Roy Choi

Roy Choi of LA is a famous fusion chef that has had quite an eventful career. In 2008 he opened his first food truck after being laid off during the start of the great recession. Inspired by his upbringing he brought the "Kogi" Korean bbq food truck to LA. It quickly became quite well known for its Korean Mexican fusion. The star of the Kogi brand is the Kogi taco which became a wild success, growing his name and his influence, allowing him to eventually open more food trucks and restaurants. Places like A-Frame, LocoL, Best Friend, and Chego! have been run by Roy throughout the years. In the past 10 years Roy has been a co-star of a TV show (the Chef show), had his book (L.A. Son) become a NYT bestseller, received a restaurant of the year award from LA times, and been deemed among the 100 most influential people in the world twice (2011 and 2016).

After being born in Seoul, Korea, his family moved to the states while he was quite young. Growing up in LA he was influenced by the wide variety of cultures that have come together to form its cuisine. His family was quite involved in cooking and the jobs that he had in high school were cooking related. Unfortunately, his early life was not exactly an ideal start for a young man. Roy has discussed that in his teens and early adult years he was addicted to various drugs, gambling, and alcohol. Roy has said in interviews that one afternoon he turned on the TV to see Emeril Lagasse making braised short ribs, and it just changed his life. He felt like Emeril was speaking directly to him to turn his life around. This call lead him to become a chef in hotels and eventually the entrepreneurial chef he is today.

Recipe Experiment:

I decided that I wanted to make the item that made Roy so popular, the kogi taco. In a corn tortilla I placed strips of grilled kalbi, a drizzle of fresh Korean barbecue sauce, and some Korean coleslaw.

I really like how theses flavors worked together. The sweet, tangy, and a bit of spice really work well together. The texture profile is great too. The crunch from the bean sprouts and lettuce balance nicely with the delicate tortilla and the tender meat. Overall, quite a great experience.

The part that I found most challenging about this recipe was adapting it for my family. My family can eat onions and too much garlic tends to cause issues as well. Since those are staples in almost every cuisine, it can be difficult to cook for our family. The actual execution of the recipe was quite straight forward. I utilized my family’s barbecue which is always fun. I am still learning how to control the heat and power of it so that was probably the most difficult component. I think I could have been challenged more but I am happy with the recipe I chose.

I would try this recipe again. I don’t think I would make many changes if any. I had to do some adapting to fit our family the first time but beyond that maybe experimenting with the Korean coleslaw and adding different vegetables.