It may sound strange for a Korean girl to love Jewish food so much, but it was a given in Calabasas where I grew up, where mulitple synagogues were within walking distance (you can't walk anywhere in California), elementary school teachers brought latkes for their students, and Jewish delis were the local after-school hangout. Even as a non-Jew I was not immune to the magic of Hanukkah – I even wrote an article about it on Food Network.
photo by @omgitsbomb
photo by @omgitsbomb
When I started Yooeating, one of my goals was to educate people on Korean food that specifically wasn't the Korean BBQ you can get at every restaurant on W 32nd Street. But growing up, my family would go to church or Korean school BBQs in the park, where all the parents would claim a few of the communal grills to cook up our version of summer BBQ – instead of hot dogs and hamburgers, we fired up bulgogi, pork belly, and LA kalbi. And when I arrived in NY, my Texan roommate introduced me to the glories of smoked brisket at places like Hill Country in the city and la Barbecue in Austin.
Oldboy (2003) changed the reputation of Korean cinema worldwide. I remember in college, my friend Josh who was a huge film nerd excitedly badgering me with questions about the movie and his sudden interest in Korean culture and society. The movie is a total mindfuck – when we re-watched this movie at Nitehawk Cinema in preparation for the film feast, we were all a little too nauseous to even think about food.
Nitehawk hosts a monthly film feast, pairing food & drink to a film's thematic or literal elements. In honor of Korean National Liberation Day, we served 5 courses while viewers watched Park Chan-wook's seminal Oldboy. All the menu items were inspired by specific scenes, including the iconic live octopus eating. All food items were served before the film's gut wrenching reveal would turn customers stomachs.
Yooeating teamed up with our good friends Secret Formula for a special Brooklyn backyard crawfish boil!
We are big fans of all foods New Orleans, particularly getting elbow-deep in some spicy, Creole crawfish boils. Hot summer day, friends and family gathered around a communal table cracking open steaming-hot mudbugs, munching on potatoes, and gnawing on corn, then washing it down with a cold beer.
Inspired by Viet-Cajun crawfish from Houston, we made an insanely spicy & flavorful kimchi butter crack sauce to toss these puppies in and went to town!
