Tofu House in K-town

Another interesting feature about Los Angeles is the level of diversity you find in the streets. The fact that this is a huge city might have something to do with it but I doubt that even larger cities, such as Mexico city, have the diversity you find in this town. To take advantage of that, this week we have already eaten at a Salvadorean restaurant, a couple of Mexican restaurants and a Persian restaurant in Glendale. But the most novel experience to us happened just a block away from our hotel. We are staying in Koreatown, also known as “K-town” to the locals, which is just about three miles west of downtown L.A. Around the hotel there are many Korean businesses including supermarkets, banks, and especially restaurants. A couple of days ago we decided to venture into a Tofu House that is located just a block away from our hotel. I always see this 24-hour restaurant full, at times even with a waiting line outside. And the people inside and on the line seem to be mostly Koreans. I wish we had a Korean friend to help us figure out what to order and how to eat there but we decided to take the chance on our own. We went in, requested a table for two and were quickly escorted to our table. When the menus were delivered we were happy to find at least one or two words in English under every menu item. Definitely a very brief description because the entry in Korean was a lot more extensive than the translation. Our waitress was friendly but she didn't speak much English and was so busy with many other tables that hardly had time to give us a quick overview of what was available. She definitely noticed that we were not of the usual crowd so she tried to help however she could. At the end B ordered a Curry Soon Tofu which was described as including onion, beef, potato and carrot and I ordered a Seafood Soon Tofu which seemed to include some shellfish and shrimp.

The first delivery to our table were two very hot, heavy-iron pots covered with a heavy lid. We opened the pots but closed them up right away when we realized the rice inside was still in the process of being cooked. A few minutes later the next delivery were the side dishes (banchan) which included a small whole fried fish for each and a few bowls containing various fresh and pickled vegetables (Kimchi) such as cabbage, ginger, bokchoy, red chillies and a bowl with two cold fresh eggs in their shell. We were just sitting there not knowing if we had to wait for something else or if we should start eating. We kept watching our neighbors to see how they were eating everything but fortunately our waitress came by and said something like 'eat, appetizer' and motioned as to start eating which we did right away. Our utensils were a long-arm, small, metal spoon and two skinny, metal chopsticks so we started to dig into the fish with our chopsticks.

The last delivery came in two other heavy metal pots with something that looked like a well-seasoned broth. Mine had seafood and a large ball of tofu. B's had curry beef and vegetables. They were literary boiling and impossible to be eaten at this temperature. Our waitress came to help us with the rice which was already cooked by this time. She spooned most of the rice out of the heavy pot into a smaller metal bowl for each. Then she showed us how to crack the eggs open and poured them into the soup and then mix them quickly with the chopsticks. We figured that eating wouldn't be too far off now.

With the chopsticks and the spoon we managed to pick from the plates with vegetables and pieces of the fried fish and the rice to mix them in the larger soup bowl. Then with the spoon we would enjoy the end product. A few minutes into this process our waitress came by and poured some hot water into the heavy pot on top of the leftover rice where it had cooked. She motioned that this was to be drank as a tea at the end. I didn't particularly enjoy the flavor of that last “drink” but I'm sure it must have some traditional significance. That's were having a Korean friend would have helped.

At the end, we had fun. We enjoyed the mystery and the newness of the experience. It was nourishing, tasty and educational. You can't ask for a more lovely evening.

And to think that we can repeat this cultural experience almost every night. You can't beat California for it's cultural diversity and easy access to legitimate ethnic foods just around the corner.