Korean Food festival: A walk down sesame street

Fancy a hot Korean treat with strong spice and all things nice?

What's better on a chilly winter evening than to sit around a glowing barbeque with the aroma of roasted meat and the warm company of friends? For more drama, add to the sizzling meat a touch of sputtering sesame seeds. A glass of beer and you are ready to party the Korean way. At the special Korean barbeque fest being held at the Pan Asian restaurant, Sheraton, you can replace the beer with a Martini! A couple of years ago, Delhi had seen a veritable invasion of Korean flavours with even parantha wallahs wrapping their fare around the spicy cucumber or cabbage kim chi. When sophisticated sushi and the Indianised Thai curry came in, we forgot Korean tastes. The Pan Asian is trying to revive the once-loved flavours.

Korean charisma

Outsmarting the Americans, the arty Koreans have brought the barbeque to their table, sinking it right in the middle. They have done away with individual plates too, eating directly from one hotplate. All you need to do is choose the meat, the spices and get ready to become the sauce-smeared barbeque hero.

In your flavour

The seven basic flavours of Korean cuisine are garlic, ginger, black pepper, spring onion, soy sauce, sesame oil and toasted sesame seeds. To be a true Korean, bring on the garlic and the fermented soy a little more. "The Koreans can't have their meat without the soybean and garlic," said the chef Peter, as he readied the grill for the dinner, giving the guest a ringside seat to the lovely show of aromatic smoke.

As the meat sizzled, the chef pushed forward the ice lettuce leaves and the ubiquitous kim chi. For the uninitiated, kim chi is the side dish without which no Korean meal is complete. It can be compared with our pickle. And for the tongue, it turns the soggy cabbage into a delicacyu00a0crunchy, tangy, salty and addictively spicy.

You can choose from tenderloin, lamb, chicken and even prawns; line an ice lettuce leaf liberally with soybean sauce, slide in as much kim chi as you can bear to have, lay down a nice big chunk of meat and sprinkle it with the magic five-spice powder. Bun it all up and bite into a juicy, tender, slightly tangy meal.