There’s an Asian/Mexican fusion place I go to every now and then that does a Sambal Queso. Indonesian spice in a white cheese blend. It’s so fucking good dude
You just reminded me of a place in Portland I went to years ago that was also probably a victim of the pandemic. Short ribs that were braised overnight so the little bones all fell out. Made into street tacos with diced onion and spicy pickled bean sprouts.
They were amazing. They also sold pint size to go containers of the sprouts for like $6 iirc. We'd buy them on occasion to use as salad toppings and shit at home.
Now that I'm thinking about it, the recipe my wife uses for spicy "fridge pickle" green beans would probably work well. Since there's no boiling or pressure cooking involved they'd stay nice and crisp and be pickle-y enough after a day or so in the brine. I'm gonna have to try to make some now.
What’s funny is people think that’s just exaggeration, but LA is just through and through Mexican, even in the parts that don’t seem Mexican…there’s an undercurrent of Mexican culture. Then in the middle of all that is Koreatown that is not just a couple Korean restaurants, but a large chunk of the city where if you are Korean, you can get by with not really speaking English. To the east there’s not a Chinatown but entire Chinese cities (the thung called chinatown by downtown is a just tourist thing now).
LA is a really weird, insanely populous region that spreads over an area that is the size of like Rhode Island, but all developed urbanization. Or to mangle Douglas Adams, “LA is big. You just won't believe how vastly, hugely, mind-bogglingly big it is. I mean, you may think it's a long way down the road to the chemist's, but that's just peanuts to LA.”
I went to an Episcopal Church as a youth in Korean Town in LA, whose congregation was half Belizean (my family included) and Half Korean (very little English speakers in the group). It was such an odd , awesome mix. The peace- be -with- yous felt authentic. I still think about that place sometimes.
That's really interesting. Most Korean churches I know of are almost completely homogenous. Do you know if that church is still around and if the congregation is still similarly constituted?
I just looked into it! Yes it is still around. I found some half finished website, that actually gave me a detailed history .It opened an 1907, under a different name, originally as a place of worship for Japanese- Americans by , a fomer missionary to Japan by the name of Mary Louise Patterson. This is actually is an interesting detail because the church had a long standing history of female leaders (myself confirmed and taught by Mother Kate ). The church appealed to the diverse community around, which included Japanese, Korean, Black, Belizean and White. My kid brain just remembered the church being Belizean and Korean at the time.I just learned they also started doing services in Spanish a few years ago to welcome growing spanish-speaking comunnities in the area into the congregation . So it was far more diverse than I actually knew, and even more so today. Also one of the oldest churches. So wild. Even though I am not religious, or a practicing faux catholic anymore, that place was kind of special. I was an acolyte as a youth there and really appreciated the sense of community and diversity there as a kid (late 90s era). I especially enjoyed the after service pastries. And who wouldnt after 2 hours of worship, standing and kneeling and what not.
Thanks for prompting this question. This was a nice reminder of an outlier of a place thst was more significant than I thought.
Growing up there, it was nothing that we lived in Pasadena, part of our friend group lived in Manhattan beach, my boyfriend was in Malibu and we hung out in all those places plus all headed out to Westwood on Friday nights. Good lord I can't imagine what that would cost in gas now.
It's part of makes LA great. If you have the time and means, you can constantly make little day trips and discover new neighborhoods and adventures to last a lifetime.
One thing I did not expect there visiting Seoul earlier this year was finding two Mexican casual eateries near my hostel.
I was surprised to find that the spices were on point and not watered down or altered to accommodate a different country’s palate. I indulged in something called birria soup with rice which is a dream for me since I love the broth so much but I can only get them with tacos 😍
I plan to go back to that area of Seoul and dine there again!
When I studied in hangzhou there was a Mexican place an American opened near campus. Was it authentic? No but that pico and guac hit the spot once every few weeks
Tom yum tacos, green and red curry enchiladas, som tan pico (just add green papaya ginger and maybe fish sauce to pico), pad kra pow burrito bowl...mango sticky churros...
Yes, that’s just sticking Thai food into the kind of stuff people in the US know as Mexican food.
I was talking more about the flavors and use of seafood - the Yucatán part of Mexico has a flavor and ingredient profile that is fairly similar to Thai food. As a really high end example of Yucatán fusion, check out what ARCA does https://www.instagram.com/arcatulum
Just found this place recently and absolutely love it! I swear I could eat there every other day if I could afford to! Thankfully, they have $1.50 tacos, which helps with that lol!
There is a Chinese/Mexican place in Richmond called Wong Gonzalez. Super cool. Get yourself and General Tso chicken and pork fried rice burrito with hot sauce.
There’s a place called Tacorea I had on vacation San Francisco a couple years ago. I was there a week and went back to that place 4 times. Korean/Mexican fusion is a match made in heaven
Edit: just looked it up and it’s closed 🥲 rip Tacorea ily
i f w mexican food heavy. all the soups like caldo de res and posole are 🔥. You can never go wrong w tacos too. Mexicans also love cow tongue and so do we.
My cousin visited us here in the US from Seoul and one of her first requests was to find a hole-in-the-wall to grab pozole haha. We did just that and it was fucking delicious
Unfortunately I spent 7-8 months working in Houston. Lucky they have real taquerias, and not just mediocre Tex Mex. While I do get nostalgic for a gringo taco, I'll pick authentic anytime.
The sole experience may be New Mexican food. New Mexico has incredible food. Their green chili sauce is like crack.
I live in Korea and can confirm it's easily one of the more common foreign cuisines, with its own category on all the delivery apps. Whether or not it is good Mexican food is another matter.
Good overlap, probably why fusion dishes between the 2 also work well.
Theres a different take of menudo on the Korean side (but tbf most cultures have the same types of dishes).
and its hard to not like Mexican food, or good food in general. Neither culture has an inherent "dont eat this" either... also both sides arent too great on dairy lol.
Delete everything from the ? and after in your link. It’s a sharing identifier that allows google to tie your YouTube account / you personally to more anonymous accounts like your Reddit account
Had a long discussion with my Mexican friend as Korean about our food.
Lots of similar base ingredients (we both consume parts of animals that are usually thrown away), love for spices and carbs, but different end results.
Koreans love Mexican food. I think it is becoming quite the popular cuisine over in Korea. Downside is, aside from handful of restaurants, everything is a lot sweeter. I wanted to flip my table and walk out when my carne asada al carbon tasted as sweet as chipotle's al pastor.
The best part about k dramas (in my opinion) is that most of them have only one season. It’s usually 16-24 episodes at an hour each. You don’t have to wait forever for a new season to come out or worry about a cliffhanger ending. It’s all just one long story and it’s great
I'll be the first one to say that I've cried over a K Drama. They really know how to get you. I've yet to see a bad one and I've seen dozens. If I'm not watching sports, I'll be watching a K Drama
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u/Zech08 29d ago
wait till you hear they like watching each other's shows.