Pittsburg 21, Seattle 10--The Kimchi Bokum-Bap Wins

Some people have hot wings, pizza and beer for their Super Bowl Sunday. Me? I go to California Market in K-town and order a to go box full of kimchi-bokumbap (kimchi fried rice) for the big game. With my purchases in my shopping cart ready to leave the market, I stopped at the little food stall located right across from the checkstands. The stand was pretty busy with other diners lunching on udon, california rolls, jap chae, and whatever else was on the stand's short menu. "One kimchi bokum-bap," I called out to the lady behind the counter, who immediately asked me something in Korean. She seemed a little annoyed that I didn't understand "For here or to go" in Korean, but called out to the Latina lady in the back ("Kimchi rice!") to cook my order up immediately. Five minutes and six dollars later, I had a hot steamy bag of goodies ready to take home with me.



I'm normally not a sports fan--I'm more of what you call an in-the-moment sports fan. I don't follow any teams regularly, but I can get really into one if I'm in the stands watching, if it's a big event, or if I have any kind of money on it like I do every Super Bowl--I won 500 bucks last year, suckas!

It wasn't the best kimchi bokum-bap I've ever had, but it was still pretty good. I looooved the one at this place called KoRaeSom on 4th and Vermont that has closed down since my college days; it was probably the only decent thing on their menu and they made it with Spam. I make a pretty decent one too, but being short on time before kickoff, California Market's would have to do. It tasted good--pungent and salty with kimchi and bits of beef and topped with two fried eggs. I only wish there were a little bit more kimchi and not as much green onion. My meal also came with a tasty soup made of some obviously MSG-laden seafood broth, scallions, seaweed and fried tofu, and a cup full of bright yellow taekwon pickles--funky and delicious. By the end of the game, Isaac and I had managed to grazed through everything along with some other snacks too.



Today's game and commercials were hella boring, and my square didn't even come close to any payout (unless you count the fact that my numbers were Seattle 1, Pittsburg 0...do reversals count?), so needless to say, my kimchi bokum-bap was the most exciting part of my Super Bowl Sunday. Once again, California Market saves the day.

California Market
450 S. Western Ave.
Los Angeles, CA 90020
(213)382-9444