Kogi Truck Kimchi Quesadilla

My Homemade Kimchi Quesadilla

For those of you not familiar with the Kogi Food Truck, it's really one of the "OG" LA fusion food trucks, and one that helped transform the image of food trucks from roach coaches to gourmet mobile restaurants; helping to kick off the current fad of food truck mania sweeping the nation. Kogi and it's founder - the now legendary Chef Roy Choi - have since expanded the empire into 5 trucks, a number of sit down restaurants, and a cookbook/memoir about Chef Choi.

One of.... Scratch that... My FAVORITE item on the Mexican-Korean fusion Kogi food truck menu is and has always been the Kimchi Quesadilla. This isn't just my favorite item on the Kogi food truck menu, it's probably my favorite item (so far) on ANY food truck I've ever tasted.

Fresh Bibimbap Salad!

So okay, this isn't sushi, and it isn't even Japanese... But the Korean dish of Bibimbap is one of my all time favorite meals. And let's face it, this blog is still new and I'm figuring out what direction I want to take it, so just deal.

My "Fresh Bibimbap Salad"

The last time I was in Seattle I stopped at the well known Asian market Uwajimaya to pick up a few items. So of course whenever I'm there I make sure to stop at Shilla Korean BBQ in the food court. I'm embarrassed to mention a food court, but when you see the one at Uwajimaya, you wont think twice about eating there regularly. The first time I got the Bibimbap at Shilla I forgot for a moment that it was served in a sizzling hot stone bowl, and I burned my thumb and three fingers trying to pull the bowl closer to my mouth. It didn't matter. I plunged my fingers into a glass of well iced Sprite and continued to eat with my chopsticks hand. It was so good, I forgot completely about the burned fingers.

Shilla's Dolsot Bibimbap with Kalbi

Pickled Red Onions

I absolutely love pickled red onions! They're an extremely tasty and versatile condiment. They add an acidic and slightly sweet element to any dish, while also bringing the fresh vegetable crunch you want texturally. You can use them with virtually any cuisine from New American, to South East Asian, to Middle-Eastern, to Mexican or Tex-Mex. They're just as at home on a Vietnamese Banh Mi sandwich as they are on a juicy all-beef Hamburger. I use them frequently as a topping for either fish or meat, often in sandwiches, and all the time with salads of every type.