Rant of the Week: Do You Really Want Your Steak Well Done? The Horror!

I'm currently reading a great book called Art of Choosing and it brought up some interesting points about choice that got me thinking about choice in how you eat.

More specifically, choosing to eat something a certain way, as the author herself experienced when trying to add sugar to her green tea when visiting Japan (her request was politely declined).


I realized I've had plenty of moments like those and find myself torn. You know I'm a steak and burger lover, so when I see someone ordering their steak or burger well done, I gasp in horror and do everything I can to stop them or change their minds with limited success. Do I need to let go? Am I obstructing their exercising freedom of choice? Or am I guiding them to make a "better choice," as I'm deluding myself to believe?

I recall going to have sukiyaki, one of my favorite hot pot dishes when it's cold outside, and seeing a friend dip the sukiyaki vegetables in soy sauce and being horrified.

So I ask: is it that bad to consume things in ways different from the way they were meant to be consumed? What is the line between fun improvising and faux pas?

Here's another one. I once brought some kimbab, Korean rolls, to a dinner party and got super annoyed when a friend asked if I had soy sauce she could dip them in. "You don't dip this in soy sauce because they're not like Japanese rolls where you dip them in soy sauce and wasabi!" I thought to myself. Besides, everything in kimbab is well seasoned so there's actually no need to dip them in any sauce, maybe except for kimchi juice?! Was I depriving her or guiding her? I, of course, saw it as the latter since it may have tasted too salty if she had dipped them, given the seasoning.

The point is, some hard core sushi chefs insist we should consume their sushi exactly as they meant it to be consumed. Some steak houses would balk at well-done requests. I remember feeling a rush of victory when I managed to get an acquaintance to try a burger cooked medium (rather than well done) that he liked. Woo hoo! One down!

Have you ever had this dilemma?

Rant of the Week: Hold the Salt Please

I've been trying out some of the DineLA joints this week and have been consistently disappointed so far. What's the deal with restaurants pouring too much salt on everything?

Take this bucatini all'amatriciana, for instance, at Culina (review pending). It looked so promising but take one bite and it's drowning in salt. That's what the bacon is for! Don't oversalt, people. I know it's supposed to raise your revenue by having customers order more drinks but that's not cool. I can't tell you how many times I've made stuff at home and realized how unsalty a dish could be despite having added a lot of salt -- which led me to wonder just how much salt restaurants actually add to food.

I couldn't finish the pasta but I was able to enjoy it more after I topped it with an oozing over-easy egg -- unsalted, of course.

Rant of the Week: What's the Deal with the Ever Elusive Ttukbokki and Rabokki?

I know I sound like a broken record but I will say it again and again. Why is it that something as seemingly simple as ttukbokki, rice cakes smothered in a blood red spicy sauce, that's so ubiquitous in Seoul so impossible to find in LA? The dish's cousin, rabokki, that adds ramen noodles (hence the "ra") either instead of or in addition to the cylinder blocks of chewy rice cakes, is equally hard to get.

I've scoured the many joints that purported to specialize in this and every time have been sorely disappointed. In Korea (cue broken record), you could find half-way decent to excellent ttukbokki at every street corner stall or mom-and-pop joint. Throw in some fish cakes, hard-boiled egg and lots of green onions and you've got yourself the best snack in the world. Definitely one of those "Oh my God it's so spicy but I'll keep shoving it into my mouth because it gives me so much pleasure"-type of food. Even better with some kimbab rolls to dip into the gooey and oh-so garlicky red sauce.

I may have to resort to trying to recreate the glorious OG at home, and will keep you posted.

Rant of the Week: Why Can't I Find Awesome Tonkatsu in LA?

Apologies for my delayed post but here it goes -- What's with the lack of really good tonkatsu joints in LA? I mean, with the vast Japanese, not to mention Asian, population who are clearly a tonkatsu-loving bunch, you'd think there would be at least ONE place in LA where that's the ONE thing they do and do really well.

You know, those places in Tokyo or Seoul where the house specializes in deep fried breaded pork tenderloin, chicken or fish (not as good). In fact, thanks to my food aficionado friend SY who directed me to a place in Tokyo that serves nothing but tonkatsu, I was able to savor the best, fluffiest and crispiest piece of meaty tonkatsu I've ever had. It was piping hot and crunchy on the outside and soft and juicy on the inside with a tiny dollop of mustard and sauce, it was oishii for sure! Oh, and don't even mention Wako in Koreatown to me. Myungdong Donkatsu in Korea's downtown Myungdong may be acceptable, but this place blows big time. I've had to resort to making at home when cravings hit and you know how cumbersome it is to flour, egg and bread these babies and dip them in the fryer! I don't want to do all the work, darn it -- although this video got me to make tonkatsu curry the same week I watched it. And it was worth the effort. 

Rant of the Week: O, Galchi, Where Art Thou?

To mix things up a bit, I've decided to start a Rant of the Week section and alternate with the cooking tip/recipe of the week. Yes, it's not the most constructive use of our time but hey, maybe it can lead to something good.

So my inaugural rant (cue patriotic music) will be on the sad state of Korean seafood in Los Angeles and the US in general. Since LA boasts the largest Korean population outside of Korea, I'm going to guess that if it isn't sold here, it isn't sold anywhere else in the US.


What am I talking about specifically? If you've ever been to Korea or Cheju Island on the southern tip of the country, you can get the meatiest, fleshiest and most delicious galchi, which is translated as silver fish or belt fish. It has a beautiful silvery skin (pictured above) that gets even better when broiled with some salt.

It's that good. It doesn't need anything else but salt and some heat. If I'm craving something spicy, then a braised galchi jorim with red pepper flakes, red pepper paste and a ton of garlic and radishes would be perfect.

But alas, none of the Korean markets carries half-way decent galchi (believe me, I've tried) and the fish isn't sold in any other markets. Hence my rant -- why doesn't the US import galchi from Chejudo? Maybe it's one of those supply issues where there aren't enough to go around beyond domestic consumption. For the time being, then, we'll have to console ourselves with mackerel that's readily available for now. But it's just not the same. If anyone knows of a good fishmonger that carries fresh, fleshy galchi, let me know!