| Imitators to Innovators, Fro-Yo & Korean Burritos |
[Jun. 12th, 2009|01:08 am] |
It's a general consensus amongst many of my Korean friends that Koreans themsleves, aren't the best innovators; however, they are the best imitators of things proven to be successful and subsequently make it better.
Example 1. Gunpowder.
Now, while China discovered and used gunpowder in their fireworks, it was not weaponized. However, Korea was the first documented country to use gunpowder in a form of a weapon, using it to propel arrows at invading Japanese armies as well as developing the first rocket.
2. Electronics.
Before Korea was a veritable electronics giant it is today with LG and Samsung virtually on every other appliance or electronic item in one's possession, the country was known for simple manufactured goods, with modest exports. With the advent of high technology and Japan's immense success, Korea's conglomerate shifted in that direction, focusing on computers, electronics, nanotech, chemistry, robotics and aerospace.
3. Frozen Yogurt.
Now, Koreans are equal opportunity imitators, not just isolated to non-Koreans.
We are cannibals, syphoning off of one another's success and ideas, and ballooning into their own business. A lot of people aren't aware of this, but Red Mango was the original healthy frozen yogurt business in Korea. It wasn't until an aspiring Korean interior designer ported the concept and taste, and started PinkBerry in West Hollywood that the fro-yo delight was introduced and inadvertently became the widely popular dessert (or breakfast in my case) it is today.
Now, brings me to the latest example.
Tacos and burritos.
In the same vain of taking a concept which is proven popular and successful and creating a new business on it, is the taco truck in Los Angeles. Now, tacos and burritos are one of my favorite things to eat, hands down on any occasion. Add in some new spices and flavors, and you've got something quite possibly better. In the case of fusing the cuisines of Korea and Mexico together into one, that concept was literally so stupefyingly metoric that it's likened to the collision of matter & anti-matter in the Large Haldron Collider in recreating the Big Bang, potentially causing the entire universe to implode and explode simultaneously. Except, in a taco truck.
So yes, I tried the Kogi Truck after much fanfare and praise, and it was good. I was hoping for more of an astonishing explosion in my mouth, but I was fairly pleased. Now, I might be criticized, hated, chastised and censured for this comment, but the Kogi Truck does not merit all the hype it gets. The flavors aren't uniquely Korean, the taste can become a bit monotonous, the items are overpriced, and the wait is too long. However, in an environment where you are the monopoly, you have no other choice but to frequent the sole business in the landscape.
In following the innate affinity for imitation, a new truck has popped up out of nowhere, called Calbi BBQ; I assume the G in the phonetically correct galbi was lost in translation, the same way Kogi was with the G.
Singer/songwriter, FR*A artist model, and friend Bobby aka Big Phony, initially told me about the truck a week ago, anxiously telling me and everyone around about his discovery, as a born again Christian would, spreading the gospel to all in nervous excement. Wholeheartedly trusting him as a connoisseur of fine food, or at least, of taco trucks, I was able to find the truck at the corner of 7th and Vermont. (Like the Kogi truck, the moving fusion of food on wheels travels to different places around LA)
I immediately noticed 2 things as I parked my car and walked over to the truck. The line that plagues the Kogi truck, was non-existent. This could have been auspicious of a bad meal or simply a sign that it has yet to be discovered, nevertheless Yelped. Luckily it was the latter as I was soon to find out. The second thing I noticed was the prices. While tacos were $2, consistent with the Kogi truck pricing, the burritos were all $5, arguably normal price for a burrito at any reputable taco and burrito establishment. As I walked up to the window to order, a older Korean woman greeted me in Korean, and asked me what I wanted. I politely ordered the galbi burrito, still unable to shake the stringent conditioning of formal speaking to anyone older than my age, and patiently waited, while the elderly Korean man in the truck began to concoct the divine burrito I was to eat in mere minutes. 2 minutes and 23 seconds after placing the order, my burrito was out, along with a small container of Sriracha sauce.
I eagerly drove home, counting the minutes till I would bite into the burrito. At last, I was home, and opened the paper and aluminum wrapper, and took my first bite. Immediately, it was better than any burrito I had eaten in my entire life.
The meat was marinated to perfection, with a perfect combination of soy sauce and sweetness, ginger, spice and herbs. The fillings screamed of goodness, encompassing the array of rice, lettuce, parsley, garlic, and onions, wrapped in a layer of flour tortilla that futilely imprisoned its divine perfection. Within 3 minutes, the burrito was fully consumed, and I was left with only wrappers and sauce, torn to shreds. In a state of epicurean euphoria, nothing could phase me, whether the Lakers lost, or the world imploded, for I had achieved my lifelong goal of finding the perfect burrito at a tender age of 29. I was only saddened by the fact I did not have another, and I nostalgically wished for more.
I wish for this experience of epiphany to be shared and spread amongst the masses, or at least of the Los Angeles basin. Come one, come all, for imitation has achieved innovation, in a wholly new genre of food. No longer called, the Korean BBQ Burrito, an homage to the original Mexican burrito, nor an imitation of the Kogi burrito, but it is what I now deem and dub the Korean wrap.
www.calbibbq.com |
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