wish I can go back to Brazil in the near future for their excellent beef. Compared to U.S. beef, I remember Brazilian beef as being a little less tender but infinitely more flavorful (rich beefy flavor).