Years ago while living in Germany I had my first taste of Korean food. One of the perks of serving in the Army is that you're exposed to different cultures and their food. American service members go somewhere, fall in love or get trapped by an enterprising woman. They marry and bring their love child back with them. Near every Army base in the world you'll find Koreans setting up a business'. Hell, I bet you'll find a Korean barber or restaurant in the Korengal Valley in Afghanistan. My first taste was outside of a Korean church. Every weekend Korean women would sell bbq to raise money for the church. It never occurred to me that bbq was anything other than American, so interest piqued, I bought a Styrofoam container of smokey, sweet and dark beef. Holy kimchi it was good. I'd never had anything like it before. From that moment on I was in love with Korean food. From bibimbab, to bulgogi, to kimchi I swooned and was addicted to the "punch you in the mouth flavors" found in every dish I tried.
Every so often my skin begins to itch and I know I gotta have my Korean fix. Which is how I found my way to Shilla's on Maple Rd, in Clawson. I was heading out with a novice and not wanting to scare her with the "punch you in the mouth" part of the cuisine, I thought bbq would be a good introduction. The first thing I noticed when I walked in was a huge party of Asian folk. Now I don't know if they were Korean or not but using the "One of these does not look like the other" test, I deducted that I was the one that did not look like them. A good test and a good sign at any ethnic joint.
The menu was well represented with dishes I recognized and some I didn't. We opted for the kalbi beef ribs. A few minutes later our table was covered with seven or eight little salads or condiments which you are supposed to eat with the main course. These are my fav part of Korean dining. No matter which Korean joint you go to, one of the salads is always a spicy, pungent kimchi. Now, it's not for the faint of heart. But once you've let the fiery chilies burn your tongue and the fermented cabbage fill your nostrils a couple of times, chances are you'll be hooked. The rest of the dishes you may see again but no guarantees. Salads made of seaweed, daikon radish, tempeh are common. Some tasty, some not so much. The point is, try em'. Don't be the kid that only orders chicken fingers. Try them more than once, you'll be surprised how the flavors, once foreign, now are welcomed.
As we waited for the ribs we watch the big party share huge "hot pots" which are communal pots filled with spicy broth. Diners take vegetables and meats from the table and drop them into the broth to cook. By the end of the nite the broth is infused with all the flavors from the table. Make sure to save room cause that's when it gets good.
Finally, after suffering through the smells and sounds of the hot pots, our kalbi ribs arrived at the table. Beautifully marbled, raw red beef cut off the bone in one long sheet as you would peel an apple in one long peel. Using scissors our server cut the meat into almost bite size pieces and dropped them onto the grill which is built into the table. Our server was in a hurry to attend to something else and told us he would be right back to finish cooking our ribs. "Don't bother, I've got it", I told him. I thanked the bovine gods because I was sure he was going to overcook the beefy goodness now sizzling in front of me. Two or three minutes on each side was all they needed. I pulled them off the grill. Beefy, sweet, salty and crazy tender, was what flashed across my thoughts. Yeah, these are tasty. My Korean novice nodded and pushed my chopsticks away as she reached for another slice.
The great thing for American's wanting to try to eat Korean food is Korean's love beef. This gives us something we can relate to and understand. It's a great way to introduce yourself to a completely different style and way of thinking about beef. My evil planned worked because my friend is more than willing to go back. The next time we go, I'm going to order her Japchae, which is a wonderful glass noodle dish unlike Thai, Japanese or Chinese. Although it's different, it's familiar enough not to intimidate a newbie.
Bottom line, I enjoyed Shilla's. It's authentic without going too far to scare off neophytes. For reals, if you haven't tried Korean before, you gotta go. For me it ranks right there with Thai and Vietnamese for Asian supremacy. I know this isn't the only Korean joint in town, but for years I was terrified that I wouldn't find one in Detroit that I liked. Now I'm I can sleep at nite knowing I can get my fix, while digesting detroit, one drink and one bite at a time.
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