The Way to Eat BBQ

  League of Extraordinary Reviewers from the Carrollton Police Department experience Korean friends and family style dining at SSAM Korean Grill. None of these Carrollton officials had ever tried a Korean diner. We are about to fix that!

It’s the Law! Carrolton Police Officials Derick Miller (Assistant Chief), Pat Nail (Finance), Rex Redden (Chief), Jolene DeVito (Public Information Officer), John Singleton (Jail Commander), and local real estate broker Young Sung hosted by The Way Development Group (Kevin, Richard, and John). the founders and management of the Asian Center of Carrollton anchored by DFW’s first H-Mart.

Nestled in the adjoined corners of Denton, Dallas, and Collin Counties and surrounded by 6 other exploding municipalities, Carrollton is a quiet Texas city amid the stars. Carrollton is blooming again. 

BBQ is everywhere! It’s a beautiful thing. Korean Bbq that is.

Around the metro-plex more and more Asian inspired shopping centers are popping up with Pho, Sushi, and BBQ as the lead draw. More recently H-Marts have become a center point for a tour of the Orient and its distinctively different ways to feast.

We’ve been used to Chinese cuisine for a while now. When I was growing up in the Texas panhandle there was one Chinese restaurant in Amarillo and one in Pampa. I am still friends with William Ma, the owner of the Lamplighter in Pampa. Then the introduction of Beni Hana and Vietnamese Pho houses also started attracting more non-Asian regulars.

A lot of credit for legitimizing Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese, Thai, and Chinese dining goes to our women and men of the United States Armed Forces. But face it, the DFW community is now known for its worldwide origins and eclectic appetite for flavor voyeurism.

Only a few years ago the visual test of a popular Asian restaurant was, ‘how many Asians were eating there’. Now we are conscious of how many non-Asians are patrons. Red and Yellow, Black and White with a healthy addition of Browns and totally mixed tables of every language and dress are common at your favorite Sushi, Thai, Chinese, Vietnamese eateries.

Notably, the Korean cuisine seems to have been the late bloomer in attracting visitors. That is quickly changing.

Here in the heavily Asian influenced DFW we see Korean BBQ everywhere. In fact, there are more BBQ restaurants within a mile radius of Highway 190 (the George Bush) and Old Denton Road than there are in Caldwell County the Texas Capital of BBQ.  Is that a slap on Texas BBQ fans? Are they anything alike?

Yes. And No!

Family and friends style service for Korean BBQ has three basic elements. Fresh assorted meats, rice, and a variety of sides. Most meals begin with a broth and of course, each diner has their own bowl of a bean influenced rice. Large individual plates are not used. Diners don’t fill their plates. Instead, a small side plate and that bowl of rice sit before you and each diner samples the banchan a bite or two at a time.

Out comes the big word for you to know. We call them sides. Koreans say Banchan!

Banchan (Hangul: 반찬; Hanja: 飯饌; lit. "rice/food+sidedish"; English pronunciation: /ˈbɑːntʃɑːn/; also spelled panch'an) refers to small dishes of food served along with cooked rice in Korean cuisine.

Banchan - Wikipedia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banchan

The next keyword is Kimchi. I left you the wiki link that really covers the range of variations.

You Will Like Mike

Find out why you want him to represent you.
jbblocker

http://www.mikehennefer.com/

Mike Hennefer for Carrollton City Council

  Mike Hennefer is a grown-up boy scout. No, make that an Eagle Scout. He has lived his whole life with a heart of gold. He is a man of the people. A champion for all. He has led when he needed to and served when the call came.
  He has never smoked, drank alcohol, or used an illegal drug.

  Vali will tell you. She knows Mike better than he does.  Vali met Mike when they were 12 years old. She’s the tigress and he is the loveable panda who can't turn down an opportunity to lift people's spirits and come to the rescue. 

He just can't help it. 

  I am sitting across from the two and am being entertained by a 43 year marriage between a pair that would always rather be together than apart.

 

  When Mike Hennefer met this gangly girl with pin curls, for some reason, a thought, a voice, a premonition told him “that’s your wife!”

  Vali was struck by the handsome blonde boy that everyone liked.

  Throughout their childhood, the two were around each other more than weekly with their youth groups and various church activities.

  When they were 16, Mike made his move. “You are going to be my girl!”

  Vali’s answer was, “Good luck with that!”

  
  With a driver’s license in hand Mike would pick Vali up every weekday morning for early Bible Study before school. They would do this throughout high school.

“Mike was the class president his Freshman, Sophomore, and Senior years. He was the star athlete, captain of the varsity football team, and student body president.”

  Mike and Vali sit close enough to be able to lean into each other often as we talk. He’s the funny one. It’s one of his ways of being optimistic. She is practical and sensible and centered. This is what best friends for life sound like. I am enjoying it.

  Before us are two albums. Mike’s and Vali’s

  Each are filled with letters, cards, notes, scraps of paper, and envelopes with many, many postmarks.

  After graduation Mike took up his Mormon mission service and was directed to South Florida and Puerto Rico.  Over the next two years, they wrote weekly journals to each other. Humor, sadness, love, lots of love, growing pains, and future hopes and dreams are poured into the pages.

  This is their diary of young love preserved and cherished. We should all be so lucky.