Um, yummy!

I bet galbi and bulgogi are the top two dishes that are the most popular among non-Koreans and possibly Koreans. But when you have a chance to go to a Korean all-you-can-eat-meat lunch or dinner next time, I’d recommend chadolbagi.

Chadolbagi is a part of beef brisket that is bright, hard and fatty. Koreans usually make Shabu-shabu or pyunyuk (slices of boiled meat) dish, or barbecue it. In many Korean all-you-can-eat-meat places, they serve chadolbagi, thinly sliced and unmarinated.

The reason that chadolbagi is very popular among Koreans and probably non-Koreans is because of its delicate savory taste - actually, I can’t find the best word to describe the taste. Koreans say ‘gosohada’. It’s fattier than other parts of beef, yet it’s sliced thinly enough that each slice won’t have too much fat. Because it’s sliced thinly, chadolbagi cooks very fast. It makes sense that it’s usually served first in Korean all-you-can-eat-beef restaurants.

So why break them in such thin slices? Because they look fancier, or because they have a cutting machine?

Chadolbagi can be very tough when it’s cooked non-sliced or thick-sliced. It can be greasy too because chadolbagi itself contains more fat than other parts of beef. If you’re a regular of a Korean all you can eat meat restaurant, a kind waiter or waitress might bring you a thicker chadolbaegi slice to test when asked… (but you might not want to ring the bell for this favor only!)

The name comes from its look. Chadol in Korean means quartz or silicates and bagi is a noun of a verb ‘bakhida’, meaning ‘be stuck in’. Chadolbagi describes white fat is stuck in the red flesh as if chadol is stuck in the earth.

In Korea, beef is relatively more expensive than pork. It’s still common that Koreans satisfy their hunger for chadolbaegi with samgyupsal (samgyeopsal), thin slices of pork.

Recommended Korean all-you-can-eat restaurants in Koreatown, Los Angles coming soon. =)

- All of sudden, chadol reminds me of small round gravel. 차돌 만지고 싶다!

This entry was posted on Tuesday, February 10th, 2009 under Korean Food.