I am happy to report how things went for me and my sister at the Asian Feastival yesterday – Monday, September 6th.

About 20 Asian restaurants in Queens prepared 2-3 kinds of tasting samples, as diverse as yak dumplings and Burmese tea leaf salad yet as familiar as japchae and bubble tea.  Sake and beer samples were flowing as much as refreshing soy milk and ginger ale mini cups.  The place was packed, yet the service was smooth.  The only place that seemed to have a few minutes of wait was the juicy pork dumplings, mostly because they were made and steamed on site.  When we got too full, we took a break by learning about different types of rice and the fundamentals of sake.  The sun was warm, so we came back outside to see Red Cook introducing durian and later, Maangchi’s kimchi making demo.

We expanded our taste buds to many new flavors I didn’t know to look for, learned about a few things that I thought I knew so well, and most of all, we were very full and (therefore) very happy.

You can also check out NY TImes Diner’s Journal notes on the Asian Feastival here.

Also, more and better photo coverage of the event from Maangchi herself here.

U.S. Foodservice, one of the largest foodservice distributors in the U.S., conducted a survey asking chefs and consumers for their top trends for pork and poultry dishes.

Here are the top 10, and I’ll show you examples of centuries-old Korean foods — as well as a few modern Korean twists) have the opportunity to own most of the trends on this list.

Kogi-style Taco (Photo by Tammy Quackenbush)

1. Barbecue goes ethnic

Americans are stepping out of their regional barbecue standbys and broadening their tastes. As a result, they’re looking more to Latin America and Korea for the next taste sensation.

The survey report noted:

… Los Angeles food trucks like Kogi Korean BBQ-to-Go have set off a craze for “Korean tacos” and other fusion fare, such as Marination Mobile’s Spicy Pork, a version of Korean bulgogi barbecue.

2. Grilled foods

Grilled meats are considered more healthful than deep-fried meats, and consumers want a choice, according to the report. The recently introduced KFC grilled chicken is an example of the market responding to this consumer demand. Customers enjoy watching the chefs grill their food cooked right in front of them.

Patrons also enjoy restaurants that allow them to grill their meat themselves, the survey found. A number of Korean restaurants across the U.S. offer this option, at least in major Korean communities such as Los Angeles and New York.

Given this trend, any Korean restaurant in the U.S. that seriously stakes its reputation on the quality of the marinade might want to consider this option.

3. Breakfast is not just for morning

Some restaurants are offering breakfast food items throughout the day, rather than just in the morning, according to the survey. In Korea, where specialty breakfast foods are not the norm, the popularity of fruit smoothies, egg toast and Belgian waffles is skyrocketing, at least in larger cities such as Seoul and Busan (f.k.a. Pusan). Korean brown sugar pancakes (호떡 hoddeok) and Korean doughnut holes (풀빵 pul bbang) could be marketed in the U.S. as breakfast or brunch items and go head to head with pancakes and French toast.

Kalbi ssam at Brothers Korean Restaurant in San Francisco (Photo by Jeff Quackenbush)

4. Small bites

Korean 반찬 banchan is synonymous with the concept of tapas or small appetizer bites. Korean lettuce wraps (쌈 ssam) are grilled meat on a lettuce leaf, touched with a little 쌈장 ssamjang, which is a mix of 된장 doenjang, similar to Japanese miso and 고추장 gochujang). Ssam is a one- to two-bite wonder of low-carb deliciousness.

On the high end, the Korean royal nine-appetizer tray (구절판 gujeolpan) could capitalize on this trend, if something could be done to get the royal price tag down.

Kimchi Grilled Cheese (Photo by Tammy Quackenbush)

5. Sandwiches

When Koreans imported the sandwich, the results were a little strange to Western tastes. For example, Dan Grey of Seoul Eats found a recipe on the back of a corn flakes cereal box for a breakfast sandwich smeared with peanut butter, layered with bananas and almond cereal and drizzled with honey drizzled between two pieces of bread. After some contemplation, I’d say it sounds pretty good.

Egg toast, which is basically a Korean version of Japanese cabbage pancake (okonomiyaki) between two slices of bread and dusted with brown sugar, is an example of this perplexing Korean trend of sweetening up a sandwich that would otherwise be savory.

These will not work in America, unless you’re targeting moms trying to find a way to make their children eat their corn flakes and cabbage.

However, importing Korean barbecue and kimchi in a Western sandwich can help timid tastes develop a love of Korean flavors. Here are a few examples that could do very well in the States.

• Korean Sloppy Joes
• Korean Pulled Pork Barbecue Sandwich
• Korean Grilled Flat-iron Steak Sandwich
• Kimchi Grilled Cheese Sandwich

Jokbal (Pigs' Feet)

6. Going whole hog on the whole hog

The survey report noted:

Chefs and customers alike are becoming increasingly comfortable with cuts of pork that were considered untouchable and in some cases, downright controversial just a few years ago.

Korean dishes such as spicy pig’s feet (족발 jokbal) and uncured pork belly (삼겹살 samgyeopsal) can get America’s attention, when cooked and promoted properly. Jeju’s famous Black Pig Pork is a product worth promoting. If it’s promoted correctly, it could have the same status as Kobe Beef.

7. Sausage goes high brow

Koreans do have a few varieties such as blood and noodle sausage (순대 sundae). But it seems in recent years, Koreans prefer to use the thinner sausages as a substitute stylus for their iPhones.

8. Kids’ meals grow up

Children are getting smaller portions of the same foods adults eat, the survey noted. Koreans have been doing this for thousands of years, except for breast milk and mashing up food for smaller mouths. Koreans don’t have a concept of baby food.

9. Citrus and fruit

Koreans have a variety of fruits just starting to get noticed in America, such as Korean pears (called the Asian pear or apple-pear), persimmons, 오미자 omija, 대추 daechu (a.k.a. jujube or Chinese date) and 유자 yuja (commonly known by the Japanese name yuzu). Americans are starting to find more yuja-flavored soy sauces and salad dressings on regular grocery store shelves.

10. Chicken salad re-imagined

Operators are rethinking familiar chicken entrée salads with smoky-hot chipotle, piquant fruit notes or new Asian accents.

The aforementioned yuzu-spiked salad dressings mixed with grilled chicken, lettuce, cucumber and carrot or spicy grilled chicken (닭갈비 dakkalbi) combined with mixed greens, green onion and shredded carrot are just two Korean inspired chicken salad options that Korean restaurateurs could try if they want to expand their menus to non-Korean clientele.

The point is, you can’t demand that the consumer like what you want them to like. Notice what types of Korean cuisine are conspicuously missing: most royal court cuisine, the common spicy rice cake dish 떡보끼 ddeokbokki and makgeolli.

This list gives 10 concrete examples of what American consumers are looking for in restaurant cuisine. Ask them what they like about their own food and Korean food, then find creative ways of giving it to them.

As outlined above, a number of Korean foods already cater to consumer desires listed in the survey. The question is, will Korean chefs, restaurateurs and the Korean government step up to the plate and innovate, or will they chase windmills and continue to try to force us to like what they like? [Read about the Korean government's effort to market rice internationally via ddeokbokki.]

I hope you New Yorkers enjoyed the Asian Feastival. I’ve been following the updates and pics from @AsianFeastival and @HungryRabbitNYC.

Today is my first day as a full-time blogger and writer. Yes, I’m no longer an English teacher. It hasn’t sunk in yet. Let’s hope this works.

In the meantime, get an issue of Travel + Leisure Southeast Asia. The September edition is all about food, and they featured ZenKimchi as well as other great blogs, such as Market Manila, Chubby Hubby, Kyoto Foodie, Cha Xiu Bao and KampungBoyCityGal. That is some great company.

We are also in great company as one of the “50 Sizzling Hot Asian Cooking Blogs” at Guide to Culinary Schools. The list in alphabetical order. Guess where ZenKimchi is? Heh, heh…

Delilah Snell, a master food preserver (MFP), taught a class in kimchi-making at the Eat Real Festival in Oakland, Calif., on Aug. 29. [See the Sept. 2 post "Korean cuisine rolls into Eat Real Festival 2010, San Francisco Bay area."]

Delilah Snell quickly chops some garlic and ginger for her kimchi demonstration.

At a stage in the “urban homesteading zone,” Snell spent 19 minutes going through the ingredients and steps in making the commonly recognized spicy Nappa cabbage kimchi (배추 김치 baechu kimchi). She also took questions from an audience of more than 100, several of which vied for a chance to help her with the demonstration.

Snell kindly answered a few questions via email about herself and her passion for traditional cooking methods.

What is the name of your store? What do you sell there?
My store is The Road Less Traveled, an eco-friendly store selling green, natural, organic and fair-trade products in Orange County [Santa Ana] for almost five years. We also teach a number of classes there.

What kind of culinary training led you to teaching food preservation?
I have always been into food and gardening. [I] started a non-pro several years ago, starting [at] farmers markets, food gardens, etc. in my area. I just always wanted to know how to preserve for the store, but I ended up falling in love with all sorts of preservation after becoming going through the MFP program.

How long have you been teaching classes on food preservation?
Over a year.

You noticed there were more than 100 people there at Eat Real Festival to hear your presentation on making kimchi. What did you think of that?
I loved and was so excited and happy to see people interested. It give me faith in the future of food. I was a little shocked though — didn’t expect so many!

Why are Americans “scared” of traditional fermented foods? This goes into what what you brought up during the lecture: people — here at least — are so removed [from] how to do things again — plus bombarded by marketing telling you that you don’t need to so you can by their “crap.” You mentioned the kimchi turning sour — and, yes, I agree [it's] totally fine and normal to eat. But from my perspective, I am teaching safety, and I just want to make sure that people don’t just leave it to rot thinking, “It’s OK if it is sour.” This [food safety], in my mind, is the baby-step for them to start exploring.

During the questions after the demonstration, someone in the audience asked her, “If you let it go sour, is it dangerous, or is it a flavor issue.”

“It went bad, so you don’t want to eat it,” Snell answered

I piped in at that point that Koreans often use sour kimchi to make a common stew called 김치찌개 kimchi jjigae.

She responded, “If it’s gone bad, you may have created an environment where other bacteria can come in.”

The interchange came in the last couple of minutes of her allotted time, so we had to pick up the discussion privately.

Why are people more interested in these traditional foods?
[The] local/DIY [do-it-yourself]/anti-big-ag[riculture] movement is and has been growing. People are taking food and food manipulation into their own hands as a form of self-empowerment.

Do you see a difference between Northern California and Southern California in regard to the interest in traditional cooking methods?
North California was so responsive. Here in South California[, it] might be a little less. But L.A. is growing. The size of the region is a problem, though, as far as people going to a lecture in this area.

What is your favorite meal to eat with kimchi?
The Kogi Truck success has been a real motivation. They use kimchi in their tacos and burritos. Being half-Mexican, this appeals to me — the crossing of cultures!

Chef Gordon Xiao of Ark Chinese Restaurant in Alameda making pulled noodles. (Photo by Jeff Quackenbush)

Among the more than 80 caterers, mobile and brick-and-mortar restaurants, and food-related vendors at the second annual Eat Real Festival in the San Francisco Bay area were two Korean “taco trucks,” a nouveau hanshik restaurant, a ramen restaurant serving kimchi and a food-preservation specialist teaching how to pickle the popular version of it.

Did I mention the live demonstration of making Chinese pulled noodles (lai min)?

Intensely craving some Korean yumminess, I attended the festival, held Aug. 27 to 29 at Jack London Square in Oakland, Calif., to snack on selections from Santa Clara-based MoGo BBQ and Seoul on Wheels of Emeryville. Reviews of those rolling restaurants will be posted in coming days.

Seoul on Wheels parked under the palms of Jack London Square in Oakland, Calif. (Photo by Jeff Quackenbush)

One newcomer to Korean food took celebrity chef Guy Fieri's advise to pick the longest line for the best food, which led him to Seoul on Wheels. (Photo by Jeff Quackenbush)

San Francisco neo-Korean restaurant Namu also was was among the “street food” vendors, but I already had sampled Namu’s Korean tacos at the restaurant’s stall at the San Francisco Ferry Building.

Jack Birdsall of SF Weekly called this year’s Eat Real Festival, a “county fair in a parallel universe.” Giving that vibe to the festival were food-making performances, classes and contests.

I attended the festival on Aug. 29 also to take in the noodle-pulling demonstration and kimchi-making class. Chef Gordon Xiao of Ark Chinese Restaurant in Alameda showed how fresh dough is kneaded, rolled, twisted in mid-air, stretched, slapped on the table and pulled to make noodles of various thicknesses. He said it took him two years to learn the technique.

Chef Xiao was a little concerned that the watermelon was "too ripe" for carving. (Photo by Jeff Quackenbush)

Xiao also showed the Thai melon carving technique, taking 10 minutes to show how to carve a flower in the side of a watermelon rather than the few minutes in which it is normally completed. He finished the demonstration time with a quick sculpting of a carrot into a bird.

At a stage in the “urban homesteading zone,” Delilah Snell of Project Small spent 19 minutes going through the ingredients and steps in making the commonly recognized spicy Nappa cabbage kimchi (called baechu kimchi in Korean). In highlighting the natural Lactobacillus fermentation that goes into making kimchi, sauerkraut and other pickled foods of simpler times, she had an appropriate backdrop, a miniature rough-hewn log cabin with a grassy sod roof.

Delilah Snell shows a small finished batch of kimchi. (Photo by Jeff Quackenbush)

During the question-and-answer period, Snell and I had a minor disagreement over what to do with “old” kimchi. I noted that Koreans commonly use it to make kimchi stew (김치찌개 kimchi jjigae), but she suggested that kimchi more than a few months old could be unhealthful.

Samsung Imaging has posted the first in a series of videos I’m making for them. This is a video I made on the last day of my infamous cooking class this summer. We made character dosirak, which many of you know as “bento.”

Head on over to the Samsung Imaging blog to read the gory details.

Click here to view the embedded video.

This is a food blog, but it’s also about Korea. I’m using this page to collect news I hear and find about the typhoon–tropical storm–that just passed. The center looks to have passed right through Anyang, according to Weather Underground’s animated satellite.

• @donburi: “They just tested the Emergency Notification System here AFTER the typhoon passed over. Way to miss the timing.”
• Yahoo: Flights halted, power cut as typhoon hits S.Korea
• CNN:  Transportation chaos hits Seoul as Typhoon Kompasu strikes
• Any subway section that goes above ground has been closed, which affects the rest of the public transportation system
• Seoul schools have been ordered to open at delayed times
• Seoul public and private kindergartens have been ordered to close for the day
• EatYourKimchi has some photos of the damage in Bucheon
• JoongAng has a good story about it
• Korea Herald’s take
• English Chosun

Please link to or give any information or pictures you have in the comments.

Youngsun Lee immigrated to Queens, New York, from Korea when he was 12 years old. He graduated in 2005 with a degree in culinary arts from the Institute of Culinary Education in New York.

Lee comes from a family of chefs steeped in the history of Korean cuisine. His aunt taught him the fundamentals of Korean royal cuisine, and another member of his family served as a sashimi chef in South Korea’s Blue House (residence of the President) in the ’70s and ’80s.

He interned under David Chang, proprietor of Momofuku, and Anita Lo, owner of Annisa, before opening the “neo-Korean” restaurant Persimmon in 2008 and closing it in recent  months. He is currently teaching classes in Korean cuisine (Korean Barbecue, Korean Cooking for Seasons and Kimchi) at the institute.

Lee is one of the featured speakers at the Asian Feastival in Queens on Sept. 6. If you want to meet him in person, he’s hosting the Asian Feastival Culinary Bike “Tour du Jour” from 9:30 a.m. to noon. Follow him on your bicycle for a food tour of a local Korean community garden and the Queens County Farm Museum. To sign up for bike tour in advance, send e-mail to biketour@asianfeastival.com.

He was gracious to answer five questions ZenKimchi Food Journal posed about Korean cuisine, restaurant management and culinary instruction.

How do you define Korean cuisine?

I can go deep in history but then it’ll be really long. So I’ll try to make this short, maybe by giving some examples.

Many people think that it should be close to Chinese cuisine. [Korean cuisine does have] many influences from China, but the “cuisine” itself is not very much close to Chinese cuisine. There is a category we called “Chinese-Korea cuisine,” which was formed by Chinese who fled from China and all. But that’s very different from Korean. (I can write a book with this topic.)

So, Korean cuisine is almost like combo between Japanese and Thai. We are very big into fish sauce like Thai [cuisine], but we have about over 100 kinds of fish sauces in Korea. Chinese and Japanese don’t use fish sauce in their cuisine. Like with Japanese food, we do [use] soy stuff — miso, tofu, soy milk, etc.

We are very seasonal. We have four seasons in Korea. So we do follow seasonal food, like, religiously. There are unwritten rules we have to follow as a Korean chefs:

• Spring — bitter (new sprouts, etc): This will bring our appetites back from the long winter. Also eating new sprouts means getting nature’s force — life, new life in spring — from the new life into our body.
• Summer — sour (vinegar base, citrus, etc): As the weather gets hot, we loose our [sense of] taste. So by having sour food, it brings our appetites [back] and also keeps our bod[ies] cool and moist.
• Fall — spicy (hot pepper, etc): Prepare for a long, cold winter. Pepper was introduced to Korea about 300 years ago. Before that, there was not much spicy food. All of our kimchi used be white. [배김치 (bae kimchi) is pickled but not spicy.]
• Winter — salty (kimchi, pickle, etc): Long-lasting food, such as fermented dishes are served to help in surviving winter. And we use “sweet” to balance all these flavors. But, again, sugar was introduced to Korea about 300 years ago, so before that we used to use honey or fruits for sweetener. Still till these days, we like to use honey or fruits for our sweetener instead of sugar.

We are known as health freaks — very health-minded. We watch what we eat. Therefore, we like mix and match our food right. Then it’ll benefit your body and soul. But if you mix and match wrong, then it’ll harm your body. For example, never mix eel and peach, but beef and scallion is very good match.

The restaurants in Korea are not like [those] in the States. [In the U.S.] most of the Korean restaurants have all sections and types of food. I’ve never seen this in Korea. [There] everything is specialized, so they only have one or two items on their menu. Most of the places don’t have a menu, because they only have one thing. So you decide what to eat first, not where to eat.

Korean cuisine is [a leader in] salty food. We do consume about 20 percent more [salt] than [a typical] European or American, which is a lot. So, when non-Korean people start [eating] Korean food as [a] Korean does, then he or she might have some problems. Koreans are fine eating all that salty food, because in Korea, we [start by using] very good salt. Plus, we’ve [eaten these] foods for a very long time. We are trying to cut down, because mixing with Westernized food has made the new generations of Koreans heavier and unhealthier than before.

Like I said, I can go on and on about the Korean Cuisine.

What are your favorite cuisines, beside Korean?

What did you learn from your experiences with David Chang and Anita Lo?

Credit: SeoulfulAdventures on Flickr

I hope we’re all enjoying the last days of summer on this gorgeous first morning of September. Weather folks are predicting rain in Seoul, but it’s a turquoise blue outside*.

Oh jeez, am I seriously talking about the weather?

Let’s get to some banchan before I start sharing ultrasound photos.

• Asian Feastival. New Yorkers. It’s coming this Monday, September 6th. That’s Labor Day, right? We don’t have that here. Go to it! Panelists include Eddie Huang, Stir-fry Grace, Joe DiStefano, Akira Back–and now Maangchi has joined up.
• Our friend Debbie Lee (Seoul2Soul, Next Food Network Star) is interviewed in front of her popular Korean pub grub food truck, Ahn-Joo–video here
• Cheap sushi buffet in Hongdae
• Eddie Huang is doing Cheeto Fried Chicken at his New York restaurant Xiao Ye
• Sweet Potato and Kimchi DeopBap? I’m intrigued.
• For beer lovers, Home Plus now sells Kaiserdom Alt-Bamberger Dunkel
• Speaking of beer, someone finally came up with a viable deep fried version. I attempted it a few years ago. Yes, it’s basically fried beer batter, but if they can just put Coke in a batter and call it “Fried Coke” then what’s the difference?
• Is it me, or does this “Korean BBQ Beef” look like a basic Chinese stir-fry plus gochujang?
• Just when the blueberries are good for you craze started pushing Korea to make blueberry plantations, we find that good ole black rice is even better
• David Chang’s in Vogue
• Paul Ajosshi introduces us to “the best damn fried dumplings in Korea,” which are related to Old Boy
• Quail Egg Toast for Kids. Hmm… pretty cool.
• Your voting guide for the second season of Food Network’s “The Great Food Truck Race” (is Ahn-Joo not eligible)
  • The Knockout Taco Truck
  • TaKorea
  • Chilantro
  • Yumbii
• The NYT features Korea’s charcoal saunas, which I think are the best sources for barbecue
• Korean BBQ Cheese Steak Roll. Prepare to drool.
• Singapore’s food blogging community is having a bit of controversy over freebie meals. Is this a case of bratty bloggers or a conspiracy by restaurants to get free publicity at their expense? I think this could seriously happen in Korea, considering of a couple restaurateur tales I’ve heard of Korean language food bloggers demanding free food for good reviews. There’s also a practice of print reviewers telling restaurants ahead of time when they’ll show so they can get the best free meal the restaurant can offer. At ZenKimchi, we always state if our meal has been paid for by the restaurant, and it never influences our reviews. That’s a note to restaurants as well as readers.
• Smashburger is likely coming to Korea in 2011. Very excited. It’s something that got big after I came to Korea, but I’m familiar with the mid-western to western concept of the smashburger. It sounds oh… so… good!
• It looks like Korean tacos, bahn mi and bibimbap will hit the fast food franchise market with the introduction of Del Seoul in Chicago
• Can’t make it to Chicago? How about making some killer Korean Burritos at home.
• But stay away from the Black Garlic Pastry
• A book recently came out by a person who really sounds like she shouldn’t have left her backyard–you know, one of those annoying people on the tour bus who wants everything her way? 101 Places Not to See Before You Die sounds like it would be entertaining, but the excerpts I read sounded like a whiny expat rant on Dave’s ESL Cafe. Some people are just not suited for travel. To quote Brian Deutsch, “If you get to a point where you start fighting with a monk, I’d suggest you’re the one with the issues.”

We got crabs!

I also went to Joshua “Wine Korea” Hall’s birthday party this past weekend. Did a Louisiana Shrimp & Crab Boil. Had some great wines, clay pot baked duck, and some clever company. And I finally got to meet our New York editor Shin in person. She’s a lot of fun. She’s visiting Korea for the week.

Oh, and the Baby Nixon thing? I don’t know. It’s cute.

* Oh, it’s nice and blue because we’re about to get hit with a typhoon.

I love adding shiny new toys to the blog, but I’m wary of toolbars. They can get clunky, intimidating and eventually useless if not designed well. I’ve experimented with ones like the BuddyPress one, and it just wasn’t working.

So I’m playing with this Wibiya toolbar at the bottom, and I’m having fun with it. Play with it yourself (that didn’t sound right). Here are some features I have on it now.

• Easily share posts on Facebook and Twitter. I may add GoogleBuzz and Digg in the future.
• Go through the latest videos and pics in a cool 3-D gallery. I’ve been having a lot of fun with this one.
• Check out how many people are on the site in real time.
• Chat room. “Let’s chatty!”
• Translation button that translates the entire page on the fly. Granted, it’s computer translation, so it will be a bit awkward but still readable.
• Recent Posts button that pulls up the titles and their tweets