Koreatown: Black Goat Stew at Chin Go Gae

 

A couple of weeks ago, we had some strange weather in LA. It had been hot and muggy for a few days and then we had seemingly random thunderstorms. One such storm knocked out the power in Silver Lake where I had been planning to go to dinner. With the lack of power and since it wasn’t a hot date, we decided a candle-lit dinner wasn’t to be. Rain always makes me want soup. We tossed around the idea of ramen or pho but opted to go to Koreatown instead. I remembered I always meant to go back to to Chin Go Gae for their black goat stew.

 

The black goat stew or Yeum So Thang was more than enough for two and like any good Korean restaurant, we got a goodly assortment of banchan. I was particularly into the seaweed which I felt provided a nice balance to our steamy stew.

I can’t get enough of the kimchi.

The squid was also a nice addition to the mostly vegetarian banchan.

 

We also were served a cold soup which would have been more appreciated if it wasn’t pouring out.

 

I loved that the red pepper sauce or gochujang was served with sesame oil. More places should pre-mix the two.

 

 

One of the best part of the stew is sprinkling the wild perilla seeds to create texture.

The stew comes out bubbling and is set on the stove in front of you. Korean greens are gently folded in.

When you’re done with the stew or if you can’t eat anymore, it gets scraped out and rice is added with seaweed, sesame oil and gochujang. I love this part of the meal. I am usually too full but of course I can’t resist a bowl of fried rice.

There are other places for Korean goat stew but this one is consistently good and so affordable. Maybe one day I’ll try something else here but until then, I’ll dream of another stormy summer night.

Chin Go Gae

3063 W 8th St., Los Angeles, CA 90005 — (213) 480-8071

 

© The Minty 2012