AILSA CHANG, HOST:
The chef Roy Choi is a legend here in Los Angeles, so when I heard that he wanted to cook something with me, I was like, heck yeah.
ROY CHOI: And you go in, and the kitchen feels like a food truck.
CHANG: Oh, it's tight.
CHOI: It's really tight. Butts be butting in here (laughter).
CHANG: Oh, yeah. Butts be butting.
CHOI: (Laughter) Butts be butting.
CHANG: Yeah.
Choi made a name for himself with his roving Kogi BBQ food trucks, which offer Korean short-rib tacos, kimchi quesadillas. I mean, he put Korean Mexican fusion on the map here. And now he is out with his first ever full-on cookbook "The Choi Of Cooking." And today, in his teeny, tiny kitchen at the Alibi Room in West LA, he is going to show me his ways.
(SOUNDBITE OF FOOD SIZZLING)
CHANG: Oh.
CHOI: You can't take your eye off this.
CHANG: No.
CHOI: You have to be fully engaged 'cause the difference between delicious and burnt is minuscule.
CHANG: We're frying up eggs, hash browns, tofu and kimchi on the flat-top griddle here for Choi's take on the breakfast burrito. We throw down our massive tortillas, which he's going to show me how to roll right up.
Should I do max filling?
CHOI: No.
CHANG: Oh.
(LAUGHTER)
CHOI: Not for your first time.
CHANG: OK, OK, OK.
CHOI: That's advanced level.
CHANG: All right. All right.
We pile on the hot stuff, top it with cheese, cilantro, onions and a ginger sesame slaw.
CHOI: And then now roll it. So...
CHANG: Oh. Sides first?
CHOI: Sides first.
CHANG: Then this side?
CHOI: Over. And then...
CHANG: Oh, pinky.
CHOI: ...You're going to go over pinky...
CHANG: Pinky.
CHOI: ...And over. Boom.
CHANG: Really?
CHOI: Look at that (ph).
CHANG: (Laughter).
CHOI: Amazing.
CHANG: I did it.
CHOI: Amazing.
CHANG: (Laughter)
Boom. OK, but now the moment of truth. Could I, Ailsa Chang, replicate the burrito mastery of the Kogi king himself? Well, there's only one way to find out.
You know what they love on NPR?
CHOI: What's that?
CHANG: You know what the - what sound they love?
CHOI: ASMR?
CHANG: Mouth sounds.
CHOI: OK (laughter). Let's do it all (ph).
CHANG: (Laughter).
(SOUNDBITE OF LIPS SMACKING)
CHANG: This is good.
CHOI: As you eat that, like, you don't think about the fact that it doesn't have meat...
CHANG: No.
CHOI: ...Right?
CHANG: No.
CHOI: You're just in there. You're just in there.
CHANG: There's just so much flavor.
CHOI: So much flavor - it's, like, it's rude. It's in your face. It's punk rock, but it's good for you.
CHANG: I mean, this is a guy who rose to fame selling beef. The name of his food truck literally means meat in Korean. But now, Choi is on a quest to elevate the humble vegetable. It is the biggest chapter in his new cookbook, and this move towards a healthier, veggie-obsessed Roy Choi was a necessity for him, he says, a way to break what he calls an addiction to junk food and huge portions.
CHOI: So a gallon of ice cream, I couldn't - you know, a pint was just like an hors d'oeuvre, like a deviled...
CHANG: (Laughter) Yeah, yeah.
CHOI: A pint was like a deviled egg, you know? Like - you know?
CHANG: Yes.
CHOI: And so it had to be a half gallon or a gallon.
CHANG: Yeah.
CHOI: You know, a corner slice of lasagna was like eating a crudite, so it had to be the whole tray.
CHANG: Yeah.
CHOI: If I ate less, people would ask me what's wrong.
CHANG: Are you OK?
CHOI: Are you OK?
CHANG: Eventually, Choi met a customer at one of his taco trucks who got him to think differently about how he ate, and that nudged him down a new path, towards cooking veggie-forward meals that are actually good for you. And that does not mean boring. "The Choi Of Cooking," he says, is about making healthy eating exciting and approachable.
CHOI: 'Cause if you look at a lot of health food items and wellness - the wellness industry, things are packaged in a way that are very unfamiliar to someone that hasn't grown up around it or...
CHANG: Yeah, totally.
CHOI: ...Hasn't made a conscious choice...
CHANG: Right.
CHOI: ...To get there.
CHANG: Did you set out wanting to make the vegetable chapter the biggest chapter?
CHOI: I don't think in terms of structure we thought that way, but in terms of philosophy, yes.
CHANG: 'Cause you say, like, we don't treat vegetables with the respect they deserve.
CHOI: You know, vegetables should curse. Like, they should be brash and curse, and they should, like, have their tongue out, you know...
CHANG: (Laughter)
CHOI: ...Like a cheeseburger.
CHANG: Yeah.
CHOI: Like yeah, you know?
CHANG: (Laughter).
CHOI: Like, it should look like the point of view of the Double-Double, you know?
CHANG: Yeah. Yeah.
CHOI: Like, that's how a vegetable...
CHANG: Bada** vegetables.
CHOI: Bada** - you know, bada**, food porn, in your face. Like, it should be "Spinal Tap 11," you know? And that's really...
CHANG: (Laughter) Love it.
CHOI: ...What it should be. And that's why the vegetables were the biggest chapter, because that's the essence and philosophy of this book, is, like, I want you to cook that dish in that chapter and forget that you're not cooking meat.
CHANG: Yeah.
CHOI: I want you to even think that you're...
CHANG: Right.
CHOI: ...Cooking meat...
CHANG: Right.
CHOI: ...'Cause the recipes are designed as if there was meat in there, you know? And that's kind of the goal of it.
CHANG: It's so true. We have so unfairly branded vegetables. Like, I think about the word broccoli...
CHOI: Yeah.
CHANG: ...That's, like, synonymous for, like, give me the practical information I need.
CHOI: Yeah.
CHANG: Like, just - what's the broccoli in what you're actually saying? You know, like, you're - vegetables...
CHOI: But if you do it in slang...
CHANG: Yeah.
CHOI: ...Broccoli means cheese. It means cheddar. It means money...
CHANG: (Laughter).
CHOI: ...You know? It means it means weed, you know?
CHANG: (Laughter) Yeah.
CHOI: Right?
CHANG: Yeah.
CHOI: It means marijuana.
CHANG: (Laughter) That's so funny.
CHOI: So if you take the slang of the essence of the feeling of it and put a recipe and a perspective behind it, then maybe people can start eating vegetables...
CHANG: Yeah.
CHOI: ...'Cause they're smoking weed, and weed is a plant.
CHANG: Right.
CHOI: You know what I'm saying?
CHANG: People love plants.
CHOI: People love plants.
CHANG: All right, so show me, like, in this book, how you rebrand a couple of your favorite vegetables. Give me the Roy Choi rebrand.
CHOI: OK. Yeah, it definitely needs a rebrand. And so if you look at the "Veg Head" chapter, we'll just start from the top. You got watermelon kimchi, right? That's something that - everybody loves the fruit cart.
CHANG: Yeah.
CHOI: Everybody loves the fruit cart...
CHANG: Oh, yeah.
CHOI: ...When you see a fruit cart.
CHANG: Absolutely.
CHOI: But they don't always love fruits when they're put on a plate, right? But then if you put watermelon into a kimchi form, then all of a sudden, their minds are blown.
CHANG: They're like...
CHOI: They're like, I got to try it.
CHANG: Yeah, it's weird.
CHOI: You got to create some...
CHANG: It's unexpected.
CHOI: Unexpected.
CHANG: Let's do it.
CHOI: You got to create some curiosity, you know? Crudites - this is the biggest one. Crudites is the hugest one in this book. Crudites have the worst branding...
CHANG: I agree.
CHOI: ...In the world.
CHANG: That's the plate I skip when I'm at a buffet or I'm at a friend's house. I'm like, no, I'm going to go to the crackers...
CHOI: Yes.
CHANG: ...And the cheese...
CHOI: Yes.
CHANG: ...Not the cut-up vegetables.
CHOI: 'Cause what's crudite in most cases? It's usually the machine-cut carrots...
CHANG: Yeah.
CHOI: ...That are kind of rounded on all ends.
CHANG: Yeah, so they're dried out.
CHOI: They're dried out. Celery...
CHANG: (Vocalizing).
CHOI: ...Dried snow peas and maybe, maybe...
CHANG: Radishes.
CHOI: ...Radishes.
CHANG: Yeah.
CHOI: And they're served with, like, Hidden Valley ranch dressing.
CHANG: (Laughter).
CHOI: And then they're also associated with PTA meetings and mom and school meetings.
CHANG: Right. Yeah.
CHOI: 'Cause who - what is always brought to meetings is brownies, cookies and crudite platters. So how do you make vegetables exciting - raw vegetables exciting? You can go to the farmers market and get really great vegetables, but that's not going to solve the problem. A crudite platter is not the crudites, it's the dips. It's the [expletive] dips.
CHANG: Yeah.
CHOI: You know, it's all about the dips.
CHANG: Yeah.
CHOI: And that's...
CHANG: I agree.
CHOI: ...The problem with the marketing behind crudites is that you're only serving it with ranch dressing or really bland hummus. You have to diversify your dips. And so...
CHANG: So it's a dip platter, and the vegetable is...
CHOI: Exactly.
CHANG: ...Just the spoons for the dips.
CHOI: Exactly. And you have to make them spicy, you have to make them garlicky, you have to make them funky. You have to - all of that stuff. So in this book, we have all of that.
CHANG: Diversify your dips, people. The book is called "The Choi Of Cooking." It's out now, and it is the first full cookbook from the co-owner, cofounder, and chef of Kogi BBQ, Roy Choi.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC) Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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