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Bibimbap goes 'riceless' in US

"Bibimbap", consisting of steamed rice with a mixture of vegetables and meat, is gaining popularity worldwide. / Korea Times

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'Hansik' on locale-specific evolution

By Jane Han

NEW YORK ― At Mix & Go, you're served what looks like a typical bowl of "bibimbap". A nice pile of grilled and seasoned spinach, mushrooms, bean sprouts, carrots and onions is topped off with a perfectly fried sunny side up egg. But no matter how deep you dig, there's one thing you won't find ― rice.

Wait, what? No rice in bibimbap, a word that literally means mixed rice?

"Yup, we're going riceless',' says John Chang, the Korean-Chinese chef and owner of a new food truck in New York City. "It took some guts to break away from tradition but I knew people would go for it'.'

The new dish, Chang says, has been transformed into more of a warm salad that sheds at least 300 calories without the heavy carbohydrate content.

"When you go to a Korean restaurant, you can easily find non-Asian diners picking out and eating just the vegetables',' he said, "so I thought why not skip out on rice from the start?''

To complement the lighter mix, the chef ― born and raised in the U.S. ― created an equally lighter and more watery version of "gochujang'' (hot pepper paste) by adding a splash of rice wine vinegar and honey.

All the tweaking makes "bibim',' as listed on Chang's menu, less of what we're used to, but it's more recognizable at least compared to some of the other aggressively altered Korean dishes.

Take the kimchi burrito, for example, that's popular on the other side of town.

It's a toasted flour tortilla wrapped with rice, beans provolone, pico de gallo, miso crema and, most importantly, kimchi.

On the same menu, diners can also go for kim-cheesesteak, a Philly cheesesteak-inspired sandwich served with melted cheese and kimchi, or a kimchi goat cheese quesadilla.

"We're just tweaking and marketing Korean food so that consumers can feel comfortable and give it a try',' said Phillip Lee, who came up with the popular fusion dishes.

From Manhattan to Los Angeles, more and more restaurateurs are introducing new versions of hansik, or Korean food.

You can always walk into a conventional Korean restaurant in any major U.S. city and order an ordinary dish with no surprises. But younger generation chefs find no fun or future there.

"Food should change with the times',' says Ken Hong, who owns and operates two takeout Korean restaurants in California. "Tradition is important, but not if it keeps you from exploring possibilities'.'

Specializing in Korean barbeque platters, Hong experiments with different ingredients to come up with new and unusual marinating sauces. Plus, instead of green leaves to wrap the meat, he offers corn tortillas for a more filling meal.

Korean food experts welcome these variations, saying the fresh attempts help turn up the hansik exposure.

"Traditionalists are afraid of digression but there's no point in pursuing the same old direction if the next generation of diners don't follow',' said Kim Jeong-hwa, who teaches hansik classes at a Korean community center in New York.

"The up-and-coming generation is a completely different pool of people. They're quick to take pictures and post online, describing each and every detail of their eating experience',' she added. "How are we going to interest this new crowd? Tradition alone isn't enough'.'

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