Written by Anya Caro | Photos by Trevor Meyer
With classes starting up again, being away from family and back to the on-your-own style of living may have you missing your family’s shared meals. The solution is not far, because right here in town, you can have a new family-style meal with your friends. Korean restaurants are popping up all over town, offering this unique style of eating. Four Plus 3 Korean BBQ, owned by Leslie Lee, is an example of one of these new Korean restaurants.
“Korean culture is that we share everything. You eat together,” Lee says. It’s popular in Korean culture to share food with those around you. Who better to share a table of freshly cooked meats than with your fellow classmates? This meal style is perfect for your group of friends to split the bill, creating and sharing a variety of flavors to enjoy together.
Korean barbecue not only brings your friends together, but also lets you do the cooking. The restaurant provides the food and a helping hand, but you do the rest. The cooking freedom allows you to build your own flavors as well as combinations. Restaurants utilize open flame grills atop the tables, with the raw meats and sides around for you to place and cook for yourself.
From there, you build your meal. You start with the meat, chicken, beef or pork. Korean barbecue especially uses pork belly, but a pork brisket or steak are popular as well. Meats are either marinated or not marinated, so you start cooking with the not marinated meat as to not get marinade on those pieces. Sides can include lentils, kimchi, black beans or bean sprouts. Dippings include soy bean paste, chili paste and sesame oil.
Combinations could include the following:
- Lettuce wrap + pork belly + soy bean paste + lentils
- Brisket + kimchi + chili paste + black beans
The possibilities are endless. You can create barbecue savory bites, or even make yours a little more spicy. You could build meals for each other, or maybe surprise one another with creative combinations. “Lettuce wraps are common with parents and family because it creates a loving environment. Children will make wrap surprises and give them to their parents. It’s a way of showing affection for each other,” explains JC Lee, owner of Noodle Bowl.
Up until recently, I thought of Asian cuisine as one type of food. As my understanding of the cuisine’s complexity has grown, I now see the difference between Japanese, Thai and Korean meals. Korean stands out because its ingredients are rarely fried. Korean barbecue focuses on fresh, fermented or steamed. Leslie said in Korea, before the emergence of refrigerators, they put food in jars in the ground to help keep it at cool temperatures. The same process is still used, but modernized with nifty appliances specialized for that purpose.
Four Plus 3 Korean BBQ
Four Plus 3 Korean BBQ is new to Eugene, only opening this last April, but it is a great spot a little off of campus for students. They focus in only real Korean cuisine and have an electric open flame grill for customers to use. Everything is made from scratch, from tofu to kimchi. The name of the restaurant actually ties directly into their use of meat: 4 as in 4 flavors of pork belly, and 3 as in 3 layers of pork belly. While you cook, you can watch popular KPOP music videos on multiple screens.
Location: 2130 W 11th Ave.
Offers take-out.
