When cooks from around the world come to America to open restaurants, they bring along a litany of dishes that travel well, and which evolve into food made with local ingredients. Which is something that the hungry world traveler quickly discovers.
You think you know pasta from eating in our Italian restaurants? Head for Bologna or Florence or Rome — and you’ll find a world of shapes and sauces found nowhere among our local spaghetti hot spots. For years, I happily ate the crispy Thai noodle dish called mee krob all over Los Angeles. But the restaurants I went to in Bangkok told me it was a special occasion dish, more appropriate for a wedding, than for everyday dining.
And when it comes to the cooking of Korean, a ramble through K-Town gives the notion that the cuisine consists wholly of bulgogi, kalbi, bibimbahp and kimchi. Undeniably popular dishes — but just the thinnest sliver of the menu. A point I was reminded of at the San Fernando Valley branch of HalGaTteok (which has 120 branches in South Korea) — where the specialty is a street food called tteokbokki. (A big word, and a big dish.) Go hungry; don’t expect to eat for a long time after.
For what seems like a highly generic ingredient, tteok carries a lot of baggage. Broadly speaking, it refers to Koreana rice cakes. More specifically, it’s broken down into both glutinous, and non-glutinous rice. Glutinous rice does not refer to the presence of the dietary bugaboo called gluten. Rather, glutinous rice has a sticky surface; non-glutinous rice doesn’t. The rice used at HalGaTteok is “100 percent non-glutinous.”
HalGaTteok in Northridge serves tasty and very filling Korean street food, a world apart from the better-known bulgogi and kalbi. (Photo by Merrill Shindler) The decor at HalGaTteok in Northridge includes a little backstory. (Photo by Merrill Shindler) At HalGaTteok in Northridge, the Rose Tteokbokki is creamy and spicy, with rose sauce, egg, fishcake, sausage, bacon and cheese. (Photo by Merrill Shindler) Show Caption1 of 3HalGaTteok in Northridge serves tasty and very filling Korean street food, a world apart from the better-known bulgogi and kalbi. (Photo by Merrill Shindler) ExpandTo make tteok, it’s pounded, and turned into a “thick, jumbo rice bar cake.” Which is an understatement — the thickness makes it a dish that’s remarkably filling. Good luck finishing even one.
In South Korea, it’s served savory as a meal, and sweet as a dessert. It’s the basis of a dish that’s meant to be shared — a one-pot meal that feeds a whole family. Most diners at HalGaTteok seem to order one for two, or more. In Korea, it’s eaten to celebrate the Korean New Year, and the Harvest Festival. At HalGaTteok, you can have it for lunch and dinner, seven days a week.
It’s so revered that tteok is made and served with specialized cooking tools — like large, round pottery bowls called ongbaegi and jabaegi; a wooden pounding mallet called a tteokme; a cauldron called sot, and steaming rack called sirumit; and wooden stamps called tteoksal, used to stamp patterns on the cakes.
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After that, there are four different tteok casseroles. “Grandma Tteokbokki” is the original, flavored with grandma sauce, egg, fishcakes and cheese (if you want). Jjajang Tteokbokki is made with a black bean sauce, Jajang sauce, egg and fishcake — and, once again, cheese. Rose Tteokbokki is “creamy and spicy, with rose sauce, egg, fishcake, sausage and bacon … and cheese. And finally, Mara Tteokbokki comes with a “spicy numbing mara sauce,” with egg, fishcake and, yes, cheese.
There’s a do-it-yourself topping bar, of sundry veggies, and seafood, added for $3.49 per quarter pound. There are other dishes — fish cake soup, fried rice cakes, Korean sausage (soondae), squid tempura and shrimp tempura. There’s sweet and spicy deep-fried chicken, and chicken in a garlic sauce. There are french fries.
There’s strawberry milk to wash it down. Banana milk, too. It did not replace my love of bulgogi, kalbi, bibimbahp and kimchi. But it definitely makes a meal that sticks with you. Like mac ’n’ cheese. But with a lot more complexity.
Merrill Shindler is a Los Angeles-based freelance dining critic. Email mreats@aol.com.
HalGaTteok
Rating: 2 stars Address: 90920 Reseda Blvd., Northridge Information: 818-624-9584; www.halgatteoknorthridge.com Cuisine: Very filling and tasty Korean street food, a world apart from the better-known bulgogi and kalbi, built around very large “rice bar cakes” — along with sundry toppings and added foods like cheese, sausages and fishcakes — served in a casual cafeteria setting When: Lunch and dinner, every day Details: Exotic soft drinks; reservations not needed Cost: About $20 per person On the menu: 4 Tteok Casseroles ($14.99-$15.99), 3 Entrees ($10.99-$14.99), 13 Side Dishes ($4.50-$11) Credit cards: MC, V What the stars mean: 4 (World class! Worth a trip from anywhere!), 3 (Most excellent, even exceptional. Worth a trip from anywhere in Southern California.), 2 (A good place to go for a meal. Worth a trip from anywhere in the neighborhood.) 1 (If you’re hungry, and it’s nearby, but don’t get stuck in traffic going.) 0 (Honestly, not worth writing about.)Related Articles
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