Korean BBQ Duck at Sun Ha Jang

 

When it comes to Korean BBQ, the usual suspects include beef, pork and occasionally seafood, but after I read about Sun Ha Jang's duck offerings on the Food GPS blog, I knew I had to pay this restaurant a visit. For those of you who wish to dine at Sun Ha Jang after reading my post, keep in my mind that the restaurant signage is strictly in Korean, which you can see at the picture above.

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After we sat down and placed our order, individual dipping sauces and chili paste were placed before us. We also took a look at the pan where our duck was going to be cooking in during the latter part of the meal. Notice how the pan isn't flat. There's a reason for that. Simply, what makes this restaurant unique is not just about the duck, but that the duck cooks in its own fat. I bet you duck lovers out there really want to book it to Sun Ha Jang about now.

However, I'm getting ahead of myself. The duck is the main headliner, but first, we ate our way through the opening acts, starting with the Black Pork Belly which were grilled with garlic. The duck pan which I mentioned earlier was temporarily on hiatus.

While the Black Pork Belly was cooking up, a variety of panchan hit our table.

As the Black Pork dwindled down, it was eventually joined by the Short Rib and a couple of other dishes.

So that the meal wasn't going to be a complete meat fest, an order was placed for the Fish Egg Stew. It came before us bubbling and brewing. I really enjoyed the spice level which was just spicy enough without being overwhelming and yet, it was able to cut into the ocean-y and briny flavors coming from the fish eggs.

 

The yin to the yang of the Fish Egg Stew was the Spicy Cold Noodle dish. I liked the slight chew and pull of the buckwheat noodles and how the cucumbers added a nice juicy bite of freshness to this dish.  The Cold Noodles were a refreshing counterpoint to the hot fish egg stew.

Finally, it was duck time, which means that the duck pan made its way back to our table. At Sun Ha Jang, there are 3 different types of duck on the menu: roasted duck, fresh duck and spicy seasoned duck. We went for the roasted duck and spicy seasoned duck, but I will also show you a picture of the fresh duck that was cooking at a neighboring table.

The Roasted Duck was interesting in the sense that they were formed into flat, cylindrical shapes. Our server had mentioned that there was a special process for the formation of the roasted duck pieces, but I can't remember what it was. When it came to the cooking, our server frowned on us doing it on our own, so first she started with browning it with garlic in that special pan.

Then she tilted the pan so that the duck oil would collect on one side of the pan and then the duck and garlic were moved to where the oil was cooking; hence, a duck confit-style of preparation. The little drainage hole in the pan was also blocked with kimchi to limit the loss of the duck oil.

Other than just eating the duck pieces on their own, another way is to enjoy your duck on some lettuce with the addition of pickled onions, chili paste or whatever else suits your fancy.

The Fresh Duck was basically just duck cut up into pieces, but was cooked in the same way as the Roasted Duck as you can see below.

After we had devoured the Roast Duck, it was time to take a taste of the Spicy Seasoned Duck. That spicy seasoned duck definitely had some chili lovin' because the meat was a scorching red.

It barely sat a second before it was placed into the pan where there was still left over oil from the previous duck dish we just had.

This is one dish that takes a lot of patience because the tendency was to move the duck around, but again, we were scolded by our server.  Apparently, it's difficult to determine the doneness of the duck due to the chili coating. Only the servers really have the experience, so it was hands-off.

Finally, the duck was ready to eat. Looking at it, I felt my arteries hardening and yet, that wasn't going to stop me.  By the way, our server knew what she was doing. The duck was cooked just right and I really liked the spiciness coming from the chili it was marinated in.

We ended the meal with fried rice that came with kimchi, scallions, radish and sesame seeds and yes, the fried rice was cooked in the duck oil.

However, with all that duck oil, I was worried that the fried rice was going to be too greasy. To help with that, I asked for another helping of rice to be added and they were kind enough to accommodate my request.  With the extra rice and the fact they drained the rest of the oil out of the pan, that fried rice was pretty darn tasty.

To end, I enjoyed my meal at Sun Ha Jang. I was concerned that the duck would be too oily or greasy, but that wasn't the case. The caramelization of the Roasted Duck added a subtle sweetness and the combination of duck oil and chili marinade added a slight smoky crust to the surface of Spicy Seasoned Duck as it was cooking, which made it even better.  So if duck is your thing, be sure to give Sun Ha Jang a try, but also know that some of their non-duck dishes are pretty good, too.

Sun Ha Jang
4032 W Olympic Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90019
(323) 634-9292
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Brunch at King's Row Gastropub

I hadn't dined in Pasadena in awhile so when I received a media invitation to check out brunch at King's Row, Pasadena's newest Gastropub, I jumped at the chance. At the time I went, it was only the second week that King's Row had brunch available so there were still some adjustments happening to the menu items.

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One of the first things I learned when I arrived was that the kitchen was headed by Chef Thomas Jesse, who is Filipino-Mexican. As a Filipina myself, I was looking forward to see what delicious dishes I was going to enjoy under Chef Jesse's helm.

 

Before my friend and I placed our food order, we both enjoyed sangrias, white for me and red for her.

 

Then the food started coming out with the first one being the Queso Fundido, a traditional cheese baked with chorizo,potatoes, poblano peppers and topped with a fried egg served with corn tortillas. I've had my share of queso fundido, but this was a first with a fried egg. What do I say about that? Pure genius! I loved the how yolk worked well with the richness of the cheese.

Next came the Country Fried Steak with Eggs, Sausage and Potatoes. The sausages were nicely seasoned and while I enjoyed the battered crispness of the Country Fried Steak, there was one problem with it.  Basically, half of the steak was too salty; yet, the other half was fine. What was strange is that a fellow blogger at a neighboring table said that her Country Fried Steak was the same way. Without that seasoning issue, the Country Fried Steak with the gravy would have been a more enthusiastic thumbs up.

The next dish we tried was the Duck Confit Hash with eggs, applewood bacon, onions, polenta, duck fat hash browns and maple-bourbon sauce. I definitely appreciated that the hash browns were cooked in the duck fat and generally, I was fine with this dish, but I could have easily gone without the maple-bourbon sauce.  That sauce would have been better on pancakes or waffles.  It added a sweet element to this savory dish that I didn't care for, but then my friend enjoyed it. So there you go.

With a burger on the menu, it was a must-order and it was mostly a positive vibes when it came to the Dry Aged Burger with a bacon-onion confit, tillamook white cheddar, St Agur bleu, garlic aioli and homemade roll.  One big hit was the bun which is a housemade focaccia bread.  That bun was amazing. It was light, fluffy and delicately seasoned with herbs.

I enjoyed the pungency of the blue cheese and how it paired well with the soft sharpness of the white cheddar and how the burger was cooked to a perfect medium.  The one miss had to do with the bacon-onion confit which was a little too salty. Perhaps if it was toned down, the burger would be better with it as opposed to without it.

We also had  a taste of the Fish and Chips, which were beer battered fish with house cut chips, mushy peas and house tartar sauce.  It was a solid dish and I fell in love with the mushy peas.

Our final dish was the Bananas Foster Griddle Cakes. I'm not really much of a pancake or waffle kind of gal when it comes to breakfast and these griddle cakes did nothing to change that for me.  The bananas just topped one of the griddle cakes, which left the other two on the dry side and crying for syrup.  That maple-bourbon syrup would have definitely done the job.

As I mentioned earlier, at the time of my visit which was in May, King's Row had only been serving brunch for a couple of weeks. At the time I felt that tweaks needed to be made and perhaps, they have been already taken care of or maybe, menu items have been added or removed since then. Regardless, I thought the food was pretty good thanks to Chef Jesse and I'd definitely make a return visit for brunch or even dinner at a later time.

King's Row Gastropub
20 E Colorado Blvd Ste 102
Pasadena, CA
(626) 793-3010
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The Pleasure of Pig Parts and Beer: $35 for Filipino Pork and Beer Pairing Event

When it comes to pork, I'd say that Philippines certainly know their way around cooking it.  My ears still echo with Anthony Bourdain announcing on his show that our lechon aka roast pig is the BEST Pig Ever. Who am I to argue with a culinary giant?  But when you pair pulutan and beer, life can only get better.  So what's pulutan? Well, it's Filipino for the food that's best eaten with beer and what's one of the best things eaten with beer? Why, pork of course!

For this Pork and Beer Pairing Event, I'm partnering with Pig Parts and Beer Founder, Karena Higgins, former owner of Butter Tart and co-blogger, Haydee Vicedo. The goal for Pig Parts and Beer is to become a Filipino-American lifestyle blog that revolves around supporting and promoting Filipino food and drink. That support is going to come in the form of Filipino Food events starting with this one. See all the info below.

********** EVENT PAYMENT INFO **********
Please send $35 to Karena's email address, which is Higgins.Karena@gmail.com, via Pay Pal (www.paypal.com)
**NO REFUNDS after September 9!

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Date and Time:
Sunday, September 18, from 5:30 pm to 8:30 pm

The Food will be provided by:
Curbside Craving, a Filipino Food Truck

 

 For the Beer:
2 will be Craft Beers Chosen by Michael Milan of Verdugo Bar
2 will be Craft Beers Chosen by Eagle Rock Brewery

 

 Location:

The location of this event will actually be at Karena's home in Glassell Park with a beautiful view of Los Angeles. You can use available street parking; however, you should know that Karena's home is on a hill, so the further down you park, the further up you'll have to walk.

Shuttle parking will be available at no cost and the first pick up will be at 5:15 pm.  Address and shuttle parking will be emailed when payment is received. Please just mention in your message that you need that info.

 

Raffle:

Attendees who arrive and check in between 5:30 pm and 6:00 pm will be eligible to enter a raffle to win a gift pack of beer worth $50.

For $35, this event will include:

• Pork Lumpia Shanghai paired with a Beer Margarita featuring San Miguel Beer, a Filipino beer
• Crispy Sisig with Rice paired with Craft Beer (Michael's Choice)
• Mini Tocino Burger paired with Craft Beer (Eagle Rock Brewery's Choice)
• Pork Adobo paired with Craft Beer (Michael's Choice)
• Coconut Ice Cream Beer Float with Craft Beer from Eagle Rock Brewery

This is definitely going to be a fun event and I hope you can join both me and Karena in a wonderful and delicious exploration of Pork and Beer! :)

Korean Tapas at Cham Korean Bistro

When it comes to Cham Korean Bistro, even though I had been there a couple of times and thoroughly enjoyed my meals, I just hadn't been able to actually blog about it. In each instance, I had been with friends who I haven't seen in awhile so the focus was on the company and not taking pictures, as is my usual practice. However, when Cham Korean Bistro offered to host me and a guest, this was my chance to finally write about it.

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For those of you unfamiliar with Cham Korean Bistro, the focus is on a modern take on Korean Cuisine with some fusion mixed in.  I wouldn't say that a Korean fusion influence was really seen in the first dish we tried which was the Cham Salad.  It was, however, a delicious blend of spring mix, carrots, jicama, sesame brittle and soy-balsamic vinaigrette. One small thing though? I loved that sesame brittle and there just wasn't enough of it for my liking.

One of the things that I really like about Cham is their Korean Tapas menu, which features share-able small plates. Between this visit and my other two visits, I've tried all but two of items on that tapas menu. My favorite is the Crispy Pork Belly with Fingerling Potatoes and not just any fingerling potatoes, but Peruvian potatoes.  You really can't go wrong with crispy pork belly and I really enjoyed the soft earthiness of the potatoes.

Fusion definitely shows up in the form of the Calamari Mini Tacos with Sautéed Kimchi Topping. The taco itself was a little difficult to eat since the proportion of filling to tortilla was higher, but hey, it's hard not to appreciate that there was no skimping. While I enjoyed the battered outside and the slight chew of the calamari itself, I would have preferred just a little more heat from the kimchi for a complete thumbs up.

My guest had raved about the Cham Onion Rings, which she had really enjoyed at previous visits. That night, however, while the onions rings had a nice crunch to it, they were a little too oily. Perhaps, an off night for the onion rings?

That night, we also had the Korean Rice Cake aka Toppoki.  While the name "Rice Cake" may bring up visions of round shapes, the rice cakes in this dish are more like rounded cylinders made from glutinous rice and/or rice flour. Sauteed in some kind of chili sauce that definitely brought on the heat, these rice cakes made my taste buds happy.

The last item from the Korean Tapas menu were the Crispy Spicy Tuna Balls. I think the coating was fried rice, but I'm not sure. Regardless, I really enjoyed the texture of the tuna balls. Crispy on the outside and soft in the inside and with a spice level that was just right.  Also from this menu, though not pictured, you should try the Ahi Tuna with a Chimichuri Sauce, but the Sweet Potato Fries aren't anything that exciting.

Not on the Korean Tapas menu, but just as delicious were the last two items we tried.  One was the Blue Crab Tofu Pocket: seasoned rice and marinated blue crab topping.  I liked the freshness of the crab but overall, this particular tofu pocket was a little forgettable for me. I actually prefer the Spicy Tuna Tofu Pocket and the Pickled Seaweed Tofu Pockets that I had at previous visits.

The second item was the Spicy Yuzu Pork Bulgogi + Cilantro Bun Steamed Bun with sautéed spicy yuzu pork bulgogi and fresh cilantro. This was my second favorite dish of the night. Is it obvious that I love pork?  There was a really nice caramelization on the pork and I liked the peppery flavors that the cilantro added to this sandwich.  You can also a Beef Bulgogi or Spicy Chicken Steamed Bun, but I can't seem to not order this particular steamed bun.

Other dishes that that I've also tried and enjoyed in the past include their Kimchi Rice (no longer on the menu) and their BBQ + Garden Platter with Beef Short Rib. One dish that I wouldn't order again is their Sauteed Sweet Potato Noodles, which tasted was too bland for me.

Overall, Cham Korean Bistro is a good eatery.  For the most part, I've enjoyed almost everything I tried so far and now I'm just happy to finally blog about it and hopefully encourage some of you to check it for yourself.

Cham Korean Bistro
851 Cordova Street
Pasadena, CA 91101
(626) 792-2474


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