Beyond the Usual BBQ
Going to Dong Il Jang is like stepping back in history. When it opened 22 years ago in what is now Koreatown, it was a pioneer, not just one among the present flood of Korean barbecue and noodle places. Roy Kim, who runs the daily operation, says it was the first Korean restaurant to put in a sushi bar, now a common practice.
The inspiration for that was Kim’s grandfather, who studied in Japan and opened a sukiyaki restaurant in Seoul in 1945. That too was named Dong Il Jang (“No. 1 in the East”). Sung Kim, Roy’s father, opened a Dong Il Jang here and added sushi to honor his father. And this serene place with a koi pond still serves sukiyaki, tempura, teriyaki and sushi along with a full Korean menu.
I’ve eaten there for years, but I stuck to the usual barbecued meats until I learned about roast kui (spelled gui on the menu).
Dip Beef in Seasoning and Snag Some Salad
It’s rib-eye steak sliced quite thin and cooked with an onion slice on a flat buttered griddle. (Because the usual dome-shaped griddle is removed from your table for this, any barbecued meats you order will have to be cooked for you in the kitchen.) You dip the beef in sesame oil mixed with pepper and sea salt, and set it on a bowl of shredded green onion tops dressed with vinegar, sesame oil and cayenne, picking up a little of this salad as you eat.
There’s a minimum of two orders, which is enough food for three people. When the beef is finished, the waitress greases the grill with any leftover butter, dumps on a pile of kimchi and slivered beef, and stirs in a generous spoonful of hot chile paste. Then she upends two bowls of rice into the mixture and stirs this until blended. It’s spicy stuff, and filling.
Dong Il Jang does a good job with barbecue too, including shrimp. Like tandoori shrimp, this is the ultimate test of a grill cook’s skill: Too much heat and it turns tough and dry. But when cooked by the kitchen staff, Dong Il Jang’s shrimp turns out sweet and succulent.
Interestingly, some of the best meat for barbecue goes into a tofu and bean paste casserole called toenjang chigae. The shreds of marbled, flavorful meat, too small for barbecuing, are removed from butterflied short ribs.
Maeun tang (maewoon tahng), a spicy fish casserole, comes with a choice of rock cod or oilier black cod, along with Manila clams, zucchini, button and enoki mushrooms, daikon and jalapeno slices. It’s a good contrast to the sweetness of Korean barbecue. Plainer fish dishes include broiled marinated fish and broiled salmon steak.
Bibim bap is becoming as well known to Asian food lovers as Chinese fried rice. When the same ingredients (rice, meat and vegetables tossed with strips of fried egg and hot chile paste) come in a hot stone pot along with raw beef and egg, it’s called tolsot bap (dohl soht bahp). The idea is to stir the contents until the heat of the pot cooks the beef and egg. Watch out, though. If you don’t eat the rice right away, it will crust onto the pot. (Some think this is the best part and will press the rice against the sides of the pot in order to get more crust.)
Korean-Style Tempura and Appetizer Pancakes
Appetizers include an unusual version of beef tempura, more like fritters containing soft, sliced rib-eye than the crisp Japanese sort of tempura. They come with a soy sauce, garlic and sesame dip that is radically different from Japanese tempura sauce.
The same sauce goes with pa jon (pa jun), an appetizer pancake that is big enough to cover a platter. Pa jon contains long strands of green onion, bits of oyster, small shrimp and beef. Red and green jalapeno slices are embedded in the top. Another pancake, pindae ttok, is a fat golden circle of mung bean batter combined with mild white kimchi, bean sprouts, pork and sliced jalapenos.
The complimentary side dishes (panchan) perhaps have less variety than at other Korean restaurants. A Korean-speaking friend knew how to ask for additional panchan, including sweet, spicy little cucumbers. Ask for them--they’re too good to miss. Other sides include marinated spinach, bean sprouts, sweet-sour daikon combined with carrot, and the restaurant’s unique version of potato salad. The potatoes are cut in long fine shreds rather than cubes.
Instead of dessert, there is shik-hye, a lightly fermented beverage made with malted barley flour. It’s refreshing and a good palate-cleanser after the bold flavors of a Korean dinner.
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* Dong Il Jang, 3455 W. 8th St., Los Angeles. (213) 383-5757. Open 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily. Beer and wine. Street and lot parking. Visa, MasterCard and American Express. Main dishes, $9 to $19.50.
* What to Get: roast kui, barbecued shrimp, pa jon, pindae ttok, mae un tang, pibim bap, tolsot bap, toenjang chigae.