I was originally going to post this right after the party that took place in August but oh well, other things took priority. I know summer is almost over but I thought it would still be good to post this now in case some of you may want to use some ideas for a Labor Day weekend BBQ. Why not try having your own Korean BBQ fusion dinner or lunch party for your group for this Labor Day weekend??
Back in August, I invited our wonderful neighborhood friends for a Korean BBQ get together to celebrate our coming back to US and also for getting our new patio furniture!!! I have known some of these moms since my daughter was in elementary school – we were all part of the same girl scout troop. Troop 52!! I still remember, yay!!
Wow…. so it has been over 10 years!!! And we have all remained good friends since then and for the recent 7-8 years, because our daughters were in different schools, we created a Happy Hour gang to keep in touch. Every summer and usually once for Christmas and sometimes for Superbowl, we took turns hosting Happy Hour at each of our homes. Each couple brings an appetizer or dessert and a bottle of wine to share. And we munch, talk and drink wine, and drink some more.. and then we might even sing when everyone gets REALLY HAPPY. :)) And the best thing?? Most of us could just walk home after the party because we are all kind of in the neighborhood.
When I was in Korea the last 2 years, I missed all my friends so much and when we came back, our neighbor friend walked across the street to our home, waving the American flag – saying “Welcome HOME!! Welcome back to America!!!” I will never forget that moment..what a way to be welcomed back home and into the hood!! Thank you GD and CD for making our first day so special.
So, I invited these great friends for a special treat this time. Because non of them are Korean and most are new to Korean food, I decided to host a “beginner” Korean BBQ fusion dinner to introduce them gently into the wonderful Korean cuisine. Even for food, I think first impression is the most important and so I had given this some thought..
Here’s the menu of our dinner:
- Appetizer: Roasted Corn Salsa, Grilled Gochujang Shrimp, Cheese and Charcuterie Board
- Main Carb: Mini Kimbap two ways – with carrots and with cucumbers
- Main Salad #1: Cole Slaw (Korean Potato Salad works too) – used Bobby Flay’s recipe
- Main Salad #2: Perilla Scallion Salad
- Side Dish: Green chili peppers in Deonjang Sauce
- Main: Korean BBQ Kalbi/Galbi
- Dessert: Lemon and Rum Cake, Panna Cotta with berries, Pear and Apple Crisp
** I actually forgot to serve Kimchi but you are welcome to add it to the menu, of course.
Here are some pics and quick recipe for Shrimp. Grilled Gochujang Shrimp is totally my creation and it was a HUGE hit!! I bought these deveined shrimps with shell on. But you can probably use whatever large shrimp you can get. Recipe is below.
Grilled Gochujang Shrimp
Ingredients
Instructions
- Make marinade by mixing all ingredients except shrimp
- Marinate shrimp at least an hour or overnight
- Grill at 400 F oven for 8 min. Turn it over once during.
- Broil fro 2 min or so until shrimp are nicely browned.
Tips & Notes:
Nutrition Information:
The other appetizers were brought by my dear friends. Sorry, I’m missing pic for the roasted corn salsa but it was REALLY good. And so is this beautiful cheese board by my American flag friend. 🙂 The figs were so lovely.
The mini Kimbap or Mayak Kimbap, I already posted pics and recipe so I won’t add any more but here’s just one more for the road.. 🙂
And as a side dish, here’s a quick and easy dish to make that introduces your guests to the essence of Korean food. Cut green chili peppers – not so spicy and crunchy ones like Annaheim peppers work great. Make a sauce of 2 T Korean soy bean paste (Deonjang), 2 tsp Mayonnaise, 1 tsp sugar, 1 T sesame oil and toss the cut peppers like so –
Don’t have much more to say about Kalbi except that using my Bulgogi marinade, I forgot to mention that you may want to reduce the marinade amount about 10% since Kalbi has bones that won’t be absorbing the marinade.
Last but definitely NOT the least, we had the most wonderful desserts. A friend brought Panna Cotta with berries –
Two friends brought lemon rum cake which was to die for. And my friend JC decorated with beautiful mint flowers which made it look so pretty. Excuse me for missing some dessert pics – evening light is so hard to photograph.
I will end my post with a picture of the lovely leftover Sunday dinner our family had after the party. We reheated Kalbi and Kimbap (see my Hot Kimbap post) and it was a really easy Sunday dinner.
Have a great Labor Day weekend everybody!!
JinJoo
All your receipes is onolicious sweet, simple and awesome presentation. Also sharing with family and friends. Thank you from Hawaii
You are so welcome! Thank you for sharing with your family and friends.
I love your website so much!! I love eating Korean food and your website is SUCH A HUGE guidance for me 🙂
Thank you!
Oh thank you so much!! So happy to hear that it is helpful. You are very welcome and feel free to ask any questions anytime!