New Seoul BBQ

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New Seoul BBQ

After purchasing some Asian food at Mitsuwa Marketplace, I went to New Seoul BBQ to meet up with an old friend. Going to this restaurant was a spur of the moment decision but the experience did not disappoint.

The service was fast and the food was delicious. For dinner we ate Bulgogi with a varied assortment of Kimchi. It was fun cooking the meat on the BBQ on the center of the table and

Information about bulgogi from Wikipedia:
Bulgogi, meaning fire meat, is made from thin slices of sirloin or other prime cuts of beef. The beef is cooked over an open flame; hence, it's name (it is not a spicy dish). The meat is marinated with a mixture of soy sauce, sugar, sesame oil, garlic and other ingredients such as scallions, or mushrooms, especially white button mushrooms or shiitake. Sometimes, cellophane noodles are added to the dish, which varies by region and specific recipe. Before cooking, the meat is marinated to enhance its flavor and tenderness.

Bulgogi is traditionally grilled, but pan-cooking is common as well. It's common practice in Korean barbecue to grill or fry whole cloves of garlic, sliced onions, and chopped green peppers are often grilled or cooked with the meat. This dish is sometimes served with a side of lettuce or other leafy vegetable, which is used to wrap a slice of cooked meat, often along with a dab of ssamjang, or other side dishes, and then eaten as a whole.

Information about kimchi from Wikipedia:
Kimchi, spelled gimchi, kimchee, or kim chee, is a traditional fermented Korean dish, made of vegetables with varied seasonings. Kimchi may also refer to unfermented vegetable dishes. There are hundreds of varieties of kimchi, made with a main vegetable ingredient such as napa cabbage, radish, green onion or cucumber. Kimchi is the most common banchan, or side dish, in Korean cuisine. Kimchi is also a main ingredient for many popular Korean dishes such as kimchi stew (김치찌개; kimchi jjigae), kimchi soup (김칫국; kimchiguk), and kimchi fried rice (김치볶음밥; kimchi bokkeumbap). Kimchi is so ubiquitous to Korean cuisine that the Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI) developed space kimchi to accompany the first Korean astronaut to the Russian-manned space ship Soyuz.

The oldest references to kimchi can be found from 2600 to 3000 years ago. The first text-written evidence of its existence can be found in the first Chinese poetry book, Shi Jing (詩經). In this book, kimchi was referred to as jeo (菹). The term ji was used until the pre-modern terms chimchae (hanja: 沈菜, lit. soaked vegetables), dimchae, and timchae were adopted in the period of the Three Kingdoms of Korea. The word then was modified into jimchi, and is currently kimchi. Early kimchi was made of cabbage and beef stock only. Red chili, a New World vegetable not found in Korea before European contact with the Americas, was added to kimchi recipes some time after 1500. Red chili pepper flakes are now used as the main ingredient for spice and source of heat for many varieties of kimchi. In the twelfth century other spices, creating flavors such as sweet and sour, and colors, such as white and orange, were added.

Kimchi is made of various vegetables and contains a high concentration of dietary fiber, while being low in calories. One serving also provides up to 80% of the daily recommended amount of vitamin C and carotene. Most types of kimchi contain onions, garlic, and peppers, all of which are salutary. The vegetables being made into kimchi also contribute to the overall nutritional value. Kimchi is rich in vitamin A, thiamine (B1), riboflavin (B2), calcium, and iron, and contains a number of lactic acid bacteria, among those the typical species Lactobacillus kimchii. The magazine Health named kimchi in its list of top five "World's Healthiest Foods" for being rich in vitamins, aiding digestion, and even possibly reducing cancer growth.


Tonight I plan on putting some beef to marinade and tomorrow I will be making my own beef bulgogi. Apparently bulgogi flavored burgers are also becoming a new menu item at fast food restaurants in South Korea...so this will be another recipe I will try making in the near future.


If you're looking for a good Korean BBQ in San Diego, I highly recommend checking out New Seoul BBQ. Here's their information:
4344 Convoy Street, San Diego, CA 92111-3737
[phone]
www.seoulbbq.com

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