“What’s for dinner?”
“How about Korean?”
“Alright, Korean BBQ it is!”

For the longest time in Toronto, Korean BBQ became synonymous with Korean cuisine. It still holds a large popularity among the younger crowd. This is not a bad thing, since it may be the only time you see teens and young adults actually cook. But it’s a colossal mistake to only know of Korean food as such.

Like Chinatown, the hey days of Koreatown moved northwards. Spend 5 minutes around the intersection of Yonge and Finch, and you might feel transported to a different country. Did you notice that most of the Korean restaurants aren’t necessary about Korean BBQ?

Korean cuisine can be wide and varied, but one particularly food fad has recently surfaced. Korean stews have become all the rage lately, whether it’s the pork bone stew from Minerva, or the more healthy Tofu stew you will find at Buk Chang Dong Soon Tofu. The original Buk Chang Doon Soon restaurant still has roots in old Koreatown, but its successful expansion into North York has prompted another aggressive move into Markham. The third store is set to open this summer at First Markham Place.

If Anthony Bourdain were reading, he might go crazy thinking about tofu, a vegetarian staple. Far from it, since vegetarians and meatatarians can both enjoy a tofu stew. How so? The answer can be found in the following tangent called – Korean Tofu Stew 101:

Tofu stew (or Soondooboo Chigae) is a spicy stew made with soft uncoagulated tofu. Uncoagulated tofu are produced without undergoing the compression that removes water and curdling it firmly. There are different levels of spiciness for this dish; light, medium and hot. In addition, variations of this dish are built upon by including combination ingrdients like seafood, beef, pork and/or vegetable. The ingredients, tofu and spicy broth are combined in a ceramic bowl and boiled over an intense heat. A raw egg may be optionally included table-side to add flavor, thicken, as well as dilute the broth’s spiciness.

Buk Chang Dong Soon’s simple menu promotes the benefits of Tofu, as if people still need convincing. Its clientele has diversified; moving out of the Korean community to include the appreciation of other ethnicities.

Korean Side Dishes

The first culinary impression that diners will enjoy will be the familiar Korean side dishes (aka Banchan). Don’t understimate its importance. I know people who would pick and choose restaurants simply by the quality and quantity of their side dishes. Buk Chang Dong Soon’s modest offering of 4 competent side dishes feels average with the exception of the Sweet Black Beans (Kongjaban) standing out.

I ordered the combination tofu stew which includes beef, shrimp and mussel. Though it sounds a lot, tofu does dominate the dish with more beef… the expensive ingredients of shrimp and mussel are relegated to 1 piece each. The rice accompanying the stew is actually healthy barley rice, and is meant to be integrated with the spicy broth. Purplish and alien-looking to some, the soggy texture does take a bit of getting used to.

The tofu stew itself is hearty, warm and a fine example of comfort food. Though red like the lava from from hell, and numerous peppercorn spices floating with me, the stew can taste unassumingly meloulow. The focus shifts to the flavour. Try it mild if you’re not the adventurous type, thought you will probably be tempted to crank up the spice level on your next visit.

Bulgogi Stew

On this visit, we also tried the interesting sounding Bulgogi stew. The first few pleasant sips slowed down as I increasingly found the teriyaki-like broth to be too sweet. This stew might be your cup of tea, but it’s not something I would order again.

Buk Chang Dong Soon’s success formula is apparent; one based on simplicity. Cheap one-pot meals, that are both comforting and healthy. All dishes can be enjoyed under $10, that’s tax included! The business overhead, cost of ingredients are easily manageable and predictable. I’m left wondering when non-Korean entrepreneurs will start marketing this cuisine as their own, similar to the evolution of the Korean BBQ genre. If they don’t catch on, you’ll likely see more Buk Chan Dong Soon’s opening soon near you.

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