A short while back we went to a soul food restaurant in Little Rock with new friends and then just a few weeks ago we went to a Seoul food restaurant in Silverdale, Wa. I think it is pretty fair to expect soul food in Little Rock, but I found it not as likely to find a Korean BBQ place in Silverdale. Most of us know at least a little about soul food often equated with Southern food, and fair enough you get wonderful soul food in the South, but how many people know anything about Korean food? More and more I suspect, but still I guess more people know what fried chicken is than know what bibimbap is.
A number of years back my family went fo Seoul for a four day weekend from Japan. The overwhelming memory I have of being there is the pungent smell of garlic wherever we went. Coming from Japan, the land of subtle and mild, it was a bit of sensory overload, but I''ve now come to adore the strong, vibrant flavors of Korean cuisine.
Every Korean meal I've ever had comes accompanied by rice and a series of small side dishes. The side dishes really can have just about anything in them. Many of them are often some type of pickled vegetable, the well known kimchee is common, but pickled radishes, lightly steamed broccoli and bean sprouts also may appear. These side dishes, to me, are like little gifts that surprise and delight you each time because you never know exactly what combination you will get.
The rest of the meal, if you are having the BBQ will consist of boldly spiced meat, seafood or vegetables. These will come in bite sized pieces making it easy to handle them with chopsticks. The BBQ is in the middle of the table so everyone can participate in the cooking. If you want to do this at home, a small indoor table BBQ is just the thing.
There are a number of Korean restaurants around Seattle, a good one in the U District to try is Greenhouse. But if you live in Kitsap, I say take an afternoon and go try out our Korean BBQ, it's really quite tasty.
I't's hard to believe after our 60 degree weather this week, that when we were there just a few short weeks ago, there were huge snowflakes coming down, but that's Seattle weather I guess.
http://www.seoulkoreanbbq.net/
