Korean–Mexican fusion is a type of

fusion cuisine Fusion cuisine is cuisine that combines elements of different culinary traditions that originate from different countries, regions, or cultures. They can occur naturally and become aspects of culturally relevant cuisines, or they can be part of ...

originally from

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

that combines traditional elements of American-style Mexican and Korean foods. The earliest Korean-Mexican fusion featured Mexican or Tex-Mex dishes such as tacos or burritos filled with Korean-style barbecued meats and

kimchi ''Kimchi'' (; ko, 김치, gimchi, ), is a traditional Korean side dish of salted and fermented vegetables, such as napa cabbage and Korean radish. A wide selection of seasonings are used, including '' gochugaru'' (Korean chili powder), ...

. Typical dishes include Korean tacos and

bulgogi ''Bulgogi'' (불고기; ; from Korean ''bul-gogi'' ), literally "fire meat", is a ''gui'' (구이; Korean-style grilled or roasted dish) made of thin, marinated slices of meat, most commonly beef, grilled on a barbecue or on a stove-top grid ...

burritos. Food critics Jane and Michael Stern state that Korean–Mexican fusion is a growing food trend that has steadily gained in popularity since 2009. Restaurants serving Korean tacos have existed in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

at least since 1996, with a restaurant in

Santa Monica, California Santa Monica (; Spanish: ''Santa Mónica'') is a city in Los Angeles County, situated along Santa Monica Bay on California's South Coast. Santa Monica's 2020 U.S. Census population was 93,076. Santa Monica is a popular resort town, owing t ...

called "2424 Pico" using the name for Korean fillings inside of a lettuce wrap. The proprietors of the

Kogi Korean BBQ Kogi Korean BBQ is a fleet of five fusion food trucks in Los Angeles famous both for their combination of Korean with Mexican food and also for their reliance on Internet technology, especially Twitter and YouTube, to spread information about th ...

, a

food truck A food truck is a large motorized vehicle (such as a van) or trailer, equipped to cook, prepare, serve, and/or sell food. Some, including ice cream trucks, sell frozen or prepackaged food; others have on-board kitchens and prepare food from scratc ...

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

, used

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

to announce their schedule and itinerary. In the following years, food trucks serving Korean–Mexican fusion opened in several cities across the U.S., including

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

, Austin,

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

Portland Portland most commonly refers to: * Portland, Oregon, the largest city in the state of Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States * Portland, Maine, the largest city in the state of Maine, in the New England region of the northeas ...

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

and

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

. after the first food truck serving Korean tacos,

, opened in

in late 2008. Several restaurants serving Korean–Mexican fusion exist in

Seoul Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 of ...

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korean Peninsula and sharing a land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed by the Yellow Sea, while its eas ...

and Beijing, China. Unlike in the United States, Korean-Mexican fusion exists in the casual dining segment, while street food trucks continue to dominate in the US. Typical dishes include tacos or burritos prepared with

Korean barbecue Korean barbecue ( ko, 고기구이, ''gogi-gui,'' 'meat roast') is a popular method in Korean cuisine of grilling meat, typically beef, pork or chicken. Such dishes are often prepared on gas or charcoal grills built into the dining table itself. So ...

, such as

kalbi ''Galbi'' * (), ''galbi-gui'' (), or grilled ribs, is a type of '' gui'' (grilled dish) in Korean cuisine. "''Galbi''" is the Korean word for "rib", and the dish is usually made with beef short ribs. When pork spare ribs or another meat is u ...

or spicy chicken, and American foods such as french fries with

References

{{Street food American fusion cuisine Korean fusion cuisine Mexican fusion cuisine Street food

See also

References