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Korean Short Rib Tacos

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Korean Short Rib Tacos

A couple of weeks ago I came across the concept of Korean BBQ and Mexican fusion in the form of the short rib tacos from the Kogi taco trucks in California. Combining the facts that I am really into both Korean and Mexican cuisine and that California is so far away I immediatly decided to try making the short rib tacos at home. Since there were no recipes available I set upon creating my own. I started with the kalbi or Koren barbecue short ribs which are short ribs that are marinated in a slightly sweet marinade until tender and then grilled until the sugars from the marinade caramelize infusing the ribs with an amazing flavour. Next up was the Koren style salsa roja which was responsible for bringing the heat to the tacos. I created the salsa roja by combining a chili de arbol salsa with some sesame flavours and a hit of gochujang, a Korean fermented chili paste. An onion and cilantro relish and some shredded romaine lettuce in a chili and sesame vinaigrette rounded out the tacos bringing some fresh ingredients to them. Now that I had all of the ingredients made all that was left was to assemble the tacos.
This project (Project Kogi: Short Rib Tacos) took a bit of effort. After coming up with the recipes, making everything took a bit of time. The next time that I make these tacos I will make the salsa roja two nights ahead of time, marinate the ribs the night before, and make the relish and lettuce with dressing the morning of the meal. This way the only thing left to do is to pull everything out of the fridge, grill the ribs, assemble the tacos and enjoy. Despite the effort it was well worth it! The short rib tacos were absolutely amazing! The sweet and tender kalbi worked really well as a taco meat. The Korean style salsa roja added the perfect heat to the tacos along worth a ton of flavour. Feel free to pile this salsa on as it is really good! Come on, you can take the heat. 🙂 Seriously I was eating this salsa by the spoonful. The onion and cilantro relish combined with the seasoned shredded romaine lettuce added a nice texture, juiciness and freshness to the tacos and finished them of perfectly. Overall the tacos were nice and light and full of flavour and I practically inhaled them.
Kogi also serves a bunch of other Korean/Mexican fusion dishes that sound really good. Stay tuned for more.

Korean Short Rib Tacos

Korean Short Rib Tacos

Prep Time: 3 hours Cook Time: 35 minutes Total Time: 3 hours 35 minutes Servings: 4
ingredients
directions
  1. Assemble tacos.
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Reader Interactions

Comments

  5. Tellie says

    I'm definitely going to have to give this one a try. I use to live in Korea and ever since I've moved, I have been forever craving new Korean food recipes.

    Reply

  6. Anonymous says

    A masterpiece. Nice job, Kevin. Street food is definitely more complicated than handing over some cash!

    I might have to give this a try with tofu or something along those lines.

    Reply

  8. Jenn says

    NIce job on pitting the whole thing together. Definitely a great recreation of the famed LA Kogi taco. I'm sure your version tastes great and it looks amazing, too. I just had lunch, but I'm feeling like having a taco now.

    Reply

  12. Joyce says

    We eat Korean often at our home and I shop at the Korean Markets here in Atlanta but I have not combined Korean and Mexican…interesting:) Love the idea of combining the two.
    Joyce

    Reply

  14. literalliris says

    I'm from LA and have tried KOGI truck and am completely taken aback at what kind of impact it has made in food around here. It was quite the rave for some time here. I must say that your attempt at this strange phenomena is well worth a round of applause. It looks delicious. Time for you to come and try how it differs to the infamous trucks that roam the greater Los Angeles County. 🙂

    Reply

  16. Jen Yu says

    Kevin, these are beautiful! So impressed that you made everything from scratch. The whole thing sounds amazing. Great job and thanks for sharing!

    Reply

  18. Lucy Vaserfirer says

    What an epic effort! I’ve gotta say, I love both Korean food and Mexican food, but (though I have heard of those Kogi tacos) I’ve never considered combining the two before. And why not? Everything tastes better in a wrap!

    Reply

  22. Marti says

    I've been hearing so much about these tacos, but had no idea what was involved. (And I just moved to the East Coast, away from any chance of tasting them in LA.)

    So thanks very much for a great recipe! I'm really looking forward to trying it! 🙂

    Reply

  24. Anja says

    hi kevin, I love the idea of mix asia and mexican food. maybe you want to know that i adapted and modified your fig and brie recipe from last week. regards

    Reply

  26. Big Shamu says

    Now I'm pouting that there's no Kogi trucks in Kansas City however we do have plenty of short ribs so it looks like I'll be making my own thanks to your yummy recipe.

    Reply

  35. Jessica says

    I've heard of the food truck! I'm definitely going to have to visit the next time I'm in LA! I love fusion dishes, esp. ones that involve Korean food. 🙂 The dish looks delicious, and I can't wait to try it!

    Reply

  36. Daniel says

    These Tacos look fantastic! Korean/Mexican fusion is something I have never thought of, let alone tried. I am eager to experiment with it now though!

    Reply

  41. Anonymous says

    I can't say much except that ever since I heard of the Kogi trucks, I have been dying to try this. The problem: I live on the east coast. The solution: this recipe. Thank you!

    Reply

  43. Jeff says

    Nice and yeah cooking by yourself can definitely lead to a bunch of rushing around the kitchen trying to assemble sauces, check on grills, another sauce that is going, etc. etc. My next stove will have the grill built into it.

    Nicely done and taco trucks rule.

    Reply

  57. jony says

    Wow these are popping up everywhere now. I just had a korean taco in the bay area. Amazingly good and close to kogi style. They also have lots of other fusion tacos you wouldnt beleive. tonys taco truck can be found on twitter and i highly recomend them. Thanks to kogi

    Reply

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