Koch'ujang is the Korean Hot Red Pepper Paste.
It usually is mixed with other ingredients for a marinade or dipping sauce.
We usually mix with grated fresh ginger, shoyu, sesame oil and green onion for a marinade.
There are a number of different combinations for dips.
I would suggest 'Growing Up In a Korean Kitchen' as a good reference cookbook.-Dick

Thanks, appreciate the quick responses!

I love San Soo Gab San. It's a great way to surprise an unsuspecting friend after a night of drinking. The rib eye steak always does the trick after a few too many beers.

Cho Jung was inexplicably closed on a Friday night at 8:45 PM (Yelp says 11 closure, sign on door says 1 AM), so I was thankful to find the Morton Grove location of San Soo Gab San welcoming, and even enjoyed the space and service more than the venerable house on Western. The panchan offered no surprises but was plentiful, attentively restocked without request, and fresh. The complimentary guk with stewed jalapenos was a stellar batch. Dolsot bibimbap was a standard effort as expected, except for the pile of shitakes, which tasted more flavorfully handled than simply reconstituted. This was a simple, pleasant, and well-priced meal even from a big place, and a good crowd was enjoying yook hwe through barbecue and several fish preps off the specials list at tables all around. There's better homestyle to be had around for given dishes, but it's nice to experience SSGS still scratching the itch.

Aren't they calling the location on Golf Road in Morton Grove San Soo Kab San - with a K?

bw77 wrote:Aren't they calling the location on Golf Road in Morton Grove San Soo Kab San - with a K?

Their exterior sign does have San Soo Kab San. As has been noted before on LTH, however, consistency in transliteration is not the hallmark of this empire, so YMMV.

Unlimited Korean BBQ at 9078 Golf in Niles, three price levels. Language limitations prevented finding out what the difference is between the levels.

HI,

Over the holidays, we dined with my niece's in-laws at a Kogii Kogii Korean BBQ in Riverwoods. We were a party of seven who shared two different types of grills: gas-fired built into the table and a tabletop propane fired grill.

I was seated at the built-in grill, which had a tepid cook. That is until our hostess asked them to increase the heat. What a difference temperature makes, because now our meat really zipped along with a more charred appearance.

The panchan was rather limited with refills up to a point, then they cut us off. When we asked for more lettuce for wrapping our meat, they advised they would charge because of the high market cost. When they bill came, there were no extra charges.

I had read the menu online to understand what we were getting into. They had a la carte and set-menu service. Pretty much everyone was enjoying their winter special:


This restaurant is located across Milwaukee Avenue from Woodman's. We visited afterwards where my niece found a durian in the freezer section. It was the favorite gift at her in-laws Christmas Eve party.

They are presently closed for a winter holiday until January 7th or so, call to make sure they are open.

1121 Milwaukee Ave
Riverwoods, Illinois 60015
(847) 947-8294
http://www.kogiikogii.com

Please pardon my ignorance, I had my first (that I recall) experience at a Korean BBQ last sunday. Prior to that a long gap and in the 1980s ate frequently at a Korean restaurant which was NOT cook at the table (and probably carry out more than dine in). I also, since 2000 and maybe earlier (don't recall) several times cooked bulgogi, kalbi and maybe a few other dishes at home (for pot lucks)

The present and prior experiences could qualify as completely different cuisines.

The recent BBQ I would describe as a slight (Korean) variation on a Japanese steak house, including "do it yourself" cooking. Lightly seasoned meat, grilled on gas with maybe a bit of charcoal (maybe at "better" restaurants all charcoal?). Dry, as in no gravy though the meat is juicy, eaten straight, just meat after meat. Plus banchan, which is completely new to me.

The earlier experience was highly seasoned (not necessarily just pepper/hot) seasoned, including ginger, garlic, green onion, daikon, etc, with a thickish gravy, and eaten on/with rice. I don't recall, maybe a little Kim Chee on the side, but nothing else.

So can I confirm this is a reasonable set of observations, so that I need not fear inviting a friend who doesn't like highly seasoned foods to come to a Korean BBQ restaurant with me? Are there Korean restaurants that are NOT BBQ like I remember, or has the one displaced the other?

diversedancer wrote:Please pardon my ignorance, I had my first (that I recall) experience at a Korean BBQ last sunday. Prior to that a long gap and in the 1980s ate frequently at a Korean restaurant which was NOT cook at the table (and probably carry out more than dine in). I also, since 2000 and maybe earlier (don't recall) several times cooked bulgogi, kalbi and maybe a few other dishes at home (for pot lucks)

The present and prior experiences could qualify as completely different cuisines.

The recent BBQ I would describe as a slight (Korean) variation on a Japanese steak house, including "do it yourself" cooking. Lightly seasoned meat, grilled on gas with maybe a bit of charcoal (maybe at "better" restaurants all charcoal?). Dry, as in no gravy though the meat is juicy, eaten straight, just meat after meat. Plus banchan, which is completely new to me.

The earlier experience was highly seasoned (not necessarily just pepper/hot) seasoned, including ginger, garlic, green onion, daikon, etc, with a thickish gravy, and eaten on/with rice. I don't recall, maybe a little Kim Chee on the side, but nothing else.

So can I confirm this is a reasonable set of observations, so that I need not fear inviting a friend who doesn't like highly seasoned foods to come to a Korean BBQ restaurant with me? Are there Korean restaurants that are NOT BBQ like I remember, or has the one displaced the other?

Korean BBQ and cook at the table restaurants are all the rage, though cooking at the table is not required and many of the places will cook for you in the kitchen and have tables without grills.

All meats are not necessarily marinated. Bulgogi and Kalbi are typically marinated in a soy, sesame, ginger, garlic, etc. marinade, Bulgogi being thinly sliced sirloin or ribeye, and Galbi being Short Ribs. The marinade is thin, not thick and not gravy like. Some places will serve un-marinated ribs called saeng-galbi ; "fresh ribs". You will usually find other types of both marinated and un-marinated meat such as Brisket, pork, chicken, tongue, etc. on the menus.

Banchan offerings vary from place to place in both volume and variety, but you will almost always get Kimchi and a few others.