Kogi BBQ Truck ★ 4.6
Roy Choi's Kogi BBQ Truck has rolled around Los Angeles since 2008, pairing Korean short rib with Mexican tortillas. Schedule posted online daily.
Try: Short rib taco
History
Roy Choi launched the Kogi BBQ truck in late 2008 with a Korean-Mexican menu built around short rib tacos and a kimchi quesadilla. The truck used Twitter to broadcast its location, and the resulting crowds invented the modern American food truck movement. The kimchi quesadilla, sharp aged kimchi melted into two cheeses inside a seared flour tortilla, became the truck's most-imitated dish and is now a category. The original is still on Kogi's menu, the truck still moves around LA on a published schedule, and the format spawned a generation of Korean-Mexican fusion counters across the city.
Common allergens: Dairy, Gluten, Soy
Make it at home
Ingredients
- 2 large flour tortillas (25cm)
- 100g aged napa kimchi, drained and chopped
- 100g sharp cheddar, grated
- 100g low-moisture mozzarella, grated
- 2 spring onions, sliced thin
- 1 tbsp toasted sesame seeds
- 1 tbsp neutral oil
- Sour cream, to serve
- Sriracha or gochujang, to serve
Method
- Squeeze excess liquid from the kimchi over a sieve, then chop into 1cm pieces.
- Mix the two cheeses, kimchi, spring onions and sesame in a bowl.
- Heat a heavy pan over medium. Add a thin film of oil. Lay one tortilla flat, scatter the filling over half, fold the other half over.
- Cook 2 minutes per side until the tortilla is deeply golden and the cheese has melted into the kimchi.
- Cut into wedges. Serve with sour cream and sriracha. Repeat with the second tortilla.
Tip from the editors. Use kimchi at least three weeks old. Fresh kimchi is too watery and the sharp lactic edge that cuts the cheese is what makes the dish.
This is the TableJourney editorial recipe, modelled on the canonical bistro / counter version. The first place to try the dish in its city of origin is below.
Where to eat kimchi quesadilla
Kimchi quesadilla in Los Angeles
Park's BBQ ★ 4.7
Jenee Kim's Park's BBQ in Los Angeles Koreatown grills USDA Prime short rib over real charcoal in a buttoned-up dining room with reliable banchan.
Signature: LA galbi, Marinated short rib
Order: Marinated boneless short rib (yangnyum galbi) and the seafood pancake to share.
Tip: Banchan refills are free and generous; ask for the live abalone if it's on the spec sheet by the door.
More cities are in research. Want kimchi quesadilla covered somewhere specific? Tell us where you want to eat.