Korean tacos have taken over Los Angeles brought to the food fiends by the Kogi truck. For this month’s Foodbuzz 24 event I gathered a few of my friends for my own version of Korean tacos.
SPICY PORK TACO
For the pork tacos I used thinly sliced bulgogi-style pork neck and marinated it with gochujang (red pepper paste), garlic, soy sauce, sesame oil, and sesame seeds, called doejji bulgogi. I added sliced onion to the mix and let it sit for couple hours in the fridge.
I cooked the meat in a pan and then when ready to serve the tacos I broiled it in one-layer to caramelize and char the edges.
Korean perilla (kkaennip)
sambal salsa
For the salsa part of the tacos I took sambal and added seeded and mostly deveined jalapeno. This came out sooo spicy. I should have added sweet onion to the mix or something.
I warmed up the corn tortillas over the open flames of the stove, topped it with the delicious caramelized doejji bulgogi, scallion, cilantro and perilla (kkaennip). On some I added a cute lil fried quail egg.
SHORT RIB TACO
Next up came the short rib (kalbi) taco. I marinted pre-sliced short rib meat with soy sauce, garlic, sugar, and sliced onion. This meat was super delicious. It was not only short rib meat but the meat that lays right next to the bone. Super flavorful. I pan-fried it, chopped it into little pieces then broiled it right before serving.
Here are the kalbi tacos straight up with just scallion and cilantro.
And then here with the greens, fried quail egg and sambal salsa. Short ribs are such a delicious cut of beef. Super flavorful and it was perfect for the tacos cut up into juicy little chunks.
KIMCHI KALBI QUESADILLA
Having some leftover cheese in the fridge I decided to make a kimchi quesdailla too.
I sauteed ripe kimchi in a bit of butter and olive oil until it was caramelized and sweetened. Mmm, grilled or pan fried kimchi is super delicious. I used fontina for the cheese which was perfect for the quesadilla. I stuffed the tortilla with fontina, caramelized kimchi and chopped kalbi. This was sooo tasty.
Julie brought over such an appropriate drink for the night – Korean beer! Specifically Hite. Crispy and light lager, perfect for Korean tacos.
Fabulous idea! Better than queuing for your tacos, I reckon!
fontina and grilled kim chee is one of my favourite combos!
Nice, I like it. I love Korean BBQ, I love tacos, I love Korean BBQ tacos, and yes, I love Kogi! Your tacos and quesadilla look awesome too.
I’ve only heard about the famous Kogi Trucks.. but I like the idea of making it at home. Thanks for sharing!
awww…i’m sad i missed it. however, i did have a good excuse. i would have loved to try the kimchi quesadilla.
hi sulin,
i hate queuing for stuff! which is why i’ve never tried kogi before and did my own korean tacos. i will try it soon though once alibi room does lunch time. in the meantime it’s all about the homemade stuff.
hi karina,
i only recently started using fontina a lot for melting purposes. it was always gruyere before but fontina is da bomb. and yes with caramelized kimchi it’s so good.
hi scott,
i too love korean bbq and tacos! i usually eat tacos much more frequently though because of its convenience. eating korean bbq can be a feast and on top of that more expensive, smelly and time consuming. now korean tacos, that’s taking the best of both worlds.
thanks for reading alice!
hi hannah,
japan is hell of a good excuse girl. whenever your kimchi goes a lil sour you can make it too. so easy.
Yum! Your 24×3 looks great – simple, delicious and fun! I love the whole fusion taco deal – can’t imagine a better match up.
Great idea! I’m hungry and this looks SO tasty!
We’re in LA, and we haven’t had a Korean taco yet. We’ve got to get to this Kogi truck. Those look great. Nice 24 post!
I have yet to try a Korean taco! Wow, this all looks fantastic! Great 24 post!
What creative ideas! Looks delicious.
love it love it love it
AWE-SOME! What a stellar 24, 24, 24 idea. That quesadilla sounds crazy good.
Lovely idea …lol
We still have to try out the Kogi truck but may opt for making it ourselves like you did – Great Job!
Now that’s a great way to use pork. I’m wondering how I might be able to adapt to my smoker. Maybe use the marinade and then smoke with a mild fruit wood before chopping up.
Thanks for the ideas.
wow that looks super delicious! Since I doubt I’ll be able to get in line anytime soon (live in NoCal), this looks like an even better substitute (well, except that I’m cooking and not a professional trained chef)
Looks great! Love the idea of an egg on the taco!
Lori Lynn
hello everyone! thanks for reading and all your comments!
Those look amazing, especially with the quail egg on top. I have never seen Korean tacos before so these look unique and delicious. Does such a thing exist in traditional Korean food or is it Korean-Mexican fusion? You should post the recipes they look delicious.
Those look delicious, like the bulgogi/kimchee hot dogs at New York Hot Dog and Coffee but better (http://www.foodiefixation.com/archives/1216)!
Hooray for blending of two wonderful cuisines!
hi kelly,
these are not traditional korean food. we do lettuce wraps with the same meats though which is super delicious- called ssam. the marinades for the meat are standard recipes for kalbi and doejji bulgogi. whatever else you want to put on top of them is up to you!
hi faux gourmet,
whoa i’ve never heard of this bulgogi/kimchi hot dog! sounds great. i was thinking of making a gochujang flavored pork sausage. and i love hot dogs. what a great combo.
wow
If I could cook like you, I would be really fat….
Anyhow I really like your intuitive way of cooking.
Its really refreshing.
hi pete,
haha i don’t eat like this every day. i realize though a lot of the richer stuff makes it onto the blog. thanks for your complement and reading!
[...] looking Korean Tacos, topped off with a quail [...]
Oh, I had never heard of those Korean taco trucks. What a great idea! Thanks for bring attention to them.