Recipe

The Food Truck That Ate Los Angeles; Kimchi Tacos

Recipe
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Photo by pierino

This recipe was entered in the contest for Your Best Movie Snack

This recipe was entered in the contest for Your Best Street Food
Chef
pierino's Notes: Kogi Truck Kimchi Tacos (I did it my way). Someday Chef Roy Choi will be as famous as General Tso. Well, I tried to do it Chef Choi’s way. And here is what I came up with for your movie night...
Kogi Truck Kimchi Tacos (I did it my way).
Someday Chef Roy Choi will be as famous as General Tso. Well, I tried to do it Chef Choi’s way. And here is what I came up with for your movie night with the Hurt Locker or the Team America DVD you’ve watched one hundred times with your spouse or your friends; or even “Kim Jong Il’s ‘Milestones in Party Cinema’”.
Chef Choi’s food trucks set the bar, and launched the avalanche of food trucks; this truly is the food truck that ate Los Angeles. This is high end food that travels to your curbside or to that hot club that makes you stand in a line 100 people long and won’t let you past the velvet rope---although they might these days, even you in the UCLA hoodie. The food trucks roll in and offer you great food in many styles, but Kogi is what made the movement happen in a giant way. The line for the truck is as long as for the club. Chef Choi, I’m not worthy, but I’m out to be Kung Fu Panda and challenge this task with my own deconstruction. I may not have the recipe down but the taco architecture is there. So here is what I did in trying to make a worthy movie snack.

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Serves 6

1 pound rib eye or skirt steak sliced very thin Ask a question about this ingredient

3 tablespoons dark soy sauce Ask a question about this ingredient

3 tablespoons shao xing wine Ask a question about this ingredient

2 tablespoons sesame oil Ask a question about this ingredient

3 cloves garlic, finely chopped Ask a question about this ingredient

1 knob of ginger, peeled and shaved thinly as possible Ask a question about this ingredient

1 or 2 scallions, thinly sliced, from the pale green part to the dark green part Ask a question about this ingredient

1/2 of one asian pear, pealed, cored and chopped. Go ahead and eat the other half while no one is looking Ask a question about this ingredient

Ground black pepper Ask a question about this ingredient

2 cups green cabbage, slivered and then chopped Ask a question about this ingredient

1 jar/package kimchi (at least 8 to 12 ounces), chop socky sliced Ask a question about this ingredient

12 small flour tortillas Ask a question about this ingredient

Peanut oil for frying Ask a question about this ingredient

Condiments for the snack table include: Chinese chili garlic sauce or Sriracha, more chopped scallions, toasted sesame seeds, hot pepper flakes or whatever you want to add Ask a question about this ingredient

Begin by cutting the beef into taco sized portions.
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In a large bowl combine the soy sauce (see note to cook), shao xing, sesame oil, garlic, slivered ginger, asian pear, scallion, pepper and mix together
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Add the beef to this marinade and refrigerate for two hours. After this point assembly is quick and efficient and you can keep the tacos coming
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Heat up a wok and cover the bottom with peanut oil. When the oil begins to shimmer but not smoke cook your beef in individual serving portions
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Meanwhile have another dry pan hot and ready for you tortillas. Heat those through, and turn once. They should still be soft
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To plate; overlap two tortillas and top with beef, kimchi, and raw cabbage. Your guests can add their own preferred condiments
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Watch the movie
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Note to cook: depending on the brand, dark soy sauce can be very salty..almost to the point of overpowering the other flavors. So get in touch with your inner soy sauce to know what you are serving. This is important, Panda.
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9 Comments on The Food Truck That Ate Los Angeles; Kimchi Tacos

boulangere added 5 months ago

Making this tonight with leftover pork roast. Also serving an Asian slaw on the side.

boulangere added 5 months ago

Actually, started out to make last night, but nearest grocery store was out of Kimchee. In Billings, Montana.

pierino added 5 months ago

So, did you finally track down kimchi in Montana?

susan g added 11 months ago

To see kimchee making, watch The Grand Chef, a Korean TV series (we got it from Netflicks). It's a drama set in a high end restaurant, and over time you can see fishing, salt harvesting, kitchen scenes, much more. Then, even if you don't make your own, you can approach the Korean food truck on solid ground.

pierino added 11 months ago

I foresee Korean as the next wave in American restaurant cooking. What's frustrating is that there are so damn few references to turn to in book form. You can find recipes for kalbi (which my dish is based on), bulgogi, and bipimbap but not much else. Chef was actually nominated for a Beard award this year---Best Chef Pacific---and has finally moved into a brick and mortar restaurant in Culver City.

boulangere added 11 months ago

If as many of us who lust after a food truck to call our own had one, we probably could eat up LA. Never made my own kimchi, but I lust to make this.

pierino added about 1 year ago

Could I just add that I'm wildly crazy about food trucks right now. I love the whole business model.

boulangere added 11 months ago

Me too. It's comparable to tiny houses. Serious lust.

pierino added over 2 years ago

I would encourage anyone to make their own kimchi from whatever cabbage or radish you like. It should take you about four or five days so no recipe included here for this challenge. I can find a plethora of kimchi in Asian markets locally so this is what I use.