A great Korean meal in Tokyo?
12/29/07 14:30 Filed in: Japan | Restaurants
I had an awesome Korean meal last night for dinner.
No I didn't travel to Seoul...I had it in Tokyo. In
Adachi-ku, no less.
My meal was just like the ones that I used to have in Seoul when I travelled there on business. Other than the restaurant was in Adachi-ku, and not a place like Akasaka, it is not surprising that I can get excellent, authentic Korean food in Tokyo. According to wikipedia, there are over 600,000 Koreans in Japan as of 2003 and an additional 280,000 Koreans who have been naturalized Japanese citizens. Koreans make up the largest minority in Japan.
Back to the food...last night we had yakiniku, or Korean Barbecue. With this meal, you have a grill in front of you in the table where you grill the meat, veggies, garlic, etc. You then take the meat and put some spicy sauce on it and wrap it in a leaf. You eat this like a little burrito. Along with the meat comes an assortment of side dishes. The most popular is kimchi. Kimchi is another traditional dish made of various vegetables that are fermented with different seasonings. The most popular kinds are those made from Napa Cabbage, diced radishes and cucumbers.
Finally, we had a trio of items that are very Korean. The first was pajeon, which is a Korean pancake made with eggs, flour and green onions. Sometimes, pajeon also has seafood such as squid in it, but last night's version did not. We also ate Korean nori, or seaweed, as a standalone item. Normally, most people will eat nori as part of sushi, but Korean nori can be snacked on its own with some salt and sesame oil.
Lastly, to wash everything down, we drank makkori. It is a milky white, sweet rice sake from Korea. It is made by fermenting rice with boiling water and, while the alcoholic content is a modest 6-7%, since it is so easy to drink, it is very dangerous!
No chance to visit Tokyo or Seoul for real Korean barbecue? If you live in Silicon Valley, I recommend that you try Secret Garden at 3430 El Camino Real, Santa Clara CA. You can recreate same meal there.
My meal was just like the ones that I used to have in Seoul when I travelled there on business. Other than the restaurant was in Adachi-ku, and not a place like Akasaka, it is not surprising that I can get excellent, authentic Korean food in Tokyo. According to wikipedia, there are over 600,000 Koreans in Japan as of 2003 and an additional 280,000 Koreans who have been naturalized Japanese citizens. Koreans make up the largest minority in Japan.
Back to the food...last night we had yakiniku, or Korean Barbecue. With this meal, you have a grill in front of you in the table where you grill the meat, veggies, garlic, etc. You then take the meat and put some spicy sauce on it and wrap it in a leaf. You eat this like a little burrito. Along with the meat comes an assortment of side dishes. The most popular is kimchi. Kimchi is another traditional dish made of various vegetables that are fermented with different seasonings. The most popular kinds are those made from Napa Cabbage, diced radishes and cucumbers.
Finally, we had a trio of items that are very Korean. The first was pajeon, which is a Korean pancake made with eggs, flour and green onions. Sometimes, pajeon also has seafood such as squid in it, but last night's version did not. We also ate Korean nori, or seaweed, as a standalone item. Normally, most people will eat nori as part of sushi, but Korean nori can be snacked on its own with some salt and sesame oil.
Lastly, to wash everything down, we drank makkori. It is a milky white, sweet rice sake from Korea. It is made by fermenting rice with boiling water and, while the alcoholic content is a modest 6-7%, since it is so easy to drink, it is very dangerous!
No chance to visit Tokyo or Seoul for real Korean barbecue? If you live in Silicon Valley, I recommend that you try Secret Garden at 3430 El Camino Real, Santa Clara CA. You can recreate same meal there.
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