Kogi inspired tacos (december csa)

what's a person to do with an entire savoy cabbage? make a spicy cabbage slaw, i say! but before we get ahead of ourselves here, let me back up a few steps.

i finally made it to the famed kogi taco truck on a recent la visit. and it was good. but you'll notice that it didn't quite make it on the blog. it's not because i didn't deem it blog-worthy, it's just that i was much more motivated by the kogi inspired recipe from serious eats. i had filed it away after first reading it, with plans to attempt it when the time was right. yes, you guessed it. december csa, 1 cabbage, and 1 serious eats recipe calling for said cabbage. so i made it. and it was deeeelicious. and even more delicious because i made it myself and EVEN MORE delicious because i got to enjoy leftovers for lunch all week long. i cook in big batches, ok?


kogi-inpsired almost bulgogi tacos with spicy slaw
adapted from serious eats (originally publishes by lillian cho, chile pepper magazine july 2009)

for the meat or meat-substitute 2 tblspns soy sauce2 tspns sesame oil2 tspns crushed garlic1 tblspn brown sugar1 tblspn mirin1/2 tspn black pepper1 pound meat of choice (original recipe calls for ground beef, i used chicken breast cutlets instead but imagine this would also be delicious with tofu or portobello mushrooms)1 thinly sliced onion2 scallions, cut into 1-inch piecesfor the slaw 1 pound chinese, red or napa cabbage, thinly sliced (i used my savoy cabbage)1 tblspn salt2 tblspns fish sauce2 tblspns white vinegar1 1/2 tspns korean chile flakes or hot red pepper flakes (i used way less and it still came out significantly spicy)1 tspn crushed garlic1/2 tspn crushed ginger1 tspn sugar1 scallion, thinly sliced1 tspn sesame seedstortillas, for servingsprinkle the salt on the cabbage and toss. let stand for 20 minutes.in a large mixing bowl, add the soy sauce, sesame oil, garlic, brown sugar, mirin and black pepper, and whisk. add the meat (or meat-substitute), onions and scallions then mix gently until the sauce is incorporated into the meat.for the slaw, mix the fish sauce, vinegar, chili flakes, garlic, ginger, sugar, scallions and sesame seeds in a bowl.bring a pan to medium-high heat, and cook the meat until done and most of the liquid has evaporated.rinse the cabbage under cold water, then squeeze the excess water out. in a bowl, toss the cabbage with the fish sauce mixture until well-coated.to assemble, spoon the meat down the center of each tortilla, and top with slaw.