The RushOrder Blog

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Why Koreans Eat Seaweed Soup ("Miyeok-guk") On Birthdays

By Eric Kim

Ever wondered why Koreans eat seaweed soup or miyeok-guk ("미역국") on their birthdays?

We definitely did! And so, to satiate our curious minds, we thought it worthwhile to do a little digging. 

What we found is that, moreso than any other dish, miyeok-guk has particularly special significance within Korean culture. Throughout Korean history, the staple soup has traditionally been associated with childbirth. Both pregnant and nursing mothers routinely consume miyeok-guk as it has long been believed that the soup contains important nutrients for women during the period just before and after childbirth (probably because seaweed or miyeok is rich in calcium and iodine).

Thus, miyeok-guk is symbolically eaten on birthdays as a sign of respect and celebration of one's mother during birthday celebrations. This is consistent with the fact that one of the primary influences in Korean intellectual history was the introduction of Confucian thought, and the virtue of filial piety (respect for one's parents, elders, and ancestors).

So there you have it -- one less thing to be curious about =).

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Kelly’s Epicurean Exploits: Sumo Dog

By Kelly Thomas

Welcome back, everyone! I'm excited to share my recent experience trying Sumo Dog, a new restaurant on RushOrder. My first thought -- it was the BEST hot dog I've EVER had. Not only was it beyond delicious, but their hot dogs are definitely the most unique I've ever seen. Piled high with Japanese ingredients like kizam nori seaweed, tempura crunchies, pickled daikon, tonkatsu and teriyaki sauces, their hot dogs are a fit for a Sumo wrestler =).

Sumo Dog started out as a pop-up food vendor at Coachella, but it didn't take long for the opening of its very own storefront right here in Koreatown. Founded by LA native, Jeffrey Lunak, as a fun side project, the Coachella pop-up has grown exponentially over the past couple years. Here's a fun little fact -- Lunak previously served as senior corporate chef for "Iron Chef" Masaharu Morimoto, and has also appeared on numerous episodes of "Iron Chef America," as well as "United Tastes of America".

Sumo Dog

Now, onto the food. I started off with a Coachella favorite, and also the restaurant's namesake, the Sumo Dog. I chose an American Wagyu all-beef dog (though they also offer pork sausage and vegan options). It was topped with so many ingredients - pickled peppers, wasabi relish, spicy mayo, teriyaki sauce, minced onion, furikake, and kizami nori - I didn't know where to start. But once I dug in, I couldn't stop eating...nor did I want to! One of the reasons I loved it so much was that it reminded me of one of my favorite foods, sushi. But there's one thing that the Sumo Dog has that sushi's lacking, a fresh juicy beef hot dog, and I absolutely loved it!

Sumo Style Tater Tots

The second item I ordered was their Sumo Style Tater Tots. Like the Sumo Dog, these tots had a mountain of delicious, Japanese-style toppings -- tofu chili (they also offer beef chili if that's more your style), togarashi cheese sauce (a cheese sauce mixed with Japanese spices), miso cabbage, pickled peppers, jalapeño, spicy mayo, teriyaki sauce, furikake, and scallions. And even though the tots were covered in chili and cheese, they were still golden brown and crispy. They were absolutely amazing.

I highly recommend these two dishes, but if you want to try another Sumo Dog classic, you can go for The Godzilla. This Coachella favorite is a giant sized version of their Sumo Dog. It's made with a foot long all beef hot dog, piled with the classic "Sumo Style" toppings. They sell thousands of these every year at Coachella, so you know they're good.

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Sushi: The Advent Of An Ancient Food

By Kelly Thomas

Sushi stall in the Edo period (based on an Ukiyoe by Hiroshige Kitagawa)

Ancient foods are often accompanied by myths and legends, and sushi is no different. As folklore has it, long ago, an elderly Japanese woman began hiding pots of rice in bird nests to keep them from thieves. The woman eventually noticed that her rice would begin to ferment as the fish scraps left over from what the birds would eat would mix into the rice. To her amazement, this not only created a delicious new dish, but brought about a brand new way of preserving her meals. And thus, narezushi, the most primitive and earliest form of sushi was born.

Sushi is said to have originated in Southeast Asia sometime around the 2nd century, and was thought to have migrated to Japan around the 8th century. The spread of Buddhism, and its practice of abstaining from most meat, caused an increasing number of people to start turning to fish as part of their routine diets. As you would expect, this dramatically accelerated the growth in sushi’s popularity.

Eventually, by turn of the 15th century, the Japanese people began consuming half-fermented fish and rice together. Discovering that the fish didn’t need to be fully fermented -- and actually tasted much better in a less fermented form -- they began paving the way for what we all now view as modern sushi.

Akamai (Lean Tuna) Sushi

By the early 1920s, sushi was being sold by hundreds of carts all throughout the streets of Tokyo. And after the Great Kanto Earthquake struck in 1923, which devastated land values all across the country, sushi vendors began ditching their carts for stalls and storefronts. This led to sushi being almost exclusively served indoors by the the time the 1950s rolled around. And with subsequent advances in refrigeration technology to preserve the freshness of fish, demand for sushi in Japan began to explode. Sushi bars began opening everywhere, and it would only be a matter of time before it made its foray into the US, and eventually, the rest of the world.

Kawafuku, the first sushi restaurant in Los Angeles, located in Little Tokyo. (Photo Credit: Atsuko Kanai)

Looking back, sushi’s come quite a long way -- from being hidden away in bird nests to now being served in almost 4,000 restaurants in the US each and every day. It’s created an industry that turns over $2 billion every year, and given its ever increasing popularity, sushi’s journey doesn’t seem to be ending anytime soon.

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Introducing RushOrder Explore + No Order Minimums

By Eric Kim

We're constantly improving RushOrder to help make your experience better – and today, we have two exciting update announcements.

No Order Minimums

That's right, no more minimum order amounts! Delivery fees will dynamically adjust according to the subtotal of your order. You can now order whatever you want, no matter how small the amount may be. Below is an example of how it works, but please note that fee tiers vary from restaurant to restaurant.

Explore 1.0

Designed to address the age-old question of “what do you want to eat?”, Explore makes it easier than ever to discover new food and put an end to all the indecisiveness. Check out the video below for a quick look at this new discovery-focused tool.

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Kelly’s Epicurean Exploits: Chilbo Myunok

By Kelly Thomas

Hello everyone! Kelly here, back for the New Year to help introduce you to another of our amazing restaurant partners. This week, I ordered from the Korean restaurant, Chilbo Myunok, a cool little spot located in the food court of the Zion Market Shopping Center right here in Koreatown. They serve a wide array of traditional Korean dishes, including Korean BBQ, bibimbap (rice bowls), and various soups and stews.

One of the dishes I tried out was the Bulgogi Rice Bowl Bibimbap, a rice bowl with bulgogi meat and assorted vegetables. If you visit them there, you can get your bibimbap served in a traditional hot stone pot, but I can tell you that it’s just as delicious when you order delivery.

The Bulgogi Rice Bowl Bibimbap is filled in rice, grilled marinated beef, mushrooms, greens, cucumbers, and bean spouts. It’s topped with a fried egg, chili sauce, and seaweed flakes. It’s served with a side soup and side dishes.

The Bulgogi Rice Bowl Bibimbap is topped with a fried egg, and comes with side dishes and soup. It’s also covered in toppings like seaweed, sesame seeds, and a spicy red sauce, called kochujang, a red chili paste used to mix it all together. And this bibimbap had no shortage of delicious ingredients. The bulgogi beef was tender, salty, and sweet — along with the mushrooms, it gave this veggie heavy dish a nice meatiness that I thoroughly enjoyed. Also, the veggies were fresh and crisp, and the perfectly-cooked rice made this a filling lunch. My favorite part of the dish was the kochujang sauce. The sauce, mixed with the yolk from the fried egg, was absolutely mouth-watering.

Quick history lesson: bibimbap was traditionally eaten on the eve of the Lunar New Year as people felt that they had to make use of all of their leftovers before the New Year began. And so, all of the leftovers were put together in a rice bowl, and thus, bibimbap was born.

The second dish I ordered was the LA BBQ Short Ribs, which comes with rice, soup, and side dishes. This beef short rib dish is marinated in a delicious sweet and salty soy sauce-based marinade.

The LA BBQ Short Ribs are grilled and marinated beef ribs served with rice, soup, and side dishes.

Just like the bulgogi, the short ribs were tender, sweet, and salty. The thin, easy-to-eat, pieces are stacked in a delicious pile, placed nicely alongside rice, seaweed soup, and various side dishes like kimchi.

If neither of these dishes are up your alley, don’t fret, Chilbo offers what seems like a never-ending list of bibimbap, soups and stews, and some dumplings too. Anything an Angeleno foodie has a Korean craving for, Chilbo Myunok has.

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David & Kelly’s Epicurean Exploits: Cafe Nandarang

By Kelly Thomas

Hello everyone, David and Kelly again! We’re here this week with some tasty thoughts on another RushOrder restaurant — this time, Cafe Nandarang, one of Koreatown’s oldest cafés.  At this old school favorite, you’ll find an amazing array of traditional dishes, reinvented with a blend of multicultural flavors. So tag along to watch us and our taste buds doing our thing!

Here are some more thoughts on the dishes we ordered. Hopefully, this will give you an idea of what to expect so that you can try for yourselves!

The Kimchi Pasta features a creamy, slightly spicy sauce, with bits of kimchi, and your choice of shrimp or bacon.

“The dish is like a Korean pasta with alfredo. The creamy sauce toned down the spice, but still left a nice kimchi flavor with tasty bits of kimchi running throughout. It was balanced and decadent, with all of the components complementing each other really well. I can see why it’s one of their most popular dishes!” – David

The Omurice is a fried rice-filled omelette. The dish is made with ham and an assortment of veggies.

“I‘ve never eaten or even heard of anything like ‘omurice’ before,  but I loved it. The omelette was huge, bursting with rice, ham, and veggies. It was sweet and tangy from the garnish of ketchup on top, creamy from the sauce it was covered with, and also savory from the ham-filled fried rice. There was a lot going on in this dish, but it all worked well together!” – Kelly

While we loved the dishes we chose, Cafe Nandarang offers a wide-ranging menu of many other traditional and Korean-American fusion options, including their Bulgogi Tacos and Galbi Sliders.

The only thing that was missing from this delicious lunch was one of their unique drink and dessert options. Nandarang offers gourmet sodas and creamy shakes, and you can order any one of them via RushOrder. So if you’re looking to try something new (or give another go at something you’ve had before), Cafe Nandarang is highly recommended!

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How Middle Eastern Cuisine Became The ‘It’ Food Of 2017

By Kelly Thomas

I grew up just outside Boston with a father who is very proud of his Middle Eastern heritage. That pride rubbed off on me, and most often shows itself in my love for Middle Eastern cuisine. So you can understand my excitement upon moving to Los Angeles and discovering a strong Middle Eastern influence, similar to Boston, only bigger.

Middle Eastern restaurants have been part of Los Angeles for decades. Their menus, that are built with traditional recipes and spices, were brought by immigrants of the Middle East, the same way other cuisines like Italian, Korean, and Mexican were brought to the States. During World War I, Christians in the Middle East fled to escape religious persecution and economic hardships from the decline of the silk trade. Then, in the 80s and 90s, large populations of Lebanese immigrated, fleeing the civil war in their homeland.

Today, immigrants from war-torn countries like Afghanistan, Iraq, and Syria are now seeking refuge in the United States due to unrest in the Middle East, including the civil war in Syria and the threat of the Islamic State in the region. According to the Arab American Institute Foundation, the population in the U.S. who identified as having Arabic-speaking ancestry grew by more than 72% between 2000 and 2010. During this period and up until today, these immigrants have been bringing their flavors to the States as they opened their own restaurants, and more importantly, opened the eyes of more Americans to their culture and cuisine.

This influx of Middle Eastern immigrants, along with their cultural influence, has lead us to what Los Angeles Magazine calls the “Golden Age of L.A.’s Middle Eastern Food.” Angelenos are loving it as they flock to local Mediterranean style restaurants, and Americans, as a whole, gain exposure to dishes with more complex flavors and spices. The Middle Eastern dishes being served today are very different compared to the light, simple, but delicious early staple options, like hummus and tabbouleh. Now, dishes like Shakshuka, a staple breakfast dish in the Middle East, are currently becoming more mainstream. It’s popping up on brunch menus across the country and quickly becoming a favorite with its spicy sauce, packed with chili peppers and traditional Middle Eastern spices like cumin and paprika. This culinary evolution is why The National Restaurant Association listed Middle Eastern cuisine among the global trends in their 2017 Culinary Forecast.  

Shakshuka (eggs poached in a tomato sauce with cumin, paprika, chili peppers, and onions)

The current state of our world is always changing. With the unrest in the Middle East progressing and a travel ban in place, limiting immigration and travel from some Middle Eastern countries, it will be interesting to see how the popularity and exposure to Middle Eastern cuisine will change. Will America stay the same huge melting pot that it’s always been? Only time will tell, but I’m hoping that this melting pot only gets bigger and full of more Middle Eastern cuisine.

Photo Credits: The New York Times, Griffin Simm

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David & Kelly’s Epicurean Exploits: Seasalt Fish Grill (DTLA)

By Kelly Thomas

Hi, everyone! David and Kelly from RushOrder over here! As recent LA transplants from San Francisco and Boston, we realize we’ve got a lot of local food to catch up on. We’re embarking on a journey to try it all, and you’re coming with us as we document some of our gastronomic escapades, so come along and join us on this appetizing ride.

This week, we tried Seasalt Fish Grill, a restaurant that serves delicious, fresh seafood in Downtown LA. To see some of our experience, and watch our taste buds in action, we put together a little clip:

Below are some more thoughts on the poke and catfish ‘n chips dishes we ordered. Maybe this will convince you to give Seasalt Fish Grill a try for yourself:

The Poke 3 Ways is made with Hawaiian Ahi Poke, Spicy Ahi Poke, and Salmon Poke. It’s served with Seasalt slaw and homemade tortilla chips.

“I have never tried poke with tortilla chips, as I’ve always either had raw fish with rice or salad. I immediately liked the idea of having a nacho-style poke dish, and when my dish arrived in front of me, I was even more amazed by the colorful presentation and the amount of food that I received! I really enjoyed each style of poke they provided, but my favorite would have to be the Spicy Ahi Poke because it had a nice balance between the sweet and spiciness of the fish. That being said, all of the poke sides complemented each other excellently.” – David

The Cornmeal Crusted Catfish ‘n Chips is made with fresh catfish that’s lightly hand-breaded, served with fries, Seasalt slaw and homemade tartar sauce.

“The first thing that stood out to me were the portions. I got three huge pieces of fresh catfish. The fish was moist and flaky while perfectly breaded and crispy on the outside. The breading was thin, not like other fish ‘n chips I’ve had that are over-breaded and get soggy. My favorite parts of the dish were the fries that were sprinkled with a delicious seasoned salt and the homemade tartar sauce. The dish was well balanced. Crunchy and salty with the fish and fries, creamy from the tartar sauce, and crisp and a little sweet from the coleslaw.” – Kelly

In addition to their many poke and fried dishes, they also serve up delicious grilled fish options, as well as fish tacos, burritos, and sandwiches.

We truly did enjoy what we ordered from Seasalt, and hope that you’ll try them for yourself! I think it’s safe to say that these two new Angelenos have a new go-to for some fresh tasting seafood in this city.

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Korea’s Fermented Foods: Foundational, Yet Born Of A Need To Survive

By Young Se Choi 

Over the last decade, Korean cuisine has grown increasingly popular all across the globe. In the US, you’ll be hard-pressed to find any metropolitan city without at least one Korean BBQ joint. Yet, despite its entry into the mainstream arena, there are still many deep-rooted aspects of Korean food that are seldom brought up; aspects integral to Korean cuisine throughout the country’s history.

One of those aspects, and what I’m going to be covering in this post, is fermentation. But before diving in, a brief science lesson (to make sure we’re all on the same page) – so what is fermentation, exactly? In short, fermentation is the process by which a substance (in our case, food) is broken down via exposure to bacteria and yeasts. The bacteria and yeast microorganisms convert carbohydrates to alcohol or organic acids, which is what ultimately results in those interesting flavors, textures, and smells in fermented foods like kimchi.

Kimchi (Salted & Fermented Nappa Cabbage)

Koreans have actually been fermenting their foods over several millennia. In fact, their first use of fermentation dates back nearly 5,000 years as a form of food technology to preserve resources. Faced with the country’s harsh weather and climate conditions, fermentation was required to prevent microbial spoilage, and ultimately, make the food last. That said, despite it being born of this survival need, fermentation is what has led to the creation of the deep and complex tastes of Korea’s most foundational dishes, including kimchi and doenjang (soybean paste).

Doenjang (Fermented Soybean Paste)

Most fermented foods in Korea are presented as side dishes or dipping sauces to complement BBQ meats. For instance, gochujang (red chili paste) is often used as an accompanying sauce for grilled pork belly. Fermented pastes, like doenjang and gochujang, are also used as the base of a variety of staple soups and stews, serving as the very core ingredient.

What’s important to note here is that it is the fermentation process that is responsible for bringing out the strong, deep flavors that make many Korean signature dishes what they are – without fermentation, they just wouldn’t be the same. What first started out as a technology to protect food against harsh climate conditions has now proven to be the means by which a longstanding legacy was established in food and culture.

Feature Image Photo Credit: The Wolff Chronicles

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Small Town Roots: Boiling Crab And Boogie McGee’s Bach & Kirk Kimball

By Eric Kim

While Boiling Crab may not necessarily be one of the first establishments that comes to mind when thinking of Koreatown, it is undeniably one of the busiest and most popular. Just pass by the corner of Wilshire Blvd and Alexandria Ave any day of the week, and you’ll see for yourself – massive crowds, all eagerly waiting for hours on end, some of the most coveted seats in the neighborhood. One could easily mistake the Boiling Crab’s waiting area for the entrance of some sold-out music concert.

In his LA Weekly piece on the establishment, Pulitzer Prize-winning food critic Jonathan Gold raved about the food, calling it “unprecedented in the complexity of its resonances: Southeast Asian seafood culture colliding head-on with Franco-Acadian cuisine, Tabasco running into the bird pepper, spicy Vietnamese-Chinese crabstyles bleeding into the swamp cooking of the American South.”

Yet, despite all the limelight, there is very little mention of the key individuals operating behind the curtains, without whom the success of Boiling Crab K-town wouldn’t have even been possible — Bach and Kirk Kimball. And so, we wanted to take a little time to introduce this dynamic, husband and wife duo, and share their story with you all.

Bach and Kirk both hail from Pass Christian, a small, quaint town in Harrison County, Mississippi. With a population of only 5,700, “The Pass,” as locals would call it, sheds some light onto the couple’s unassuming roots, with such humble beginnings likely helping to shape the couple into the warm, welcoming individuals we’ve come to know today. Though Bach likes to tease, calling Kirk, “a hillbilly from Mississippi,” perhaps it is precisely that Southern charm that makes the hard-working husband and wife team so endearing to everyone who meets them.

Even regarding the success of their Koreatown location up to now, they attribute practically all of it to their friends, Dada Ngo and Sinh Nguyen, the founders of the first Boiling Crab location out in Garden Grove, California. “We have very little to do with the success,” Bach told us. Speaking about the Boiling Crab brand, she added, “Dada and Sinh established the Boiling Crab in 2004, and worked hard to get it to where it is today. We were blessed to have something already in place and successful.”

When asked about what they’ve enjoyed the most while operating the business, they were quick to speak of the relationships they’ve developed over the last several years. “Much of our staff started out very young with us,” they answered, “we have relationships with many of them as if they are our kids or younger siblings.” Bach and Kirk noted how much they’ve all grown together, adding that, “it’s probably the best feeling to have people who work with us who have basically become our family.”

As for what they’ve most recently been up to, just this past May, the couple opened up a Southern Mississippi-style BBQ joint right next door. The restaurant concept was inspired by the backyard BBQ parties Kirk would throw for friends and neighbors during the summer. Over time, the neighborhood BBQs grew into massively popular 400+ person summer events, and it was at that point that they realized they were onto something. And thus, Boogie McGee’s Bayou Smokehouse BBQ was born. With quality meats smoked for several hours each and every day (14 hours for the brisket!), this is something you won’t want to miss.

At RushOrder, we’re huge fans of what Bach and Kirk have brought to the community, and count ourselves amongst the incredibly fortunate who have developed a relationship with such amazing individuals over the last few years.

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Food From A Confessional: Pojangmacha Street Food

By Jason Yi

Tacos, hot dogs, and halal — the food that quickly comes to mind for most people when thinking of street food. Yet, street food consists of so much more, especially in the multicultural melting pot that is Los Angeles. From the streets of East Asia to the South Central underground, LA’s diversity of culinary influences and options is unparalleled.

To try and cover all the street food options that LA has to offer in just one post wouldn’t be realistic. And so, today let’s delve into my personal favorite, Korean pojangmacha food. You’re probably wondering, what’s a pojangmacha? Pojangmachas are the iconic, tented street stalls of Korea that serve just as much as confessionals as they do as local pubs for the everyman. Patrons of all generations frequent these tarp-covered gastropubs for just about any occasion, whether that’s to drink their sorrows away or to celebrate anything worth celebrating.

To get a sense of the sort of food these pojangmachas offer, you have to first understand that pojangmachas (which translates into “covered wagons”) initially began as small carts that offered refuge for the working class from the monotony of everyday work. Accordingly, the food and drink needed to be universally affordable, yet still hearty and comforting. Menus mainly consisted of soju, Korea’s distilled rice liquor, and food that would best accompany this popular beverage, categorically termed, anju.

While I could write at length about the wide variety of foods covered under the umbrella of anju, we’re going to focus on three staple dishes you’ll find in almost every pojangmacha no matter where you go: tteokbokki, gimbap, and sundae. These also happen to be my three favorite anju foods.

Tteokbokki, one of Korea’s most popular dishes, translates to “stir-fried rice cakes.” Though there are various versions of the recipe, the dish fundamentally consists of chewy rice cakes and a medley of added ingredients, including fish cake, boiled eggs, and scallions in an addictive sweet and spicy gochujang-based (chili paste) sauce.

Gimbap is another of Korea’s most popular dishes. At first glance, many express difficulty in differentiating between Korean gimbap rolls and Japanese sushi rolls. However, what separates them is that gimbap doesn’t include any form of raw seafood, and will instead contain a variety of fillings with sausage, bulgogi, ham, imitation crab meat, canned tuna, egg strips, kimchi, spinach, carrot, pickled radish, carrot, and cucumber being the most popular ingredients, all wrapped up in dried seaweed and rice.

Finally, we have Sundae (or Soondae). And no, this sundae has nothing to do with ice cream sundaes. The proper pronunciation is actually “soon-dae.” Also known as the Korean blood sausage, its most common form is made of pig’s intestines, stuffed with cellophane noodles, barley, and pork blood. While a bit more on the exotic side, sundae is just as much of a signature dish as the former two listed above.

Unfortunately, you won’t find any pojangmachas here in the US. However, you will find plenty of Korean restaurants serving pojangmacha food. And so, the next time you think of street food, hopefully what comes to mind isn’t the routine tacos, hot dogs, and halal, but perhaps more interestingly, tteokbokki, gimbap, and sundae.

Feature Image Photo Credit: ROKin’ Around Korea / Jessica Steele

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Millennials Aren’t Going Out: How Food Delivery Is Shaping A Generation

By Dan Giles

From saloons and speakeasies to discos and dance clubs, recreational activities during times of leisure for young people of all eras usually consisted of getting dolled up and going out. That is, until now.

Today, brand name restaurant chains like TGI Fridays and Applebee’s are shuttering locations nationwide due to a new generation of consumers who are increasingly choosing to stay in. The trend is evident all across the board – nightclubs are being abandoned left and right, with millennials now viewing them as places primarily reserved for special occasions like birthdays or bachelor/bachelorette parties; local watering holes are continuing to disappear, and a Nielsen TDLinx report noted the shutdown of more than 10,000 neighborhood bars around the country just within the last decade.

As a millennial who belongs to this new generation of consumers, this had me wondering: why aren’t people my age leaving their homes? To get to the bottom of this, I did a little digging.

First, we have the fact that an increasingly large segment of the millennial population is unemployed, relegated to temporary / contract gigs, and thus, dead broke. The latter has shaped an entire generation of consumers like me into a very different kind of spender. With what fleeting disposable funds we are fortunate enough to come across (or save), we spend on products and experiences that maximize convenience while minimizing cost. A typical outing, whether to a bar, club, or restaurant does quite the opposite – pushes cost up, pulls convenience down, and in turn, disincentivizes millennials from going out.

Second, thanks to modern technology, millennials now have limitless ways to enjoy staying in as mobile apps and on-demand services have brought the luxury of everyday conveniences right to our very doorstep. Food delivery apps, in particular, are a driving force behind this trend. This is made quite evident by the fact that 69% of millennial men and 58% percent of millennial women, all from urban areas, have ordered food delivery in the last three months, according to a poll by the Washington Post.

In this way, food delivery has taken on a fundamental role in redefining the conventional concept of leisure. More importantly though, combined with the economic condition of most millennials, as well as current trends in technology, food delivery is shaping the lives of people in developed countries all across the globe. So the next time you place that fried chicken delivery order, take pride in your role as a leader in shaping the future of our society.

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David Chang Crowns Koreatown as The Most Exciting Place to Eat in America

By Michelle Ha

This past week, world-renowned chef and founder of the Momofuku Restaurant Group, David Chang, was exploring the best and most authentic restaurants that LA’s Koreatown has to offer. The Michelin-starred chef has been documenting his food adventures on Instagram, while hitting up a number of local K-Town favorites.

“I’ve always loved Los Angeles. I love K-Town — it’s probably the most exciting place to eat in America,” Chang said in an interview with the Los Angeles Times. “Honestly, I get in a lot of trouble, because everyone’s always, like, ‘Why don’t you eat outside K-Town?’ But there’s so much stuff here, it’s hard for me to ever leave.”

The chef plans to expand his restaurant empire by opening up his first spot in the northeastern part of Chinatown (cue fangirl screams). The name of his new restaurant? North Spring. While still a “work in progress,” he plans to “try and make something very delicious and very new. I don’t want to do something that we’ve done before for LA,” Chang told the LA Times.

Momofuku fans are excited to see how this new spot will add to LA’s diverse and dynamic food scene. North Spring will be opening later this year, and we can’t wait!

Photo Credit: Sam Horine / Clarkson Potter

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Pho: An Ever Changing Pho-nomenon (Part 2 of 2)

By Michelle Ha

I told you we’d get back to this topic! Today, many Americans are familiar with Vietnam’s national dish, pho, but the history of how it came to be still remains widely unknown. Despite growing up in a Vietnamese household, I knew very little about pho, believing my family’s way of preparing it was the most authentic (if you were to ask any Viet person you know, they’d all say their family’s recipe is the best). It was only after a little digging that I came to realize just how little I knew of pho’s origin story, and the tri-cultural collision that led to its eventual creation.

Now, despite some variation, most sources point toward the northern region of Vietnam, near the Hanoi area, as the location where pho was first made. It was here that pho’s true foundation was established through the influence of a triumvirate of cultures – French, Chinese, and of course, Vietnamese. It was the French, and their love for beef, that resulted in all sorts of leftover bones and offal being added to early versions of pho. During the French occupation in the early 1900s, cattle, which the Vietnamese typically used for manual labor, were slaughtered to satisfy the French appetite. The scraps that weren’t used were salvaged, and then sold by Hanoi butchers, ultimately making its way into the noodle soup dishes that restaurants and street vendors began selling. And given Hanoi’s close proximity to China’s southern border, many of these restaurant owners and street vendors were actually Chinese, and thus, contributed their own styles of cooking to this melting pot of a dish.

This is how the pho-nomenon got its start. The original pho from the North, called, “pho bac,” was served with long, flat noodles in a savory broth, topped with thin slices of beef, onion, and scallions. It was considered pure, and less embellished by other ingredients, representing the region’s overall simplistic lifestyle. The cultural collision between French, Chinese, and Vietnamese influences, in combination with the dish’s growing popularity in the South – where agriculture was abundant and prosperous – led to the incorporation of a wider array of ingredients such as Thai basil, chili sauce, bean sprouts, hoisin-like sauce, and lime wedges. Pho evolved into a form better suited to the Southern taste palette, and was later dubbed, “pho nam,” by the Southerners.

Subsequently, as Vietnamese refugees resettled in various parts of the world after the Vietnam War, they brought their pho recipes with them. Many opened up pho restaurants, made pho for their friends at home, and shared their techniques within their communities. To adapt to the world’s ever changing environment and fit an increasingly wide array of taste palettes, many variations of pho emerged. From adding chicken (which is common now, but was vehemently rejected by pho purists in the past) to infusing the broth in red wine, the beloved dish has taken on countless new forms.

While there’s still much debate on the best way to prepare Vietnam’s national dish, one thing’s for certain: pho is constantly evolving and absorbing the flavors of its environment. No pho bowl is the same, so it’s a good thing we listed a few of our personal favorites for you to try!

P.S. In case you were wondering, my family makes pho nam.

Nong La Cafe

Blossom Vietnamese Restaurant

Pho Saigon

Mama Hong Vietnamese Kitchen

Au Lac

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Pho: A Tale of Survival (Part 1 of 2)

By Michelle Ha

Phở (or “pho”) is known and loved by all, but its true story is that of gritty survival, and a dish that almost faded into non-existence only a few decades ago. The Vietnamese noodle soup has made its way around the world and into the hearts of those who’ve tried it, but its journey was not an easy one — pho had to fight for its place in the world today.

We’re going to skip over the history lesson about where and how pho was first created (that’ll be in Part 2). Instead, I’m going to shed some light on the prohibition of selling pho, and what it took to bring pho to where it is today.

During the late 1950s, the existence of pho was threatened by Communist rule when the Vietnamese government nationalized businesses for social reform. Restaurants and street vendors alike were forced to incorporate potato and wheat flour sent by the Soviet Union into their dishes. Why? Because making real pho was considered a waste of resources.

Forced to use the supply of ingredients provided to them, restaurants would sell a bowl of rotten noodles, tough beef, and tasteless broth as a substitute for the real thing. Smaller street vendors were prohibited from selling pho altogether, and instead, sold customers a revolting soup with potato flour noodles.

You’re probably wondering: how could pho survive in an environment such as this? It went underground. Disgruntled by the government’s regulations on pho, street merchants would sell the real thing to those who knew where to look. Secret addresses were passed from person to person looking for a taste of the comfort that only the real thing could provide. To deceive state officials who were patrolling the area, street merchants would hide real pho underneath the shriveled up noodles they were expected to sell. People then had to devour their meals quickly to avoid being caught by the government.

“Wow was this all pho-real?!” Yes! It was in this manner, and through the tenacious grit of a people who weren’t willing to let go, that pho adapted and fought to stay. And with a past like that, through years of political turmoil and possible extinction, you know it has to be good.

RushOrder restaurants serving pho:

Pho Legend

Pho 2000

Pho 21

Pho Broadway

Thank U Pho

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Seth Rogen and James Corden Deliver Mystery Pizza Boxes to Unsuspecting Strangers

By Jason Bourne

James Corden brings along Seth Rogen to offer a game of Mystery Pizza Box to unsuspecting LA customers. In the video, the dynamic duo offers complete strangers a Matrix-esque blue pill / red pill proposition — they choose between receiving their original pizza order or whatever is in store for them in the Mystery Pizza Box. And, of course, the latter includes some hilarious surprises.

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Jjajangmyeon: A Shared Cultural Icon

By Eric Kim

Jjajangmyeon (짜장면): a Korean-adapted dish of Chinese black bean sauce noodles.

Koreans eat over 7 million bowls of jjajangmyeon every day. To put that figure into perspective, that’s the equivalent of each and every Los Angeles (population: 4 million) resident consuming 1.75 bowls of jjajangmyeon daily. And that’s only considering the people living in South Korea; globally, that figure begins to scale rapidly. Yet, despite such staggering consumption, very few people actually know the story behind jjajangmyeon – where it comes from, how it’s evolved, and what it’s come to represent.

Jjajangmyeon’s roots can be traced back to the Shandong province of Eastern China. During the time of the first Sino-Japanese War at the end of the 19th century, many Chinese immigrants from that province, as well as other parts of China, crossed the Yellow Sea to settle in the South Korean port city of Incheon. It was at that time that jjajangmyeon’s ancestral form – the Chinese zhájiàngmiàn (炸酱面) – first made its way to the Korean Peninsula.

Interestingly, there is enough evidence to pinpoint the very birthplace of jjajangmyeon, and that birthplace was an Incheon restaurant named, Gonghwachun. It was there that zhájiàngmiàn – a dish consisting of thick noodles topped with a sauce of salty, fermented soybean paste and ground pork – and, directly translated as “fried sauce noodles,” was first served to Korean customers. And it was also in that restaurant that zhájiàngmiàn began its gradual evolution into the Koreanized jjajangmyeon that many of us are so familiar with today; a derivative version, sweetened with the addition of new ingredients like caramel and chopped onions, ultimately catering the dish to the Korean palette.

But it would take much more than just the taste of a well-adapted dish that would lead to its eventual proliferation. It was the timing. Viewing jjajangmyeon from a perspective of historical significance, its arrival couldn’t have come at a better time. The dish entered the scene right as a new wave of urbanization and industrialization was sweeping across all of Korea. Moreover, with jjajangmyeon fitting well with the economic situation of most Koreans during that period, the dish had come at just the right time and just the right place, priming it for the viral growth that was subsequently seen.

In stark contrast, in its homeland China, jjajangmyeon has been relatively non-existent for much of the past century. But that is quickly changing. The increasing popularity and influence of Korean culture on the global stage – a growing phenomenon that’s only accelerated since the early 1990s – has led to the wildfire-like spreading of all things Korean across the world. This, combined with China’s rapid increase in wealth, has fueled the fire of jjajangmyeon’s foray back into its country of origin. And judging by the demand, the homecoming was long awaited.

Jjajangmyeon’s century-long journey to come full circle represents a very important intersection of Korean and Chinese cultural history. The evolution of this simple bowl of noodles from its original roots as Chinese zhájiàngmiàn to the Korean-adapted jjajangmyeon doesn’t merely capture the historical juxtaposition and exchange of two cultural palettes, but also captures within it, the parallel geopolitical and socio-economic progressions of those two societies. In this way, jjajangmyeon, as a shared cultural icon, represent a true centerpiece against the backdrop of Korean-Chinese cultural history.

RushOrder restaurants serving jjajangmyeon:

Zzamong

Shin Beijing

Pan Holic

Young King

Heung Rae Gak

Dok Dok Chicken