FOOD: How to Prepare a Korean Feast - with Edible Manhattan at Brooklyn Brewery

Williamsburg, NY - Wednesday night at Brooklyn Brewery, Edible Manhattan invited guests to listen, ask questions and sample dishes as a variety of speakers shared stories and tips in an event titled "How to Prepare a Korean Feast." With beer supplied by the brewery, the group gathered in the warm night as local chefs and entrepreneurs discussed getting down with Korean cuisine.

The event's aim was to introduce guests to Korean food: which ingredients to get, where to shop for them, and, for those less culinary-minded, what to order when going out to eat at Korean restaurants. Matt Rodbard, author and contributing editor at Food Republic, opened up by asking the audience which Korean spots they enjoyed, and shared some of his own favorite dishes from his book Korean Restaurant Guide - NY. He encouraged diners to move away from the most commonly-known dishes to other intriguing options like seoulleongtang, a milky beef bone soup enlivened with scallions, and naengmyeon, a dish of cold buckwheat noodles that gets a kick from yellow hot mustard and vinegar.

It couldn't be a discussion of Korean food without some kimchi. Radbard recommended Mother In Law's and Mrs. Kim's, noting that H-Mart is always a good bet for finding authentic stuff.

Sisters Ann and Janet Chung of the Korean BBQ Sauce brand We Rub You spoke next, and shared their business story and their goal: to make it easier for everyone to prepare Korean food the way they do at home. They showed the audience that with just a few key ingredients, like doenjang (fermented soybeans) and miniscule fermented shrimp, it's easy to transform a wide variety of foods into Korean dishes. To demonstrate, they put themselves to the task of taking whatever ingredients they received from their local CSA on Monday and used each one to create a unique Korean feast. The accompanying slideshow showed off fried chicken, potato salad, a stone fruit cocktail and more - all with Korean flavors - and included a picture of their mother giving her seal of approval: inarguable proof of success.

Rounding out the lectures was a demonstration on how to prepare 3 types of kimchi from Kimchi Taco & Kimchi Grill. The night concluded with tastes of these along with pancakes, sauces, and more. Mr. Rodbard questioned earlier in the evening, "Doesn't everyone have a Korean best friend?" Looks like it's about time to get one.