128 Ku
Chapter 6 “Is that Kimchi in My Taco?” A Vision of Korean American Food in One Bite
Robert Ji-Song Ku
The 2016 us presidential campaign was not a pretty affair. Although both of the major parties engaged in some unsavory rhetoric, the views expressed by one side in particular were especially acerbic. Even the most neutral of observers denounced the various positions held by the Republican Party’s nominee, Donald Trump, as sexist, homophobic, xenophobic, and racist. And with good reason. At the center of Trump’s message was the Great Wall—not the one in China but the yet-to-be built southern wall with Mexico. In a speech he gave to a large crowd in Phoenix in August 2016, Trump repeated what had become his signature slogan: “We will build a great wall along the southern border! And Mexico will pay for the wall!” As the crowd chanted back, “Build the wall! Build the wall!” Trump made a promise: “On day one, we will begin working on an impenetrable, physical, tall, powerful, beautiful southern wall. We will use the best technology, including above and below ground sensors that’s the tunnels [sic].”1 A day after the speech, a Trump surrogate appeared on a cable news pro- gram to explain why the wall was necessary. He was a man named Marco Gutiérrez, a Mexican-born founder of a group called Latinos for Trump. During the show, Gutiérrez made the following statement: “My culture is a very domi- nant culture. It is imposing and it’s causing problems. If you don’t do something about it, you’re going to have taco trucks on every corner.”2 In keeping with the round-the-clock news cycle in which we now live, reactions to this statement were swift, numerous, and unsparing. While most of the reactions were some variations of the observation that racist ideas do not become less racist just
1 Nolan D. McCaskill, “Trump Promises Wall and Massive Deportation Program,” Politico, August 31, 2016,
© Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, 2018 | doi 10.1163/9789004335332_007 “Is that Kimchi in My Taco?” 129 because they come from the mouth of a non-white person, there was another sentiment that began to circulate in a variety of left-leaning political blogs and social media: how amazing it would be to have a taco truck on every corner; that would indeed make America great again!3 To the countless number of Americans who are partial to tacos, a taco truck parked a corner from their home or work would indeed be a gastronomic god- send. And, as a lover of tacos who just happens to be Korean American, I find this idea especially appealing due to a particular culinary trend that has been on the rise in the United States during the past decade. If there is to be a taco truck on every corner, it is not inconceivable that some of the purveyors will be Korean Americans and that their tacos will be filled with kimchi and other ingredients that are common to Korean cookery, such as bulgogi, kalbi, gochugaru, and gochujang. For all intents and purposes, the Korean taco truck phenomenon can be said to have originated in Los Angeles with the 2008 inauguration of Roy Choi’s Kogi BBQ. Born in Korea in 1970, Choi moved with his family to the United States at the age of two and grew up in southern California among not only other Korean immigrants but also Chicanos and other Latinos.4 The Kogi BBQ menu—tacos, burritos, quesadillas, hotdogs, and burgers loaded with a combi- nation of Korean and Mexican ingredients and flavors—is essentially a story of this Korean–Mexican–American congruence. Choi has called it “Los Angeles on a plate”5 and his “vision of L.A. in one bite.”6 The epitome of this geo-culi- nary vision is his signature short-rib taco described as “Double caramelized Korean barbecue short rib, a salsa roja made from Korean and Mexican chil- lies, our cilantro-onion-lime relish and our chili soy Kogi slaw—all over two,
3 John Paul Brammer, “‘Taco Trucks on Every Corner’? That’d Really Make America Great Again,” The Guardian, September 2, 2016,