Korean BBQ, a primer.
Photo courtesy of Kogiya Korean BBQ
Not all great barbecue is made low ‘n slow. In fact, one brand of barbecue is at its best and most delicious when it’s seared quick-fire on a grill at the center of your table—Korean BBQ.
The best places to get it—or any authentic Korean food, for that matter—are the Northern Virginia suburbs of Annandale and Centreville, where a nucleus of Korean immigrants began settling in the 1950s. At Kogiya Korean BBQ and Sō Korean Barbeque, the pair of restaurants Sylvia Cho, 31, runs with her family, newcomers are more than welcome.
At the table, colorful Korean side dishes called banchan start the meal—from traditional spicy-cabbage kimchi to lemon-wasabi daikon radish—doubling as palate cleansers and toppings throughout. Then comes the meat; thinly sliced ribeye, pork belly and fatty brisket arrive raw and rolled into stacks, waiting to be thrown on the piping-hot grill. When they’re seared and steaming, bring all the components on the table together “ssäm” style, piling spoonfuls of rice, beef, sides and sauces onto lettuce leaves. The goal, Cho says, is to get a balanced bite of richness, zing and crunch. At $25 a person, go for the all-you-can-eat option, and follow Cho’s advice: “Wear stretchy pants.” KogiyaBBQ.com, SoKoreanBBQ.com
This article originally appeared in our Smoke & Salt 2018 issue, on newsstands now.
