Korean-Italian Mukja Mangia

The weeks after the 2016 election were times of uncertainty and stress, during which all I know to do is to make food for myself and those around me, to show love and give comfort.

Italian food is the ultimate comfort food – as evidenced by those in Korea who have ever-inventive ways of bastardizing this holy cuisine (we have a serious love-hate relationship with fettucine alfredo). Risotto and spaghetti carbonara were the very first dishes I taught myself to make, when I felt far away from home and craved food that was soulful and comforting.

Mukja! Mangia! Let's eat!

Hot Summer, Cold Noodles

Every summer growing up, from when I was in my mother' womb until I was 16 and wanted to stay home and work instead, we shipped off to Seoul the minute the school bell tolled on the last day. I was always sad to lose the opportunity to hang out with my friends all summer, but the excitement of watching movies on the plane and walking through the arrival gates at Kimpo Airport to the eagerly awaiting faces of my kin more than made up for it. For three whole months every year we lived with my grandmother, immersed in Korean society and culture. Every late August my sister and I would wonder, "would we even remember how to speak English when we got back?"

Since we were always only there for the summer, and since we had such a big extended family with varying tastes, the one constant for lunchtime meals was NAENG-MYUN. These cold buckwheat noodles, which actually hail from North Korea, are the perfect way to beat the heat and feed young and old alike. 

MENU

Naeng-Myun
Korea's #1 summertime meal
Buckwheat noodles in cold beef broth topped with flank steak, cucumber, Asian pear, pickled radish, white kimchi, hard boiled egg, spicy sauce, and yellow My Friend's Mustard

LA Kalbi
popularized in LA's Koreatown
Thin cross-cut BBQ short ribs marinated in soy, onion, & Asian pear

Melona Ice Cream
honeydew melon flavored ice cream

Aloha Korea

Spam is hands-down my favorite food from childhood. For some it's hot dogs, or pizza, or brownies (all of which I love too, of course), but the pure genius of Spam amazed me since I was wee. My mom made us egg fried Spam for snacks or as banchan, and I would happily eat nothing but that and rice for many meals. Spam was also heavily featured in budae-jjigae (Korean army stew), and I would chase each piece down before anyone else could and hoard them until the end. What's not to love? It's a perfect blend of porky, meaty, and salty.

Koreans seriously love Spam. Every department store, especially the fancy ones, sells gift packs of Spam, wrapped in plastic and a huge bow so you can take them to your in-laws for Chuseok (Korean Thanksgiving). You're definitely something if you bring over a case of O.G. Spam; Spam is so popular that Korea manufactures a variety of knock-offs (I know, how can you make Spam even cheaper?!). 

You know who else loves Spam? Hawaiians! Both cultures adopted Spam with a die-hard passion post-war, incorporating the canned meat into delicious versions of their own people's foods and elevating something that most Americans look down upon in horror. Well, joke's on you folks, cuz that's more Spam for me.

For this Korean-Hawaiian pop-up I started with Spam, and built a menu around other natural crossovers the two cultures share – fresh, raw seafood in Hawaii's poke / Korea's hwe dup bap, slow-cooked pork in Hawaii's kalua pig / Korea's bossam, and earthy taro in Hawaii's poi / Korea's to-ran.

pineapple kimchi

poke hwe dup bap

kalua pig & pineapple kimchi sliders

poi boong-uh-bbang (red bean stuffed waffle)

banana leaf wrapped kalua pig

spam jeon musubi

Saturday means Poke Dup Bap with a cameo by Spam Jeon Musubi at @yooeating tonight at @reclamationbar! A better weekend dinner would be hard to find.

A photo posted by @nellcasey on Jun 18, 2016 at 3:42pm PDT

Detroit Born Korean Raised

Being born in Detroit literally puts the American in my "Korean-American"ness. Once a bright beacon to people all over the world like my father, Detroit is home to a true melding of comfort food & the immigrant experience. 

My partner Nick hails from a long line of Detroiters, born and raised. We have a set list of our favorite Detroit foods that we must have when we go back to visit: pizza and flaming saganaki at Niki's Greektown, and some sloppy Coneys at Lafayette Coney Island.

From Greektown:

• Detroit-Style Pizza – square deep-dish pizza, mozzarella, feta, Korean-spiced tomato sauce, weird Korean pizza toppings (bulgogi, corn, and ranch)

• Greek Salad – red leaf lettuce, Asian chives, bean sprouts, tomatoes, feta cheese, red onions, Korean marinated beets, olives & pepperoncinis, "Nik's" Greek Salad Dressing, pita bread

• Saganaki Ddukbokki – melted Greek kasseri cheese on spicy ddukbokki rice cakes, flamed with branding

From Coney Island:

• Coney Dogs (2 versions) – Hot dogs topped with Korean spiced Coney sauced served Detroit-style (My Friend's Mustard, onions) or Korean-style (grilled kimchi, scallions, mozzarella, gochujang kewpie aioli)

• Hanis – Spicy Korean fried chicken, pita, Swiss & American cheese, pickled white daikon, red ssam lettuce, tomato, gochujang kewpie aioli